| Charlie Brown's All-Stars | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Animated TV Special |
| Created by | Charles M. Schulz |
| Directed by | Bill Meléndez |
| Voices of | Peter Robbins Sally Dryer Christopher Shea Ann Altieri Glenn Mendelson Kathy Steinberg Geoffrey Ornstein Lynn Vanderlip Karen Mendelson Gabrielle DeFaria Ritter Bill Meléndez |
| Country of origin | USA |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Lee Mendelson Bill Meléndez |
| Editor(s) | Robert T. Gillis Steven Melendez |
| Running time | 30 minutes (with commercials) |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | CBS |
| Original airing | June 8, 1966 |
| Chronology | |
| Preceded by | A Charlie Brown Christmas |
| Followed by | It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown |
Charlie Brown's All-Stars is the second prime-time animated TV specials based upon the popular comic strip Peanuts, by Charles M. Schulz. It was the second such TV special (and the first non-holiday Peanuts special) to be produced by Lee Mendelson and Bill Meléndez (who also directed), and originally aired on the CBS network on June 8, 1966. It ceased to be aired annually by 1972, and was last shown on CBS in April 1982 (although the Disney Channel did re-air the special in the 1990s). ABC returned the special to television on April 7, 2009, as a companion to It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown.
On March 2, 2004, it was released to DVD as a bonus special, along with It's Spring Training, Charlie Brown! and Lucy Must Be Traded, Charlie Brown. On July 7, 2009, it was released in remastered form as part of the DVD box set, "Peanuts 1960's Collection."
Contents |
Plot
After Charlie Brown's team loses their first game of the season (123-0), his team throws down their caps in disgust and quits. Frustrated and depressed, Charlie Brown wanders around aimlessly until Linus meets him with good news: Mr. Hennessey, operator of a local hardware store, is offering to sponsor Charlie Brown's team, place them in an organized league, and even buy them new uniforms.
The excitement gets the better of Charlie Brown, and he eagerly tells the team the good news. Lucy is apprehensive, but states that if Charlie Brown can really get the team uniforms, they'll give him another chance and return to the team. Later at home, Charlie Brown gets a phone call from Mr. Hennessey, and is told that the league doesn't allow girls or dogs. Charlie Brown tries to reason with Mr. Hennessey, but is told that the stipulations are rules set by the league. Unwilling to sacrifice his friends, Charlie Brown reluctantly declines Mr. Hennessey's offer.
Moments later, Charlie Brown relays the news to Linus, who tells him that Lucy and the team will most likely be angry with his decision. However, Charlie hits on an idea: he won't tell them until after the next game, figuring their lifted spirits will drive them to a great win. Linus says this may not be a good idea, but Charlie Brown feels it will work. The game starts off slowly, but as it picks up, the team begins to play spectacularly. Unfortunately, they lose the game in the end when, in the last inning, Charlie Brown's bid to tie the game by stealing home fails.
Having failed to win them the game, Lucy and several others tell Charlie Brown that if it weren't for the uniforms and the league deal, they'd quit. Charlie Brown then tells the team (leaving out the reasons why) that he told Mr. Hennessey that the deal was off. This causes the team to yell in anger and storm off. As the girls complain about their misfortune (and Snoopy is shown sharing their disgust), Linus speaks up telling them the real reason why Charlie Brown turned the offer down. Both Linus and Schroeder berate the girls (Lucy, Patty, Violet and Frieda) and Snoopy for their selfishness; pointing out that Charlie Brown wasn't willing to sacrifice them just to get the uniforms. This causes the girls and Snoopy to feel terrible for being so hard on Charlie Brown. They are uncertain what to do, until Lucy comes up with an idea to make up for the insults: make a special uniform for Charlie Brown. And they do just that, using the only fabric available - Linus' beloved security blanket.
The girls and Snoopy present the newly-made uniform (complete with the words "Our Manager" on the front) to Charlie Brown, who sheds a little tear and is very pleased with it. He is determined that his team will win the next day, but the next day, it rains, so there is no ball game. Charlie Brown just stands in the rain on the pitcher's mound, where Linus finds him and tells him that nobody will come to the field. He then looks nervously at Charlie Brown, and tells him that his uniform was made from his blanket. So Charlie Brown lets Linus hold the shirt-tail against his cheek and suck his thumb, while the two of them stand together in the pouring rain.
Voice Cast
- Peter Robbins- Charlie Brown
- Sally Dryer- Lucy van Pelt
- Christopher Shea- Linus van Pelt
- Ann Altieri- Frieda
- Glenn Mendelson- Schroeder
- Cathy Steinberg- Sally Brown
- Geoffrey Ornstein- Pigpen
- Lynn Vanderlip- Patty
- Karen Mendelson- Violet
- Gabrielle DeFaria Ritter- Shermy
- Bill Meléndez- Snoopy
Quotes
- Lucy: I can't look!
