You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown

"Why can't you eat your meal quietly and calmly like any other normal dog?"

"So what's wrong with making meal time a joyous occasion?"

A series of events in the lives of Charlie Brown (Kesten and Brando).

Charlie Brown tries to fly a kite, without much success.  He also tries to lead his baseball team to success.  His class has to write a big book report about "Peter Rabbit."  Lucy van Pelt (Smith) tries to convince Schroeder (Reinbolt) that they are in love, while teaching her brother Linus (Wagner) about life.  Snoopy (Towers) imagines that he is a fierce predator, despite his love for his bird friend Woodstock.  He also celebrates his love for supper.  At the end of the day, can


In the 1960s, Clark Gesner wrote songs based on the characters from Charles Schulz's Peanuts comic strip.  Schulz gave permission to record the songs, and that turned into a stage musical in 1967 called "You're a Good Man Charlie Brown."  The musical starred Gary Burghoff as Charlie Brown and Bill Hinnant as Snoopy.  Hinnant won a Tony for his portrayal.  It was revived in 1999 with a few minor changes (new songs and changing Patty to Sally).  The revival was also a Tony Award winning show: Roger Bart won for his portrayal of Snoopy and Kristen Chenoweth won for her role as Sally.

This film is a TV special that was adapted from the show.  Two songs from the show were removed and the songs that remained are adapted for the movie.  The show and this movie take beloved moments from the comic strip and give them new life.

Unlike other Peanuts movies, this does not have an overarching story or theme.  It is a series of vignettes in the lives of the Peanuts kids.  But that doesn't take away from the joy and innocence of this movie.  Often Schulz's comics were short stories that didn't connect on a long-term scale.

As a child I loved this special and watched it often.  In college I discovered and fell in love with the musical.  I love that I can enjoy the Broadway sounds of Peanuts (in this and "Snoopy! The Musical") and still watch the comics that I love.

You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown (1985) 49 minutes
Director: Sam Jaimes
Starring: Brad Kesten as Charlie Brown
Kevin Brando as Charlie Brown (singing)
Jessie Lee Smith as Lucy van Pelt
Daivd Wagner as Linus van Pelt
Tiffany Reinbolt as Sally Brown
Jeremy Reinbolt as Schroeder
Robert Towers as Snoopy
Michael Dockery as Marcie
Bill Melendez as Snoopy/Woodstock