A Charlie Brown Valentine
Tags: psychedelic

Plot synopsis:
This special begins with Charlie Brown sitting on a bench at lunch, trying to get the nerve to talk to the Little Red Haired Girl, but of course, chickening out. He says he feels silly to chicken out, because he knows he is the type of person she would like. He says "I may not be the greatest guy who ever lived, but after all, who is? I'm just a nice type of guy who never gets to meet little red haired girls". Just then, the Little Red Haired Girl walks by, and drops her pencil. Charlie Brown notices it, picks it up, and sees it has teethmarks in it. He realizes, this means she nibbles on her pencil, and is human. Charlie Brown wants to use the Little Red Haired Girl's lost pencil as an excuse to talk to her while returning it to her, but unfortunately, Lucy takes the pencil from Charlie Brown and returns it to the Little Red Haired Girl before Charlie Brown has a chance to.
Later that day, Charlie Brown buys a cheap box of chocolates for the Little Red Haired Girl, and decides to hide behind a tree and give it to her, commenting "Love makes you do strange things".
The next day, Marcie is seen making a Valentine's card for Charlie Brown, and telling Peppermint Patty that she is very fond of him. Later that day, Marcie goes over to Charlie Brown's house to ask him if he likes her, and all Charlie Brown says is, "Do I what?". Marcie then walks away, angry. Later, Charlie Brown receives a letter saying "I know you like me and I like you". Charlie Brown gets very excited thinking it's from the Little Red Haired Girl, but Peppermint Patty yells at him, telling him "That letter was from me. You like me, Chuck". She leaves Charlie Brown standing there, saying "I do?". And the next day Marcie calls Charlie Brown to ask him if he likes her, and he gets confused again.
Charlie Brown buys the Little Red Haired Girl a valentine, and then he wants to practice giving it to her. He tells Snoopy to pretend to be the little Red Haired Girl while he practices delivering the valentine. When Charlie Brown knocks on his door (while practicing), Snoopy answers with a wig on, which annoys Charlie Brown.
Charlie Brown still doesn't know what to do about the Little Red Haired Girl. Linus suggests Charlie Brown should invite her to the school Valentine's Day dance. Charlie Brown agrees, but first asks Linus to talk to her to find out if she likes him. Linus goes over and asks her if she likes Charlie Brown. However, the Little Red Haired girl has no idea there was a kid in their class named Charlie Brown.
Later, in class, Charlie Brown tries to impress the Little Red Haired Girl by winking at her. However, before she can notice him, the teacher sends Charlie Brown to the nurse because she thinks he is winking because his eye hurts him.
The next day, Valentine's Day, Charlie Brown notices the Little Red Haired Girl handing out valentines. He gets excited that she might give him a valentine, but becomes discouraged when she doesn't give him one.
Later, when Charlie Brown and Linus are at the wall, Linus suggests that Charlie Brown calls her to invite her to the Valentine's Day dance. Charlie Brown says he can't because he is worried she might hang up in his face. Linus tells him that's the beauty of calling on the phone. If she hangs up on one ear, that is not considered the whole face.
Later, Charlie Brown with Linus dials on the phone, attempting to call the Girl. However, on the other side of the line, Marcie picks up. Charlie Brown realizes he dialed the wrong number. He tells that to Marcie, and Marcie says she understands, and she thinks he probably meant to call Peppermint Patty. She tells him lucky for him, that Patty is here. She gives the phone to Patty. Peppermint Patty asks Charlie Brown if he called to invite her to his school's Valentine's dance, but before Charlie Brown can answer her, she accepts the offer.
That night, Charlie Brown puts on a suit, because he has to go to the ball with Peppermint Patty. He goes to feed Snoopy first, but Snoopy puts on a bowtie and goes with him. When they arrive at the party, Charlie Brown is told that Snoopy can't come in because dogs aren't allowed at this party. Charlie Brown tells a fib to the host that Snoopy is really a kid who comes dressed as a dog because he thinks it was a costume party, so Snoopy is allowed in.
At the party, Charlie Brown sees Linus, and Linus tells him the Little Red Haired Girl is at the party, so he should ask her to dance with him. Charlie Brown decides Linus is right, and starts walking towards the Little Red Haired Girl, getting more nervous with every step he takes. But before he could make it over to her, Peppermint Patty and Marcie find him, and start dancing with him, much to Charlie Brown's annoyance. When the two girls finally let him go, Charlie Brown realizes the Little Red Haired Girl is already dancing with somebody else. And that somebody else is Snoopy.
After the dance, Peppermint Patty and Marcie complain to Charlie Brown that he is not a good date, as he is a horrible dancer. They also ask that he doesn't invite them to any more dances.
