A Boy Named Charlie Brown

For the unaired television documentary, see A Boy Named Charlie Brown (1963 film). For the soundtrack to the unaired television documentary, see Jazz Impressions of A Boy Named Charlie Brown.

A Boy Named Charlie Brown
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Bill Melendez
Written by	Charles M. Schulz
Produced by	Lee Mendelson
Starring	Peter Robbins Pamelyn Ferdin Glenn Gilger Andy Pforsich
Edited by	Robert T. Gillis Charles McCann Steven Melendez
Music by	Vince Guaraldi Rod McKuen John Scott Trotter
Production companies	Cinema Center Films Lee Mendelson/Bill Melendez Productions United Feature Syndicate
Distributed by	National General Pictures
Release date	December 4, 1969 (1969-12-04)
Running time	85 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$1.1 million
Box office	$12 million

A Boy Named Charlie Brown is a 1969 American animated musical comedy-drama film, produced by Cinema Center Films, distributed by National General Pictures, and directed by Bill Melendez with a screenplay by Charles M. Schulz. It is the first feature film based on the Peanuts comic strip. Starring Peter Robbins, Pamelyn Ferdin, Glenn Gilger, and Andy Pforsich, the film follows the titular character as he tries to win the National Spelling Bee, with Snoopy and Linus by his side. The film was produced by Lee Mendelson.

The film was based on a comic strip storyline from February 1966, which ended differently when Charlie Brown lost his local school's spelling bee. Regular Peanuts composer Vince Guaraldi and John Scott Trotter composed the score while Rod McKuen wrote many of the songs as well as the title song "A Boy Named Charlie Brown". This film was the last time Peter Robbins provided the voice of Charlie Brown.

Releasing on December 4, 1969, A Boy Named Charlie Brown was a box-office success, grossing $12 million and was positively received by critics. The franchise would go on to produce four more Peanuts films.

Plot

Following a devastating loss in the first league game of the season, Charlie Brown descends into a state of despondency, convinced that he will never achieve success in any endeavor. As he trudges to school one morning, Lucy Van Pelt mockingly suggests that he enter the school's spelling bee, seemingly in jest. However, Linus, displaying his characteristic optimism, encourages Charlie Brown to participate despite the ridicule he endures from Lucy, Violet, and Patty.

Summoning his courage, Charlie Brown enters the spelling bee and, to his astonishment, triumphs over his classmates. As he prepares for the school-wide championship, he and Linus reinforce their learning through a mnemonic device, singing the familiar spelling rule "I Before E" while Snoopy provides musical accompaniment on a Jew's harp. During the competition, Charlie Brown experiences a moment of anxiety when tasked with spelling “perceive.” However, hearing Snoopy playing their mnemonic tune just outside the classroom window, he regains his composure and secures victory. His peers, momentarily filled with admiration, celebrate his success, enthusiastically following him home.

Despite this triumph, Lucy, now assuming the self-appointed role of Charlie Brown’s agent, informs him that his victory has qualified him for the National Spelling Bee in New York City, thereby rekindling his ever-present self-doubt. As he boards the bus bound for the national competition, Linus, in a rare display of sentimentality, reluctantly lends Charlie Brown his cherished security blanket as a token of good luck. The remaining children gather to bid him farewell, offering uncharacteristic encouragement.

However, Linus quickly realizes that the absence of his security blanket induces profound emotional distress. Overcome by withdrawal symptoms, he persuades Snoopy to accompany him on a journey to New York to retrieve the lost item. Upon arrival, they locate Charlie Brown in his hotel room, physically and mentally exhausted from relentless studying. Much to Linus’ dismay, Charlie Brown is entirely unaware of the blanket’s whereabouts. A frantic and exhaustive search ensues, ultimately leading Linus outside the hotel. Upon returning, he is horrified to discover that Charlie Brown, oblivious to the blanket’s significance, has repurposed it as a shoe-shining cloth.

The day of the National Spelling Bee arrives, with Linus and Snoopy present in the audience while the rest of Charlie Brown’s peers watch from home on television. As the competition progresses, contestants are eliminated one by one until only Charlie Brown and one remaining competitor stand. Demonstrating newfound confidence, Charlie Brown spells several words correctly, momentarily instilling hope in his friends. However, in a cruel twist of fate, he is ultimately disqualified when he mistakenly spells “beagle” as B–E–A–G–E–L, a tragic irony given his close companionship with Snoopy, a beagle himself. The mistake devastates Charlie Brown and his supporters alike. Lucy, unable to bear the humiliation, expresses her disappointment by angrily shutting off the television in frustration.

