You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown

Out of all the Peanuts specials that are not Holiday specials, this is my personal favourite. Christmas, Great Pumpkin, and Easter Beagle will always be best, but besides those few, this is my favourite. The only one that rivals it is A Charlie Brown celebration, and that is only for it's sheer insanity. First off, the songs all absolutely rule. The kite flying song and the theme song are both among the greatest songs ever written for TV. But the greatest song from all Peanuts specials, is and will always be Happiness. Every time I hear it, I'm singing it for days. As far as story goes, there really isn't one. It's just really an animated version of highlights from the play. But, my what highlights they are. The baseball scene is one of the best ever. I finally taped the show when it aired on Nick-at-Nite recently, and now I can watch it whenever I want. Just two complaints- the classic theme song is not featured at all, and Snoopy talks (in a rather effeminate voice). But besides that, a classic from start to finish. This started out as a Broadway play. Sadly, I can only imagine Gary Burghoff as Charlie Brown.

The animated version of Clark Gesner's play "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown", based of course on the beloved comic strip Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz is truly one of the most delightful and heart-warming and beautiful animated specials – or let's get even broader, films – that I've seen in a long time. I am not familiar at all with the stage production; I only know a little bit about its history, but having seen this wonderful little film, I am now eager to track down a showing and purchase a ticket. Personally, I am not a huge fan of musicals, especially not ones for children, but this is a major exception. Maybe because Peanuts and the play were written more for adults, but can carry a meaning to children as well, this works out brilliantly.

The story is basically a day in the life of our favorite Peanuts characters: Linus, Lucy, Schroeder, Snoopy, and of course, ol' wishy-washy Charlie Brown. The story tackles all our favorite running gags from the comic strip and brings them to life with a new style: surprisingly well-written songs with breathtakingly beautiful music flooding into our ears. All of these songs, most notably "Schroeder", "Glee Club", and the ending note "Happiness" are utterly beautiful and there were moments I nearly started to tear up because it was so artistic and wonderful and it reached down into my soul and touched me in a way that only a really good movie can do. And the remarkable thing about these songs and what makes me, a Peanuts fanatic, so enthralled by them is how accurately they capture the spirit of the comic strip. Remember, these songs were written without the collaboration of Schulz or animator Bill Melendez, so that makes the special worth even more praise. Most of the movie is dominated by songs, but it does not simply stop there; it also takes the liberty of incorporating dialogue, mostly taken from Schulz's strip to keep the overall spirit.

"You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown" is one of the most thoroughly enjoyable pieces of animation that I've seen in a long, long time. It got me interested from the spirit-capturing opening, enthralled me with one great song after another, I laughed, I smiled, I clapped my hands, I had a great time. I have only complaint: the movie is *only* about fifty minutes long! That is way, way too short. The special ran by so quickly and so wonderfully that I was left wanting more. Why couldn't this have gone on at least ten or twenty minutes longer? Fifty minutes is not enough for something this rich and sweet and beautiful.

Plot In a Nutshell: The Peanuts gang are shown in a series of short, unrelated skits, which are peppered with songs of varying quality.

It should be noted, in fact it has to be said, that this Peanuts special is by and large a musical. It is filled with songs taken from the 1960s off-Broadway production of the same name, and as a result, what you have here is a rather atypical Peanuts product. "You're A Good Man" was NOT written by Charles Schulz, maybe the only Peanuts special not to be written by him.

Most of the reviews here are glowing, giving "You're A Good Man" either 9 or a full 10 stars; however, most of those reviewers also freely admit that they love musicals. So those reviews are heavily biased and that needs to be understood, as the reviewers are gushing about an art form they love. In other words, they are relatively unreliable.

I don't hate musicals, but I don't love them, either, so I feel I can be pretty open-minded here. There were a few songs within I did enjoy, like the title number and "Happiness." However, there were several others I thought were rather poor ("Home On the Range," Lucy's song about incorrect 'facts,' and a polyphonic headache about Peter Rabbit). Some of the reviews here claim every song is 'glorious' and that's just wildly overblown, at least to me.

There is also a song sung by the baseball team that is somewhat catchy. But there's a problem with it. They sing that the team is 'one win away from the championship'...well, anyone who knows Peanuts knows that simply can't be true. Their team rarely wins one game, let alone enough of them to be 'one win away from the championship.' The lyrics are totally out of step with what makes Charlie the lovable loser that he is.

So I found "You're A Good Man" to be very much a mixed bag. There are a lot of songs here and very little story. It's basically a collection of skits, sometimes taken right from the Peanuts strip, but then augmented (or dominated) by the insertion of songs into each skit. If you happen to love musicals, then you'll likely enjoy this as well. If you dislike or are indifferent to them, you're likely going to be pining for something else before long, especially as there is no over-arching story to follow.

5/10. Would I watch again: (Y/N)? Not anytime soon.

If you have ever seen the stage musical, then you will love this special. Even if you haven't seen it, then you should like this. The songs "You're A Good Man Charlie Brown" and "Happiness" are my personal favorites. The basic plot: a typical day in the life of Charlie Brown.

Peanuts is without a doubt, one of the greatest comic strips ever created. And the TV specials that were spawned from the strip are equally enjoyable to this day. But among the over forty specials created, there is one glaring special that should not have been made. The special, in question, is 'You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown.' This special originated from an off-Broadway play. Yes, a musical. And it shows throughout the special. Charles Schulz did not create this one. Even if audiences didn't know off the bat that Schulz had not written this piece, it would become quickly evident that he hadn't. This special was originally created by a man named Clark Gesner, in the 1960's. According to the bonus feature included in the DVD, "Animating A Charlie Brown Musical", it wasn't even until roughly twenty years later this the play was made into this TV special.

The bonus featurette is about the only major positive to this DVD, sadly. While there are some funny jokes here and there throughout the different segments--this was not one continuous movie. It was just a bundle of separate skits--the fact that Gesner tried to literally adapt the comic strip to the stage, and then to the small screen, made this one of the lesser enjoyable Peanuts pieces.

The only thing that made the bonus feature worthwhile was that producer, Lee Mendelson did try to defend the strip. As a result, he gave audiences a little known fact in that Black Eyed Peas member, Fergie, (a.k.a Stacy Ferguson) was a member of the Peanuts gang in the 1984 special, 'It's Flashbeagle, Charlie Brown.' The reference was made in Mendelson's attempt to defend 'You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown.' The bonus featurette included in this DVD made the DVD worth buying for true Peanuts fans and collectors. But unlike so many of the Peanuts specials that have been released in recent years, this is one of the few that lacks any bonus special(s). So all audiences really get with this new DVD is the one special, with no bells or whistles. Just Clark Gesner's off-Broadway play animated for television. So even if audiences are avid fans and collectors, this is a special that will sadly likely find itself spending more time on a DVD rack than in a DVD player.