It's The Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown

Peppermint Patty: Now look, kid: these eggs are *not* to be fried. Nor are they to be roasted, toasted, or waffled.
Marcie: Yes, sir.
Peppermint Patty: These eggs have to be boiled. You boil them, then I'll show you how to paint them.

First aired April 9, 1974

Easter is coming soon, Charlie Brown (Todd Barbee) and the gang are getting ready to celebrate.

Peppermint Patty (Linda Ercoli) tries (unsuccessfully) to teach Marcie (Jimmy Ahrens) how to dye eggs. Marcy fries them instead.


Woodstock (Bill Melendez) needs a birdhouse, rain is beating down on him.

 Sally (Lynn Mortensen) has nothing to wear for Easter.

So the kids head to a department store in search of eggs, clothes and a birdhouse. Linus (Stephen Shea) says they don't need to shop for eggs and jelly beans;The Easter Beagle will take care of all that. Everyone is skeptical about this "Easter Beagle" (they're familiar with Linus' odd notions about holiday visitors), especially Peppermint Patty.

Peppermint Patty doesn't share Linus' faith in "The Easter Beagle."

The store already has it's Christmas decorations up and signs that announce "pre-Christmas" sales and "246 days until Xmas".


Snoopy finds a display of sugar eggs.

He looks inside one and imagines himself dancing with bunnies.


Marcie continues to fail at making Easter Eggs and Linus keeps telling her & P. Patty that the Easter Beagle will bring the eggs.


Is Linus right?  Will the Easter Beagle come bearing eggs and candy?  Will Marcy learn how to properly make Easter Eggs?

J.A. Morris says:
It's The Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown is lots of fun, but there's not a lot of plot to discuss.  It's mostly just a series of scenes that feature beloved characters interacting with each other and amusing dialogue.

Mild 40-year-old spoiler:Unlike his Halloween folly, Linus' faith is rewarded, even if the Easter Beagle arrives due to Snoopy's intervention.  Marcie's attempts at dying Easter Eggs are very funny, I still cover my eyes every time she "waffles" eggs.

The special doesn't spend a lot of time on the spiritual aspects of Easter.  But we get a scene where Lucy (Melanie Kohn) calls Easter the gift-giving season.  Schroeder (Todd Barbee) tells her that "Easter's not a time for getting, it's a time of renewal, the start of Spring."  That's a nice way of summing up Easter's meaning and the season.

When this special was produced, the original Peanuts voice actors were long gone.  But the kids here are all well cast.

Vince Guaraldi was still around and provides another great soundtrack.  At this point, Guaraldi's music was heavily influenced by funk and fusion, he plays some electric guitar here.  The soundtrack is very different than the piano-based tunes we heard in the earlier specials, but it's still excellent.

For those interested in math and trivia:
When the kids visit the shopping mall, there's a sign that reads "Only 246 shopping days until Christmas."  For those keeping score, that would make it April 23.  Which is pretty late in the calendar for Easter, but not impossible.

It's The Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown is a lot of fun and is highly recommended.

J.A. Morris' rating:

4 Easter Eggs!


RigbyMel says:

This is one of my favorite Easter specials.   I love that it refers back to the Great Pumpkin special.

Unlike the Great Pumpkin, the Easter Beagle does show up

I love its gently anti-consumerist message.

Christmas seems to come earlier each year!

I love (and am simultaneously frustrated by) Marcie's egg ineptness.

Marcie fails to grasp the concept of the hard-boiled egg

I love Woodstock's swinging bachelor pad with groovy sound system.

Groovy, man!

I love that Snoopy thinks to get him a birdhouse. (As we know, I am partial to Woodstock.)

I love watching Snoopy dance with his imaginary bunny friends.

Adorable!

I even love the springtime background paintings used -- I think they are exceptionally pretty.

Check out the daffodils and the blossoms on the tree

As J.A. Morris says,  Vince Guarldi's funk and fusion inspired score is way cool and it gets extra points in my book for excellent use of Beethoven's Symphony Number 7.  When all seems bleakest we get the somber second movement of the symphony.

When the Easter Beagle appears, we get the happier, dancing strains from the midst of the first movement.  Great stuff.   There's even some Minuet in G a la Bach that shows up in the scene where Snoopy dances with Peppermint Patty and Marcie at the shopping center.

It's The Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown does a great job of presenting wonderful vignettes that give us the spirit of the characters and the spring season in a very satisfying way -- even if the plot is rather slight.