The special ends with Charlie Brown upset that he didn't get to dance with the Little Red Haired Girl, and didn't even receive one valentine. Just then, Snoopy brings Charlie Brown a valentine, and Charlie Brown becomes excited. The special ends there, and it is not revealed who the valentine is from.

Review: Is This the Future of Peanuts?.
Charles Schulz requested (though since he did not hold the copyright to Peanuts he could not demand) that no one create any new Peanuts stories after his death.
United Media, on the other hand, did not want to let a cash cow like Peanuts fade into the night.
So they compromised with Schulz's family, making the latest Peanuts special, "A Charlie Brown Valentine", from a conglomeration of numerous loosely connected comic strips penned by Schulz.
Unfortunately, the special feels like a conglomeration of numerous loosely connected comic strips.Unlike previous Peanuts features, which almost always contained a coherent (although occasionally bad) plot, the only prevailing theme here is that it is Valentine's Day.
Actually, it's several Valentine's Days.
The time frame jumps around *so* much that we can't keep any supposed story line straight.
Early on, we get the impression the special takes place on February 14.
Then Lucy announces that Valentine's Day is a week away.
Then Charlie Brown tries to work up the courage to give the little red-haired girl a Valentine.
Then we learn that V-Day is still a few days away, then Charlie Brown goes to a school dance.While some of the jokes are funny, the special could hardly be called hysterical, and its choppy style is more dizzying that enjoyable.
All in all, "A Charlie Brown Valentine" plays more like a love-themed episode of _The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show_ than a legitimate television special.
While such a variety show could get away with some unfunny sketches (_Saturday Night Live_ has been getting away with it for decades), a full-blown special has to pull its weight all the way through.
Sadly, this one does not.If Peanuts is to survive beyond one more TV special, a new compromise must be reached.
We must allow the producers the opportunity to forge existing strips into a workable script--one with a story line--and the possibility of adding some new jokes.
Otherwise, the next special may be, "It's the Last Hoorah, Charlie Brown.".
A Major Disappointment.
No spoilers in this review.
But there is nothing to really spoil.It is Valentine's Day, a day I always hate living through, and I just finished watching the newest Charlie Brown TV special.
It is the first Peanuts television special since 1993, and I was interested to see if it would be any good.
The nineties weren't too kind to anyone that liked or used to like Peanuts.
The big TV stations started to crack down on its cartoon specials like Peanuts and Garfield, and the success that the sixties, seventies, and eighties brought it were stopped cold, with only the traditional Christmas special being shown (which I don't think is as good as people claim when compared to some of the other specials).
The last special for television, `You're in the Super Bowl, Charlie Brown,' was absolutely the most wretched special ever made.
The strip itself was also going South.
Charles Schultz, I believe, should have quit ten years ago.
I would read the strip in the paper and wonder where all the funny stuff went.
Now, two years and two days after Schultz's death, a new cartoon is made.
I found it odd that they made a Valentine's Day special, since there already was one, a good one, back in 1975.
But I decided to watch with an open mind.
But I couldn't believe how bad this turned out to be, and it is with a heavy heart that I type this review.
What it all really turns out to be is a whole bunch of short sketches with various members of the Peanuts gang doing different things leading up to Valentine's Day. Scene after scene, joke after joke, flops like a dead fish.
You don't have to be a kid to like a Peanuts cartoon, so I don't think I am being unfair calling this horribly unfunny.
I did not find any of this amusing.
Part of the problem is that there is so much going on at once that you have trouble following it all.
Characters are off doing their own thing, and Bill Melendez switches scenes every twenty seconds, and very few of the `subplots' are resolved.
The main story involves the tired old plot of Charlie Brown having difficulty asking the Little Red-Haired Girl out.
Most of the scenes involve Charlie Brown complaining to himself or Linus how he can't do it, how he is not tough, how she doesn't know he exists, etc.
He's doing something different in each segment, so there is no real plot movement and no story structure at all, which completely kills the experience of enjoyment.
What was the point of the Marcie and Peppermint Patty segments?
Or the Lucy and Schroeder scenes?
Or any of the scenes, for that matter?
When they finally get to the scene involving the Valentine's Day dance, nothing happens and it is cut off after less than three minutes there.
The final scene also doesn't explain itself.
I am not sure what it was implying, really, but it looks like a desperate attempt to throw in a happy ending when the script has painted them into a corner Melendez couldn't get out of.
There were other aspects I wasn't impressed with, too.
The usually reliable Bill Melendez was really sleeping on the job here.
There is a scene early on where Charlie Brown and Lucy are sitting and leaning against a tree, but their heads overlap the tree trunk.
This might be excusable had the special been funny.
The same cannot be said for a goof up at the dance, when you see Franklin in the background, but he has dirt marks all over his head like Pigpen, who makes his own cameo a few moments later.
