Most Obscure Peanuts Special (1965-1976 era)

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fcoleman43

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So we're all familiar with the Peanuts classics, right? Timeless specials such as A Charlie Brown Christmas, It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, It's the Easter Beagle Charlie Brown and Be My Valentine Charlie Brown which air on TV every year and are always available on DVD for new generations to see.

But what about those less well known specials? The stuff that no longer runs annually on TV and stands very little chance of headlining their own DVD release? Well, that's for you to decide. Just what is the most obscure Peanuts special from the classic 1965-1976 era when Vince Guaraldi was scoring the specials: the era most agree was the best.

Aside from the 5 specials mentioned above I also have not included It's Arbor Day Charlie Brown, Your Not Elected Charlie Brown or Your in Love Charlie Brown, which can be easily found on the DVDs recently released by Warner Home Video. Also not included is Your the Greatest Charlie Brown, which will be released on DVD next month.

Charlie Brown's All-Stars:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Brown%27s_All-Stars
The second Peanuts special ever made. Many forget this one even exits.

He's Your Dog, Charlie Brown
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/He's_Your_Dog,_Charlie_Brown
The first special to give Snoopy the spotlight, and the second appearance of Peppermint Patty. Also features an appearance by Patty's friend Roy, one of the most obscure of all Peanuts characters.

It Was a Short Summer, Charlie Brown
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It_Was_a_Short_Summer,_Charlie_Brown
Long before Race For Your Life, Charlie Brown there was this special, pitting the boys against the girls at summer camp. Features the first appearance of Snoopy as the Masked Marvel.

Play It Again, Charlie Brown
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Play_It_Again,_Charlie_Brown
Did you know Beethoven comes in spray cans? Neither did I before I saw this one. Features a Lucy voice that sounds way too old to sound natural, some of those great 1970s "wallpaper" backgrounds and animation by Warner and Lantz alumni Emery Hawkins.

There's No Time For Love, Charlie Brown
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There's_No_Time_for_Love,_Charlie_Brown
Notable for being the first appearance of Marcie.

It's a Mystery, Charlie Brown
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It's_a_Mystery,_Charlie_Brown
Newcomer Woodstock gets a lot of attention in this one, there's some great gags and it features a terrific Vinci Guaraldi score. If any special deserves more attention it's this one.

All of these specials are actually available for purchase on itunes. Hopefully some or all of them will eventually get DVD releases.

As far as the most obscure special is concerned, I had to choose Play it Again, Charlie Brown. In fact, I never even heard of it until very recently.
 
I remember them all, and I used to own books for each of those specials (but then, my brother were major Peanuts geeks when we were kids).

Interesting factoid about Play It Again, Charlie Brown: In this special, Lucy was voiced by (then) child actress Pamelyn Ferdin, who is perhaps best known by old-school Hanna-Barbera fans as the voice of Precocia on The Roman Holidays.
 
Funny thing about "Play It Again" is that Charlie Brown is barely in it. Heck, in the credits, his VA is listed last.

I remember all of them because one of my local networks would play them ad nauseum when I was little. I would also rent the VHS every now and then.
 
I had the book based on the Mystery special as a kid.

I guess I'll say Play It Again, because it was years until I knew it existed, and I'm a huge Peanuts fan.
 
He's Your Dog is easily the most deranged Peanuts special of them all (example: Snoopy walking up to Schroeder and then kicking him in the ass.). To quote another member "It's like the special was designed just to see who could be the biggest jerk of the entire Peanuts gang!"

All-Stars might be easier to overlook since it comes between Christmas and Great Pumpkin in chronology.
 
Actually, Ms. Ferdin was already familiar to viewers by the time Play it Again aired. She had been appearing on Lassie, and co-starred in Curiosity Shop (1971).

My vote went to Charlie Brown's All-Stars, largely because it hasn't aired since the early 70s for whatever reason.
 
That's not true. It aired on both The Disney Channel and Nickelodeon (along with many other Peanuts specials) during the 1990s.

My vote goes to Play it Again, Charlie Brown, though that was the first special out of the choices that I have seen. I have a video guide from 1995 which includes descriptions of many Peanuts specials, but not this one (there are other Peanuts specials that weren't listed in that book, such as Snoopy!: The Musical and It's the Girl in the Red Truck, Charlie Brown).

I honeslty don't think of He's Your Dog, Charlie Brown or It Was a Short Summer, Charlie Brown as obscure. But I do think of Charlie Brown All-Stars as the most obscure of the first five specials (the ones with the original voices from A Charlie Brown Christmas).
 
I don't recall seeing All-Stars on Nick during the time they had the rights to Peanuts. Must've snuck it in as part of the regular rotation.
 
If I could have seen all the Peanuts specials when they were aired together as "You're on Nickelodeon, Charlie Brown," I would have. I've got an ancient book that's the picture novelization of All-Stars, and since it's so early it's done differently: instead of cels from the cartoon it's made up of colored pencil drawings.

I did see "Play it Again" once, and I agree, Lucy sounds VERY weird in that one.
 
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