Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (and Don't Come Back!!)

Peanuts has become a staple of American culture, so the jokes have a hard time coming across as fresh nowadays. The pleasure I get from watching these films is not due to it being laugh-out-loud funny, but it's from the jokes reaching a nostalgic point. I remember liking this one when I was younger, but I think I found it too complicated, in comparison to Race For Your Life, Charlie Brown. Now, I think this one stands up the best in comparison to Race... and Snoopy Come Home. Some of the other comments have hit on that this one does not obey the normal formula rules as other Peanuts features. This is exactly what makes it noteworthy. Rather than being aimed more squarely at a family audience, there's a tiny bit of creepiness to the music, which could probably scare the youngest of children. The writing in this is far more entertaining and clever, less gags are recycled from the comic strip, and as such, it will be more deserving of your attention than the other features.

The magic created by Charles Schultz comes to the screen with the return of the always charming "Peanuts" gang. This time, they're headed for France for culture, but as always, this crowd finds some way to get into trouble. One of the better movies based on the famous comic strip.

In addition to dozens of half-hour television specials, Sparky Schultz made a handful of attempts to translate his comic strip to the big screen. "Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown" is the most interesting of these because of its departures from the "Peanuts" formula.

There is no interaction between adversarial couples Linus and Lucy and Charlie Brown and Lucy in this film, because Lucy van Pelt is present only to wave goodbye to the group of exchange students. (Exchange students at the elementary school level?) A number of adults are portrayed and given voices. (No muted trumpets here). Schroeder the piano man and Pigpen the human dust storm are left behind on American soil.

This film was a labor of love for Schultz, who passed through Normandy after D Day and at one point was billetted at a manor house which could have passed for the Chateau of the Bad Neighbor. The geography is completely accurate, down to the villages adjoining the Andelle River.

The more successful Peanuts adaptations are those in which the clever storyline outweighs the limitations of kiddie voice-over acting. This is one such, the cast including students at a French-language school in San Francisco. There is also an unusually large quantity of "dialogue" spoken by Snoopy's voice, director Bill Melendez. The beagle's impressions of a British toff and a crabby French driver are priceless.

This is by far the best of the Peanuts movies. The artwork is pitch perfect without some of the characteristic sloppiness built into the other movies; the soundtrack, marvelous; and the plot expertly crafted. It's truly a shame that Paramount has failed to release this gem on DVD. It is a classic that far outperforms the Holiday films and still gives us the imaginative exploits of the Peanuts gang. If you haven't seen this one, go out and find some way to watch it. The storyline adds depth to the characters, with Charlie Brown, Peppermint Patty, Marcy, Linus, and (of course) Snoopy all heading to France for a student exchange program. For some purists the absence of the other characters may seem disappointing, but it offers the viewer a sharp focus on the characters who are in the movie. The cultural comparisons provide some of the drive for this movie, but there are also the Gothic overtones with mystery and a "forbidden secret," as well as romance (of course—they're in France!).

So in short, see this movie, and tell Paramount to release the DVD. Sign the petition at http://www.petitiononline.com/Snoopy/petition.html .

Charlie Brown, he was born to lose. This is the best peanuts gang movie. I loved it as a kid and I love it now. Am I the only one who notices that Snoopy flicks people off a lot in this. And why is the dog driving anyways?