User reviews

Typically cute, charming - if not inspired - Peanuts feature film sees the gang go to summer camp and participate in a sometimes hazardous raft race. Charlie Brown (voice of Duncan Watson) is immediately targeted by a swaggering trio of bullies who won the race the past two years, but seemingly can't succeed without cheating.

You can never really go wrong with Charles M. Schulz and his characters. There are enough pleasant and funny moments here to make "Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown" quite agreeable. Now, not all of the humor quite worked for this viewer - the running gag about the girls always voting on things wears thin - but the traditional hand drawn animation is engaging, the subplot about Snoopy and Woodstock getting separated is rather touching, and it's nice to see Charlie Brown actually stand up for himself and, in general, be a stronger character than usual.

One thing you definitely miss is the jazz style music that Vince Guaraldi would have provided, but his untimely death put the kibosh on that approach. The music by a man named Ed Bogas is a little more traditional, and it's not quite the same. There are some very annoying songs that pop up, but they're over appreciably quickly.

A straightforward story (with an endearing ending), a theme of people working together for the common good, decent laughs and thrills, and a funny gag involving Charlie Brown having to hitch a ride with Snoopy on the latters' motorcycle all help to make this nice entertainment for Peanuts fans.

Seven out of 10.

Charlie Brown and the gang head to summer camp, where they run into a group of nasty bullies and their cat (which is the size of a bulldog). They all compete in a big river raft race where our favorites run into lots of obstacles, including sabotage from the bullies. The third Peanuts film is enjoyable enough, but not one of the best. For one thing, the great Vince Guaraldi had passed away before this so this was scored by Ed Bogas. His music choices are uninspired and forgettable. There are a lot of physical gags in this one, especially once the race starts (and it takes up the majority of the film). There are also some funny character bits, such as Peppermint Patty's pushing for a vote for everything. Sally also has a number of cute lines ("I wasn't even born in 1800!"). Snoopy and Woodstock also get some amusing stuff to do but the boy characters, like Charlie Brown and Linus, have few memorable funny moments. Charlie Brown does get to step up and be the hero in the end, and the scene where he stands up to pushy Patty was very awesome, but he doesn't get much in the humor department. Also, the bully villains are pretty one-note. They're very obnoxious and easy to root against but it would've been nice to see them have a sliver of character. They don't even have names. The voice work is decent. The animation is solid with nice colors and well-done action scenes. It's not one of my favorite Peanuts cartoons, full-length or short, because there's really not a lot of meat on the bone here. But it is fun and the characters are quirky and colorful as ever. It's definitely better than most of the Peanuts cartoons put out from the '80s onward, but just not up there with the very best earlier stuff.

"Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown" is the third of four feature-length movies based on the beloved comic strip "Peanuts" by the great Charles M. Schulz. It precedes "Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (and don't come back!!!) and follows "Snoopy, Come Home" and the marvelous, underrated classic "A Boy Named Charlie Brown." For the third film, the animation quality was taken down a notch, but the real charm of "Peanuts", the comic strip and the specials, was never in the visual look. It was all in the story, in the characters, in the gags, and dignity of everything that Schulz created. And this short and delightful little movie captures that effectively.

A common recurring theme in the "Peanuts" universe is summer camp, where Charlie Brown, Peppermint Patty, and sometimes others go to the remote woods and uncover fall into challenges, predicaments, and situations, all to the amusement of the audience. Here's a feature-length movie based on that. Charlie Brown and all of his pals are sent to summer camp and are pitted against a group of bullies and their rascally pet (I wasn't sure if it was a dog or a cat) in a river raft race. The race consumes most of the movie's running time as Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Linus, Lucy, and the others make their way through the wilderness and as usual, our round-headed protagonist, is trying to find a way to stand up for himself and prove that he's not a born loser.

The story for "Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown" could have been done effectively in a half-hour short, as it very well may have been originally intended. Even at a feature-length running time, it still comes off as very amusing. The charm of "Peanuts" was its ability to never fail at amusing you, delighting you, charming you, and making you grin positively from ear to ear. And I was grinning and laughing all the way through. The voice acting is considerably good as well. The only real complaint that I do have about the movie is that the animation quality has been taken down a notch from the previous two movies and the animated specials. It seems a little incomplete, a little sketchy to me and a little rushed. At times, for example, Linus's head would be of the appropriate proportion to his body, but at other times, it would seem to oversize itself.

From an effective opening to a most effective ending, "Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown" is another example of the countless charm that rectifies Charles M. Schulz as one of the true creative geniuses of all time. Well-directed by Bill Melendez, this is a sweet little family movie that will charm and engage adults at the same time it works its wonders on children.

I watched this classic film tonight from eons ago and was entertained just like I was in childhood when I viewed it back then. It reminded me of how it was "relative" to what a kid goes through when they're adjusting to the ways of life and constantly curious about the world. Growing up in a small Northern town and later in Calgary, made me see how kids were in a different world compared to adults.

There was the bullies in elementary school, the assaults in the playground and the "gang wars" that erupted every now and then. Back then, there was no worry about charges for assault. We were too young for that.

Adults were also depicted in these Peanuts cartoons as alienated with a garble in how they talked towards the kids. Clearly showing the dividing line between them.

Yeah, there was another world kids were in compared to the older folks and there was a lot of adventure to be had in that. This movie accurately portrays that.

