A Boy Named Charlie Brown

A Boy Named Charlie Brown (1969)

Runtime: 86 minutes

Directed by: Bill Melendez

Starring: The main characters from the Peanuts universe

From: Cinema Center Films

More psychedelic than I recalled.

This was a total nostalgic watch for me. Long ago I purchased a set which had all 4 Peanuts movies that they made from 1969 through 1980; everyone knows the legendary Halloween and Christmas specials featuring these iconic characters but when I was a very young kid I saw all these films more than once, along with at least the Thanksgiving special from the 70's and perhaps other ones-they made quite a few that likely are forgotten/unknown even by most here. None of the films have been experienced by me in at least 30 years so it has been too lengthy a span of time for me to actually relive part of my youth.

The plot: Charlie Brown feels like a real loser-a blockhead, even; it seems as if he can't do anything right. Finally, on a lark he does well in the school spelling bee but even then feels the pressure of everyone wanting him to be a success. There are some of the familiar faces and they act like typical... including Lucy being not a nice little girl, Snoopy dreaming about The Red Baron, Schroeder playing the piano, and Linus' security blanket being a big deal for him.

It has a pleasant jazz score from Vince Guaraldi which is augmented by a more traditional score-animation which isn't the fanciest but serves its purpose-a timeless story where many can sympathize w/ Charlie feeling like a “failure face” and people picking on him both in and out of school. Thankfully this was as enjoyable to me as an adult as it was when I was a snot-nosed little kid. Now, I better appreciate the occasional psychedelic montages that appear throughout along with the obscure historical references that pop up a few times.

Much to my relief those nostalgic feelings of yore were not ruined and at least this film was not worse than my memories said it was.