Although achieving the distinction of national runner-up, Charlie Brown returns home utterly defeated. His sense of failure consumes him, and he withdraws into solitude, spending the entire day in bed, unwilling to face his peers. Linus, ever the voice of reason, visits him and informs him that the other children missed his presence and, more significantly, that they have finally won their first baseball game of the season. Rather than lifting his spirits, this revelation deepens Charlie Brown’s despair. Convinced that fate has conspired against him, he declares his intention to permanently retreat from the world, vowing never to return to school or participate in any activity again.

Linus, refusing to indulge Charlie Brown’s self-pity, delivers a sobering observation: despite his loss, the world has continued unabated. This simple yet profound remark sparks a moment of introspection. After Linus departs, Charlie Brown silently contemplates his words before finally dressing and stepping outside. As he observes his peers engaged in their usual activities, a sense of normalcy returns. Seizing an opportunity, he quietly approaches Lucy, who is preoccupied with her football. Hoping to reclaim some semblance of dignity, he attempts to kick the ball while her attention is diverted. True to form, Lucy anticipates his move, swiftly pulling the ball away at the last moment. However, rather than berating him, she greets him with an air of familiarity, subtly acknowledging his resilience.

Cast

• Peter Robbins as Charlie Brown
• Pamelyn Ferdin as Lucy van Pelt
• Glenn Gilger as Linus van Pelt
• Andy Pforsich as Schroeder
• Sally Dryer as Patty
• Bill Melendez as Snoopy
• Anne Altieri as Violet
• Erin Sullivan as Sally Brown
• Lynda Mendelson as Frieda
• Christopher DeFaria as Pig-Pen
• David Carey as 2nd Boy
• Guy Pforsich as 3rd Boy

Shermy appears in this film but does not have a speaking role. Peppermint Patty and 5 also appear in silent roles.

Production

Development

The film was partly based on a series of Peanuts comic strips originally published in newspapers in February 1966. That story had a much different ending: Charlie Brown was eliminated in his class spelling bee right away for misspelling the word maze ("M–A–Y–S" while thinking of baseball legend Willie Mays), thus confirming Violet's prediction that he would make a fool of himself. He then screams at his teacher in frustration, causing him to be sent to the principal's office. (A few gags from that storyline, however, were also used in the 1967 TV special You're in Love, Charlie Brown.)

Music

Main article: A Boy Named Charlie Brown (soundtrack)

The film also included several original songs, some of which boasted vocals for the first time: "Failure Face", "I Before E" and "Champion Charlie Brown" (Before the film, musical pieces in Peanuts specials were primarily instrumental, except for a few traditional songs in A Charlie Brown Christmas.) Rod McKuen wrote and sang the title song. He also wrote "Failure Face" and "Champion Charlie Brown".

The instrumental tracks interspersed throughout the film were composed by Vince Guaraldi and arranged by John Scott Trotter (who also wrote "I Before E"). The music consisted mostly of uptempo jazz tunes that had been heard since some of the earliest Peanuts television specials aired back in 1965; however, for the film, they were given a more "theatrical" treatment, with lusher horn-filled arrangements. Instrumental tracks used in it included "Skating" (first heard in A Charlie Brown Christmas) and "Baseball Theme" (first heard in Charlie Brown's All-Stars). When discussing the augmentation of Guaraldi's established jazz scores with additional musicians, Lee Mendelson commented, "It wasn't that we thought Vince's jazz couldn't carry the movie, but we wanted to supplement it with some 'big screen music.' We focused on Vince for the smaller, more intimate Charlie Brown scenes; for the larger moments, we turned to Trotter's richer, full-score sound." Guaraldi's services were passed over entirely for the second Peanuts feature film, Snoopy Come Home, with Mendelson turning to longtime Disney composers, the Sherman Brothers, to compose the music score.

The segment during the "Skating" sequence was choreographed by American figure skater Skippy Baxter. A segment during the middle of the film, in which Schroeder plays the entire 2nd Movement of Beethoven's Sonata Pathétique was performed by Ingolf Dahl. Dahl also performs the excerpts of the 1st and 3rd movements which appear in the film and are also played by Schroeder. Only the 3rd Movement (Rondo: Allegro) can be found on A Boy Named Charlie Brown: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack and only as a shortened bonus track.

The film also features a Jew's harp, which Snoopy plays to help Charlie Brown with his spelling.