- Patty: The score is three to two in the last of the ninth!
- Lucy: But we have two outs!
- Patty: But Charlie Brown is on third and our best hitter is coming up!
- Lucy: Say...you don't think Charlie Brown will try to steal home, do you?
- Patty: NEVER! Not even Charlie Brown would be that stupid!
- Charlie Brown (on third base): I wonder if I should try to steal home...
- Lucy: What kind of pitcher are you?! You threw the first ball of the season clear over the backstop!
- Charlie Brown: It sort of got away from me...
- Lucy: Well, try to be more careful, Charlie Brown. You almost hit my mother!
- Lucy: Charlie Brown, do your team a favor tomorrow... DON'T SHOW UP.
- Linus: I watched this team practice, see. They were terrible! Anybody could beat them. None of their players can hit the ball out of the infield. And they have this loud mouth girl in center field who can't catch a thing. They also have some animal at second base who can't even throw. And their pitcher is a kind of round-headed kid who is absolutely no good at all! And...
- The Team (angrily): YOU SCOUTED YOUR OWN TEAM!!!
- Lucy (with Linus, watching the rain from inside their house): I haven't seen it rain this hard in a long time.
- Linus: I'm just glad I'm inside.
- Lucy: Well, good grief, only a real blockhead would be out in a rain like this!
- Charlie Brown (on pitcher's mound in the pouring rain): Where IS everybody?!
Book vs Show
A book about the show came out around the time show premiered. In the book, Charlie Brown, just goes up to the team, and said the whole simple "we don't need them" line, turns and walks away as the whole team heaps abuse after abuse on him, until Linus steps in to stand up for him, but without telling them why. In the book, Schroeder is not shown berating the girls and Snoopy along with Linus, although he does in the television show. It is Schroeder who says: "Those uniforms meant just as much to Charlie Brown, as they did to you. Probably more!".
Trivia
- The scene where Snoopy is surfing is later used in Snoopy Come Home (in the beach scene) and Snoopy's Reunion (when Charlie Brown tells Linus that he's had Snoopy for over a year).
- Just like A Charlie Brown Christmas before it, this special also had sponsoring from Coca Cola (and Dolly Madison), which was later edited out from later broadcasts and video/DVD releases.
Goofs
- Early in the show, Charlie Brown says "we have 5 boys, 3 girls, and 1 dog on the team" - but all 4 of the girls are shown playing along with Snoopy and the 5 boys.
- Despite Linus already knowing about why Charlie Brown had to give up the uniforms long before the next game, he is shown wailing along with the rest of the team when Charlie Brown breaks the news to them.
- After Charlie Brown and the girls gets tangled in the jump rope, Patty, Violet and Freida's skateboards suddenly appear in the next shot.
- In the first scene, Charlie Brown runs off the baseball field and into a nearby residential area in an effort to catch a long fly ball. Along the way he passes Violet, Frieda and Patty on the sidewalk jumping rope, who therefore are presumably not part of the baseball game. But after Charlie Brown misses the catch, Violet, Frieda and Patty are among the capped teammates who walk up to berate him for his error.
- In the scene where Charlie Brown tells Linus about why he can't get the uniforms, Linus has no baseball hat. But in a close-up shot of Linus, he's wearing a cap. In the next shot, he isn't.
Film Credits
- Written by Charles M. Schulz
- Directed by Bill Melendez
- Produced by Lee Mendelson and Bill Melendez
- Original Score Composed and Conducted by Vince Guaraldi
- Animators: Bob Carlson, Herman Cohen, Ruth Kissane, Ed Love, Frank Smith, Reuben Timmins, Russ Von Neida, John Walker, Rudy Zamora
- Layout: Bernard Gruver, Ed Levitt
- Backgrounds: Dean Spille
- Ink and Paint: Beverly Robbins, Eleanor Warren, Faith Kovaleski
- Picture and Sound Editing: Robert T. Gillis
- Assistant Editor: Steven Cuitlahuac Melendez
- Animation Camera: Nick Vasu
- Recorded by Producers' Sound Service
- A LEE MENDELSON/BILL MELENDEZ PRODUCTION
- In Cooperation With UNITED FEATURE SYNDICATE, INC.
- (c)1966 United Feature Syndicate, Inc.
External links
| Preceded by “A Charlie Brown Christmas” |
Peanuts television specials | Followed by “It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” |
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