This special is still shown on TV often (sadly, it did not get a network airing in 2015) and is readily available on DVD and streaming services like Amazon Instant Video.   If you enjoy the Peanuts and have not seen the Easter Beagle, you owe it to yourself to check this out!

RigbyMel's rating:

4 Easter Eggs

Some trivia about A Charlie Brown Christmas

Premiered December 9, 1965.

We haven't reviewed A Charlie Brown Christmas because we didn't know if there was much else to be said about it.  It's a wonderful story with classic music from the Vince Guaraldi Trio, the animation still looks great and and the voice actors are all perfectly cast.  You know the story, so what's the point in summarizing it.  

This is the 50th Christmas season that A Charlie Brown Christmas will be shown on tv.  

But here's something you may not have noticed before.  I didn't notice it until last year and I've watched it more than 30 times and owned the special on vhs and dvd for years.  

At the end of the A Charlie Brown Christmas, all the kids gather around the decorated tree.  

From left to right, you'll see 3 and 4 (the twin girls in purple), Sally, Snoopy, Lucy, Freida, Linus, Pigpen and Schroeder.  In the back row, 5 is the kid in a blue coat, followed by Violet, Shermy and Patty (who should not be confused with Peppermint Patty, she hadn't been introduced yet).  5 is wearing a blue coat, Shermy is in orange. 

    

Fast-forwarding a few seconds, the kids start singing 'Hark, The Herald Angels Sing':

Now we've got two kids in blue!  What happened?  Now there are two 5s.  Or are there two Shermys?  Or Shermy is wearing a magic coat that changes colors?  Looks like somebody goofed. 

Since we're discussing 5:

5 first appeared in the Peanuts comic strip in Septmber of 1963.  His full name is 555 95472.  The last five digits are his last name, and that was also Charles Schulz' zip code at the time.  5 says that his father was "disturbed by all the numbers being put on us these days, so he changed our name to numbers."

His sisters 3 and 4 were introduced two weeks later.  These characters are relatively obscure, but they were immortalized in this special's dance scene.

5 and 4 (or is it 3?) show off their dance moves.

You may have noticed that A Charlie Brown Christmas ends somewhat abruptly.  The kids don't even get to finish their song.  That's because an ad for Coca-Cola originally ran during the closing credits.  This was edited out of later telecasts when Coke was no long the sponsor.  Here's the way it ended when it aired back in 1965:

 

A Charlie Brown Christmas is one of the best Christmas specials of all time and it's a good today as it was when it premiered decades ago. 

J.A. Morris and RigbyMel's rating:

4 candy canes.

It's Arbor Day, Charlie Brown

Premiered March 16, 1976.

"What is Arbor Day? Oh, that's simple. That's the day when all the ships come sailing into the arbor!"
-Sally Brown, incorrectly answering Miss Othmar's question.

Sally (Gail Davis) has been assigned by her teacher to write about the history and meaning of Arbor Day.  Linus (Liam Martin) offers to help her and suggests the library will provide them with the needed information.

They learn Arbor Day was created by J. Sterling Morton, an early conservationist.  Linus reads aloud from a book that states "Arbor Day points out to both children and adults the need to protect certain areas of our natural forests and woodlands."  Arbor means tree, and trees are planted in celebration of Arbor Day.

Sally asks Linus if Spring really does turn a young man's fancy to thoughts of love

Meanwhile, Charlie Brown (Dylan Beach) and Peppermint Patty (Stuart Brotman) are sitting under a tree discussing love and baseball.  They're getting ready for the upcoming baseball season.  Peppermint Patty is confident that her team will soundly beat Chuck's team several times.  But she still wishes Chuck and his team good luck in the upcoming season.

Peppermint Patty is very confident her team will win against Chuck's team:
"Our team plays your team twelve times. We slaughter you twice in April, smash you three times in May, ruin you twice in June, murder you three times in July, annihilate you four times in August, and destroy you altogether in September." (Peppermint Patty's math appears to be off, she's actually just listed off fifteen games, not twelve!)

Sally enlists Linus' help to plant trees in honor of Arbor Day.  They run into Lucy (Sarah Beach), who thinks that's a good idea and joins them.  Sally and Lucy decide that Charlie Brown's baseball field is the perfect place to do some planting.  Linus isn't so sure, he thinks they should ask Charlie Brown first.  Lucy dismisses Linus' worries as "nonsense."  She says Chuck will be glad that they are improving his field.

Lucy tells Charlie Brown that they're fixing up the field, without explaining how they are fixing it.  Charlie Brown informs Peppermint Patty that the field will be in good shape for their opening day game.