Vince Guaraldi's songs were mostly from other specials and included (in addition to "Skating" and "Baseball Theme") "Blue Charlie Brown", "Oh Good Grief", "Air Music", and "Linus and Lucy" (several renditions are featured, including 2 slowed down renditions, one in minor key, featured while Linus was looking for his blanket and of course, the traditional rendition when he finally finds it). Guaraldi also plays a rendition of "Champion Charlie Brown" in the opening credits on the piano.

The French-language version replaces Rod McKuen's vocals with a French version sung by Serge Gainsbourg, "Un petit garçon nommé Charlie Brown".

A soundtrack album with dialogue from the film was released on the Columbia Masterworks label in 1970 titled A Boy Named Charlie Brown: Selections from the Film Soundtrack. The first all-music version was released on CD by Kritzerland Records as a limited issue of 1,000 copies in 2017, titled A Boy Named Charlie Brown: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack.

Reception

Box office

The film premiered at the Radio City Music Hall in New York City, only the third animated feature to play there after Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) and Bambi (1942).

The film was a success at the box office, earning $12 million. In its first week at Radio City Music Hall, it grossed $230,000, including a record $60,123 on Saturday, December 6. In its second week, it grossed $290,000 which made it number one in the United States. During Christmas week, it grossed $315,253 at Radio City Music Hall, which Cinema Center Films claimed was the biggest single week gross worldwide (at one theater) in the history of the cinema.

Critical response

The film was well received by critics and holds a 95% rating at Rotten Tomatoes based on 21 reviews, with an average rating of 7.60/10.

Time praised its use of "subtle, understated colors" and its scrupulous fidelity to the source material, calling it a message film that "should not be missed." The New York Times' Vincent Canby wrote: "A practically perfect screen equivalent to the quiet joys to be found in almost any of Charles M. Schulz's Peanuts comic strips. I do have some reservations about the film, but it's difficult—perhaps impossible—to be anything except benign towards a G-rated, animated movie that manages to include references to St. Stephen, Thomas Eakins, Harpers Ferry, baseball, contemporary morality (as it relates to Charlie Brown's use of his 'bean ball'), conservation and kite flying. "

Legacy

A 1971 Associated Press story argued the success of the film "broke the Disney monopoly" on animated feature films that had existed since the 1937 release of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. "The success of 'Peanuts' started a trend", animation producer Fred Calvert told the AP, "but I hope the industry is not misled into thinking that animation is the only thing. You need to have a solid story and good characters, too. Audiences are no longer fascinated by the fact that Mickey Mouse can spit."

In 2021, Patrick Galvan of Ourculture stated in his article about the film, "As indicated in Canby’s description, it’d successfully preserved what made the comic special to begin with; it was also a triumph cinematically, packed with stunning visuals and supplemented by an outstanding musical score. But the film had also given me something I hadn’t quite expected. After watching Charlie Brown’s silver screen debut, I was convinced I’d seen one of the great American movies about a subject rarely portrayed so honestly and inspiringly in a motion picture."

Awards and nominations

The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song Score, but lost to The Beatles' Let It Be.

Home media

The film was first released on VHS, CED Videodisc, and Betamax in July 1983 through CBS/Fox Video, before seeing another VHS, Betamax, and LaserDisc release in 1984, then several more in 1985, September 26, 1991, February 20, 1992, and 1995 by CBS Home Entertainment through 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, and May 29, 2001, through Paramount Home Entertainment, before making its Region 1 DVD debut in the original 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen aspect ratio on March 28, 2006, by Paramount Home Entertainment/CBS Home Entertainment (co-producer Cinema Center Films was owned by CBS). The DVD has more than six minutes of footage not seen since the 1969 test screening and premiere. The footage consists of new scenes completely excised from earlier home video releases (VHS, CED Laserdisc, Japanese DVD) and TV prints — most notably, a scene of Lucy's infamous "pulling-away-the-football" trick after her slide presentation of Charlie Brown's faults (and her instant replay thereof), as well as extending existing scenes. The film was released on Blu-ray on September 6, 2016, along with Snoopy Come Home, however, unlike the DVD releases, both films are presented in an open-matte 4:3 ratio. The film earned $6 million in rentals.

See also

• Peanuts filmography
• Snoopy Come Home
• Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown
• Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (And Don't Come Back!)
• The Peanuts Movie

External links

• A Boy Named Charlie Brown at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
• A Boy Named Charlie Brown at IMDb
• A Boy Named Charlie Brown at Rotten Tomatoes
• A Boy Named Charlie Brown at the TCM Movie Database