Charlie Brown and the gang compete in a raft race against a team of malicious bullies with a vicious cat who has a spiked collar and sharp fangs. Every dirty trick was played in the race to deter the good kids from winning.

Let's see, there are deflated rubber rafts, snow in the summer and wicked rapids to overcome in order to win the race. It doesn't help matters either when the bad kids are constantly ahead and change the direction of the signs to direct the good kids to the hazardous areas.

It reminded me of my times as a kid whenever the gang of bullies raided the playground. They'd chase us around and beat us up if they caught us. That was unforgettable.

Yeah, we were in our own world back then and it sometimes felt like a dangerous war zone. This Peanuts movie accurately captured that and it sure captures what kids go through. It wasn't easy, but still there was a strong feeling of adventure throughout it all, like a knight declaring war on a neighboring Kingdom.

Yeah, it's been 40+ years since this was released, but it has a soft spot for me, because they would show this around autumn to Christmas time, so a lot of nostalgia to be mined.

I got a chance to watch it kids during a kiddie matinee (actual film print) so I wanted to gauge their reactions.

Overall, the theme of Charlie Brown attempting to learn leadership tends to fall on their deaf ears. They are there to see Snoopy and Woodstock and their physical shenanigans. Which makes the deeper ideas of learning to work together in adverse conditions much more poignant to a slightly older crowd, who aren't that cynical.

Here Charlie Brown and Company decide to go on a camping trip. There he is asked what his purpose of going to camp was. And his answer is to learn to be more of a leader. It speaks more about creator Charles Schulz's send of insecurities and self-esteem. In the flick, Charlie Brown is confronted by a bully gang who challenges him and his friends to the rafting competition (well, really, it's the camp). Through many side adventures, they eventually conclude that Charlie learns that he has the goods when it comes to making decisions when adversity occurs.

This has always been the core of these movies. Pushing through when life gets tough and having faith everything will work out.

The landscape of the camp doesn't have any logical sense (they are in the desert and then in the forest. How long were they on the school bus (?). Things you never think about when (at the time I was 6) you are young. To adults that seems a bit distracting. Or, obviously the rules of the camp contests. Or how some characters pop in and out. The expanded universe of Peppermint Patty, for instance, has only three other girls in it who actually have voting status.

I digress, this movie is for young kids who like to see colors and some loud noises.

As I do get older, I find Snoopy to be a distracting. Not sure why I always hated the humanizing of animals. Snoopy seems to be more human than the humans that own him. He rarely acts like a dog. So it does get puzzling as to some logic flaws with him, as well. It could be frustrating to a lot of older people who discover it later in life.

Either way, it does have a background noise quality to it. It's not like you need to pay close attention to the plot. They kept it simple.

And we should be grateful for that.

Charlie Brown and company go to summer camp and then have to compete with some bullies on a river-rafting trip. Most "Peanuts"-based movies are pure comedy, but "Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown" does turn a little more serious when Snoopy and Woodstock get separated during a storm. But for the most part, it's pure humor (partly owing to Peppermint Patty's insistence on voting, no matter how trivial the issue). It goes to show that Charles Schulz (who would've turned 90 last week) never lost his touch. To be certain, this movie allows Charlie Brown to find his inner strength when he becomes the leader.

No, it's not a masterpiece, but it's definitely fun. Some scenes look thrown in for comic relief, namely the water-bed, and Snoopy's motorcycle ride. Pretty neat.

The Peanuts gang heads off to summer camp. They battle bullies in boat race down the river. I know times are different back in the 70's but this is still rather ridiculous. These kids are almost killed multiple times and no adults are ever in sight. It's the gang. I don't think I know the bullies. It's Peanuts at its 70's best.

Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown was the third feature film that starred the Peanuts gang. In this one, the gang goes off to summer camp, where they instantly run into trouble with a trio of ruthless bullies that continuously dominate the camp competitions with the dirtiest tricks in the book. As you may have guessed, the gang gets their rears handed to them early, and it all comes down to a river race that is the basis for the entire plot.

The first problem in the movie is that the bullies are written as the biggest one- dimensional tools on Earth. They have no other character outside the cocky jerks that say the same "We're #1!" trash talk in all their dialogue. I should also mention that they have no name for their gang. They don't even have names for themselves. Each bully character is literally credited as "Bully". That's how big of one-dimensional antagonists that we're dealing with. Another thing that bugged me in the writing was the girls. They form a democracy and take votes on everything. I understand that the Peanuts franchise has emphasized feminism several times with its characters and story lines, and this movie is trying to show that girls can be independent. But this democracy stuff?????? One of their votes was to decide on letting the girls stay inside the cabin for the night or having the boys sleep outside the cabin, which they found first on their own, and they don't even let the boys vote. That is something I'd expect Republicans to do.

So the writing is not as strong as the Peanuts' best work, based on those two things, as well as the repetition in dialogue and editing. But the rest of the stuff in there does hold up from my memories of seeing it as a kid. It still has a lot of plot structure, clever comedy, entertaining moments, neat animation, and valuable lessons that the Peanuts franchise is always best at.

I was rather surprised by the fact that I liked this movie. It was simply some brainless fun, and although it isn't the least bit memorable, it was still funnier than ninety percent of the films that are released as "comedies". I know many people are hesitant to watch children's features, especially if they are animated, but I had a really good time with the "Peanuts" gang. It's nothing but silly fluff, but the next time you're in the mood for some inoffensive humor, give this film a chance.