The rest of the Peanuts gang (except for Chuck) get to work planting trees and other vegetation, including a new sapling right in the middle of Charlie Brown's pitcher's mound.

Linus is concerned about the tree on the mound, but Lucy says it will provide shade.  She adds that they could use "a little class on the pitcher's mound", a (not so subtle) dig at Chuck.

The Peanuts gang hard at work planting ... on the baseball field!

Lucy decides that they need more plants.  They plant rose bushes, daisies, geraniums, a creeping vine behind home plate and a vegetable garden in right field.

Snoopy runs afoul of a newly planted creeping vine behind home plate

In the meantime, Charlie Brown is working on baseball strategies, blissfully unaware of the havoc that is being wreaked upon his beloved baseball diamond.

What will Chuck's reaction be when he sees his new and "improved" baseball field?  Moreover, what will Peppermint Patty think of the field's condition when she arrives with her team?  Will the new field help lead Chuck's team to their first ever victory?   

J.A. Morris says:

I'm pretty sure I caught this special when it was brand new in 1976.  It's a good introduction to conservation for children and it's a solid Peanuts special.

Lucy celebrates her first-ever homerun:"Another victory for Women's Lib!"

There are several moments that still make me laugh:Woodstock's encounter with a sprinkler, Snoopy's wrestling match with a creeping vine and Charlie Brown screaming "quitters" during the rain-out are highlights.

The baseball game is another high point.  Baseball is often referenced in Charlie Brown specials, but we rarely see Chuck and company play a game.  Watching Chuck and Peppermint Patty's teams square off surrounded by cornfields and tomato plants provides us with some very entertaining action.

There are some minor subplots in It's Arbor Day.  The special opens up with a scene with Linus' brother Rerun (Vinny Dow) riding on the back of his mother's bicycle.  Rerun was a recent addition to the Peanuts comic strip and this was his animated debut.

We also get some funny scenes involving Snoopy and Woodstock (both voiced by Bill Melendez) at the library.  Snoopy finds some books about dog obedience that make him laugh loudly in the library, drawing the ire of the librarian.  Woodstock also has an unfortunate encounter with a photocopier.

The only problem I have with this special is Charlie Brown's voice.  Dylan Beach isn't terrible, but there's something not quite right about him.  According to imdb, this is Beach's only screen credit, so perhaps the producers shared my assessment.

On a sad note, this was the last special that featured new music from regular Peanuts composer Vince Guaraldi.  He died shortly before this special aired and Charlie Brown specials were never quite the same.  But Guaraldi did some nice work here.  During the baseball game, we get some fun organ-based music that will make you feel like you're watching the game in a stadium.  

A chagrined Charlie Brown tries to explain the "improved" field to Peppermint Patty

It's Arbor Day, Charlie Brown has a nice story with action and humor.  It's provides a bit of education about Arbor Day and it also celebrates another uniquely American "holiday": opening day of baseball season!
For more information about Arbor Day (and conservation in general), check out the official site of the Arbor Day foundation:

http://www.arborday.org/

J.A. Morris' rating:

.5

3 and a half kite eating trees.

Aaaaaugh!

RigbyMel says: 
This special was seldom aired on TV, so I didn't get around to seeing it until it was released on DVD.   It's Arbor Day, Charlie Brown is a very cute and fun special.   I like the educational aspects about Arbor Day and also the fact that Linus and Sally (as well as Snoopy and Woodstock) visit their local public library to do research.

The gang's impulse to plant and beautify is laudable, but one really does feel for Charlie Brown and Peppermint Patty's distress at the transformation of the baseball field.

The transformed baseball diamond

There are some wonderful funny details included in this special,  like the use of baseball bats as tomato stakes.

Creative baseball bat useage

And also Snoopy's mirth over the dog obedience training book at the library and inadvertent photocopying of Woodstock are amusing.

Who knew dog obedience training books could be so funny?

I do detect a hint of (perhaps inadvertent) irony in a sequence involving Snoopy and Woodstock using a photocopier (and wasting paper) in a show about trees and conservation.

Age old photocopier silliness

Lucy's "victory for Women's Lib" is pretty funny as well.

My only real complaint would be a desire to see a compromise of some sort allowing the Peanuts gang to keep both the baseball field AND the lovely community garden they plant for Arbor Day!

This is a fun special that has been overlooked.  It's worth checking out on DVD or via Netflix if you've the time or inclination.

RigbyMel's rating:

3 (kite eating?)  trees