A Boy Named Charlie Brown

Not to be confused with the 1967 off-Broadway musical You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown, this is a 1969 Oscar-nominated feature spin-off of Bill Melendez's series of animated TV specials starring Charles M. Schultz's Peanuts gang. The film begins with a string of familiar episodes that might be described as greatest hits from the comic pages, but then segues into a newly concocted story in which good ol' round-headed Charlie Brown astonishes his friends by winning the school spelling bee, a victory that earns him a trip to the national competition in Washington, D.C. Linus, who's made the mistake of lending Charlie his security blanket as a good-luck charm, follows him to the nation's capital to retrieve same, accompanied by Snoopy—who, as usual, steals much of the show. All of the other suspects are also on hand, most notably Lucy, fooling Charlie over and over again with her perennial gag of pulling the football away just as he's about to kick it. In the post-Spellbound world, this is likely to gain new admirers, even if the words thrown at the nervous kids seem a mite undemanding by today's standards. The chief audience for this DVD, however, will be those who grew up with the Peanuts series, eager to introduce their children (or, more likely, grandchildren) to one of their own childhood faves. Don't be misled by the sappy first song by Rod McKuen; the rest of the musical contributions, including Schroeder's impressionistic Beethoven interlude and Linus' dance routine with his recovered blanket, are wonderful. Presented with a fine widescreen transfer, but no extras, this is recommended. [Note: Snoopy, Come Home is also newly available on DVD.] (F. Swietek)[Blu-ray Review—Sept. 20, 2016—Paramount, 85 min., G, Blu-ray: $24.99—Making its first appearance on Blu-ray, 1969's A Boy Named Charlie Brown features a decent transfer and a DTS-HD 5.1 soundtrack, but no extras. Bottom line: a beloved Peanuts classic makes a welcome debut on Blu-ray.]