Happy_New_Year,_Charlie_Brown!

<i>Happy New Year, Charlie Brown!</i>

Happy New Year, Charlie Brown!

1986 television special

Happy New Year, Charlie Brown! is the 30th prime-time animated television special based upon the popular comic strip Peanuts, by Charles M. Schulz. It aired on the CBS network on January 1, 1986.[1] The special focuses on Charlie Brown's difficulty finishing a book report over the holidays.[2] It was the last film made by Bernard Gruver, following his death on June 14, 1985, and it was considered to be his posthumous farewell. Another New Year's special, Snoopy Presents: For Auld Lang Syne, was released on Apple TV+ on December 10, 2021.

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Plot

While all the kids are happy that they get time off for Christmas vacation, Charlie Brown dreads how his teacher at the last minute assigned a book report on War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy. There is one major distraction on his mind, the big New Year's party all his friends are attending, with Peppermint Patty continuously convincing him to attend. Charlie tries inviting the object of his desires, the Little Red-Haired Girl, but gets his hand caught in the mail slot.

With the party on his mind, he attempts to try to find another way to write the report, even going to a bookstore to find an audiobook and computer game of it, all to no avail. While at the party, he tries to finish the book on the front porch of the house, but falls asleep and misses the clock's striking of midnight but is more devastated when Linus reveals that he ended up dancing with the Little Red-Haired Girl, who showed up after all.

At the end of the special, Charlie hands his book report to the teacher and gets a D minus. Despite the poor grade, Charlie Brown is proud that he made an honest effort and avoided an outright failure. However, the teacher announces that the entire class will be made to read and report on Fyodor Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment, overwhelming him even more.

Cast

Home media

The special was released on VHS by Kartes Video Communications in 1987 and by Paramount Home Video on September 28, 1994. Paramount would re-release the VHS in clamshell packaging on October 1, 1996. Warner Home Video released the special on DVD on October 6, 2009 as a bonus feature for the Remastered Deluxe Edition of I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown.[3]

It was re-released as part of the box set Snoopy's Holiday Collection on October 1, 2013.

References

  1. [1]
    Solomon, Charles (2012). The Art and Making of Peanuts Animation: Celebrating Fifty Years of Television Specials. Chronicle Books. p. 21. ISBN 978-1452110912.
  2. [2]
    Crump, William D. (2019). Happy Holidays--Animated! A Worldwide Encyclopedia of Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and New Year's Cartoons on Television and Film. McFarland & Co. p. 128. ISBN 9781476672939. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  3. [3]
    "Warner announces a new 6th October release for the Charlie Brown feature". DVDActive. Archived from the original on 21 October 2012. Retrieved 19 March 2012.
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