A Boy Named Charlie Brown

"You know, Charlie Brown, they say we learn more from losing than from winning."

"Then that must make me the smartest person in the world."

Charlie Brown (Robbins) is convinced he can't do anything right.  The baseball season is a disaster and his team always loses.  His pitchers mound is covered in dandelions, which the girls won't let him destroy, and his kite won't fly.  He talks to Lucy van Pelt (Gilger) at her psychiatry booth, but leaves even more frustrated.

The next day his best friend Linus (Gilger) encourages him to enter the class spelling bee, which he wins.  He also wins the school spelling bee.  As the school champion he sent to the National Spelling Bee in New York.  He friends give him a big send-off, but can he rise above the pressure and win the Bee?


This is the first feature film to be based on Charles Schulz's "Peanuts" comic strip.  The story is based on a series of strips from 1966, with a slightly different ending.  This film follows 6 made-for-TV movies featuring the Peanuts characters.

Like most of the Peanuts movies, this is a musical.  The songs are not as memorable as some of the other Peanuts movies, but they aren't bad.  The song "I Before E" gives kids a grammar lesson, in a fun way.

It is a fun and interesting showcase for Charlie Brown, giving him the chance to be the hero... while still keeping the aspects of him that we love.  It is an enjoyable film, but not my favorite outing for the characters.

A Boy Named Charlie Brown (1969) 79 minutes
Director: Bill Melendez
Starring: Peter Robbins as Charlie Brown
Pamelyn Ferdin as Lucy van Pelt
Glenn Gilger as Linus van Pelt
Andy Pforsich as Schroeder
Sally Dryer as Patty
Bill Melendez as Snoopy
Anne Altieri as Violet
Erin Sullivan as Sally Brown
Linda Mendelson as Frieda
Christopher DeFaria as Pig-Pen