Charlie Brown is a depressed little boy whose actions are constantly met with failure, humiliation, or some combination of both. However when Charlie Brown wins a spelling bee he finds himself representing his school at a national level with an opportunity for great success....or possibly even greater failure.
Released in 1969 Peanuts had already made themselves quite well known with their number of prime time TV specials usually themed around various holidays. A Boy Named Charlie Brown marks the first of four feature length films from the same team and not only was it a success upon release breaking records at Radio City Music Hall (only the third animated feature to be screened at the venue) but broke Disney's near monopoly on animated features. The movie for all intents and purposes is Charlie Brown through and through.
The movie is less of an overarching narrative and more of a character piece just following Charlie Brown through his various activities. Be it trying to fly a kite, playing baseball, or at one point getting out the front door of his home, Charlie Brown finds himself either in abject failure or humiliating mishaps that often wear down on him. The movie features many of the familiar Peanuts cast in varying degrees of importance. Linus is still the fragile know-it-all who has withdrawls when he's seperated too long from his blanket, Lucy is still the deviant sadist who revels in kicking Charlie Brown when he's down, and Snoopy is still just his usually weird self. It's a very slow paced film that takes its time moving from one segment to the next. In many ways it's like watching a (slightly) real life, albeit a very depressing one.
While the movie does have a purposefully slow plot with the Spelling Bee point not introduced until a little under halfway through, there's clear usage of padding in several musical interludes. Some such as Schroeder playing his piano only for the imagery to drift away and reveal painted work of cathedrals and European cities, the Star Spangled Banner playing with abstract shapes of Red, White and Blue, and a lengthy sequence where Snoppy skates and imagines himself playing Hockey in front of Rockerfeller center go on a smidge too long and are clearly there just to extend the running time, but others such as the opening title song "A Boy Named Charlie Brown" or "Failure Face" a musical insult directed at Charlie Brown sung by Patty, Violet, and Lucy fit a bit better.
A Boy Named Charlie Brown is a faithful adaptation of the beloved characters as well as the strip from which they came. It keeps the tone fitting with the established canon and while it's story is simple it deals unapologetically with ideas of putting your all into something only for that to not necessarily pay off in the end. The same reasons that people like this movie will be the same reasons people don't like it. And for all intents and purposes that's more or less how the whole of the Peanuts franchise should be approached.
Released in 1969 Peanuts had already made themselves quite well known with their number of prime time TV specials usually themed around various holidays. A Boy Named Charlie Brown marks the first of four feature length films from the same team and not only was it a success upon release breaking records at Radio City Music Hall (only the third animated feature to be screened at the venue) but broke Disney's near monopoly on animated features. The movie for all intents and purposes is Charlie Brown through and through.
The movie is less of an overarching narrative and more of a character piece just following Charlie Brown through his various activities. Be it trying to fly a kite, playing baseball, or at one point getting out the front door of his home, Charlie Brown finds himself either in abject failure or humiliating mishaps that often wear down on him. The movie features many of the familiar Peanuts cast in varying degrees of importance. Linus is still the fragile know-it-all who has withdrawls when he's seperated too long from his blanket, Lucy is still the deviant sadist who revels in kicking Charlie Brown when he's down, and Snoopy is still just his usually weird self. It's a very slow paced film that takes its time moving from one segment to the next. In many ways it's like watching a (slightly) real life, albeit a very depressing one.
While the movie does have a purposefully slow plot with the Spelling Bee point not introduced until a little under halfway through, there's clear usage of padding in several musical interludes. Some such as Schroeder playing his piano only for the imagery to drift away and reveal painted work of cathedrals and European cities, the Star Spangled Banner playing with abstract shapes of Red, White and Blue, and a lengthy sequence where Snoppy skates and imagines himself playing Hockey in front of Rockerfeller center go on a smidge too long and are clearly there just to extend the running time, but others such as the opening title song "A Boy Named Charlie Brown" or "Failure Face" a musical insult directed at Charlie Brown sung by Patty, Violet, and Lucy fit a bit better.
A Boy Named Charlie Brown is a faithful adaptation of the beloved characters as well as the strip from which they came. It keeps the tone fitting with the established canon and while it's story is simple it deals unapologetically with ideas of putting your all into something only for that to not necessarily pay off in the end. The same reasons that people like this movie will be the same reasons people don't like it. And for all intents and purposes that's more or less how the whole of the Peanuts franchise should be approached.