How did that slip by?
Worst of all, I think, is the voice cast.
It isn't that they were poor choices, though voices in past specials easily top them, it is just that they don't say things right.
Many times the cast shouts their lines out when a character should be talking normally; other times a character plainly talks when the animated body movements suggest they should be shouting.
And many of the voices are stiff, like the vocal actors didn't even get a practice take.I was shocked that this was as poor as it was, particularly the lack of structure.
If they make another Peanuts special, I sure hope it comes out better than this.
I wouldn't call this the worst, as nothing could be worse than the Super Bowl special, but it ranks up there with the worst.
Even `Flashbeagle' could be forgiven.
I would suggest that you skip this one and look for another.
There are over thirty Peanuts specials in existence....so why can't the big stations just show some of the old, rare ones again so we can remember what it was like when the Peanuts were terrific?
Zantara's score: 2..
A Charlie Brown Valentine isn't as effective as the previous Peanuts love special.
Though it had the usual "Created and written by Charles M.
Schulz" credit, this was the first animated special made after Sparky's death in 2000.
It was also the second concerning Valentine's day and as such, there isn't the depressing vibe the first one had.
In this one, Charlie Brown spends most of his time pining for The Little Red-Haired Girl who is usually an unseen character.
But this one has her in a couple of scenes.
Unlike the last one, Peppermint Patty and Marcie are also present both of whom think Charlie likes them and get disappointed when they find out otherwise.
Add in Lucy still trying to get Schroeder's attention and Sally's ignoring her "Sweet Baboo's" protests of her love declarations and you have a pretty funny show lovingly directed, as usual, by Bill Melendez.
But compared to the last Valentine one, it's not as effective....
The most recent Charlie Brown special.
This special premiered tonight and I really enjoyed it.
A lot of classic Peanuts strips were put into animation.
Though this was probably the first Peanuts special produced after the death of Charles Schulz it still had the same classic animation and humor as the others.
They even showed the Little Red Haired Girl dancing with Snoopy.
One thing I've noticed though is that a lot of things are drawn the way they were in the comics:  (Ex:  In most Peanuts specials Lucy's hair is all black, here it has a white outline.
The same thing with Snoopy's ears.)  Oh, well.
Still this was a great holiday special..
This is my favorite of the "new" Charlie Brown specials.
I liked it better than the Christmas tales and Lucy must be traded.
It's also one of all time Charlie Brown specials-I'd say in the top 5 somewhere.
I loved the dance part!
I think the main reason that I loved it is because I could relate to about 90% of it!
(Especially the dance part)  Worth watching and even worth owning.
It's suppose to come out in Jan, 2004.
(PeanutsAnimation website).
It's Valentine's Day. Charlie Brown pines to be the little red-haired girl's valentine.
He doesn't even have the courage to rescue her from a bully.
Peppermint Patty also wants a Valentine.
She sends one to Charlie Brown.
Marcie also wonders if Charlie Brown likes her.
Lucy is willing to settle for kisses and a hug from Schroeder.
Sally wants Linus to be her sweet baboo no matter what he actually wants.There is something hilarious about the pathetic Charlie Brown.
Poor Charlie Brown!
Poor Charlie Brown!
It's also his essence.
It's just simply funny.
I like both Marcie and Peppermint Patty in this.
They are a favorable duo of mine.
Snoopy has a funny bit putting on a red wig but this is all Charlie Brown.
He is completely hopeless and completely funny..
Great!.
Great!.
When you own it, it adds four minutes of footage that did not air when it aired back in 2002.
It's one of my favorites from the Peanuts gang!
It's right up there with, a CB christmas, first kiss, short summer and Why CB why?
Great special!!!.
Cartoon Romance, Charlie Brown-Style.
If you are someone who is deeply yearning for even a bit of love'n'romance to happen on this Valentine's Day - Remember - You are not going to be alone in your longing.
No.'Cause you can be sure that Mr. Lovelorn, himself, (good, old) Charlie Brown (good grief!), has got his romantic-eye set on the little, red-haired girl (who doesn't seem to know that he even exists).(Poor Charlie Brown.
Indeed.)So - If you enjoy watching 2-D "Peanuts Gang" animated pictures - This is definitely a really cute one that is sure to keep you happily entertained for its 25-minute running time.Kiss.
Kiss.
Hug. Hug..
Another fun and amusing Peanuts TV special.
Valentine's Day with the Peanuts gang: Charlie Brown tries to muster up the courage to ask the little red-haired girl to the school dance, Lucy demands kisses and chocolates from Schroeder, Sally wants to make Linus her sweet baboo, Snoopy writes bad poetry, Marcie grapples with her crush on Charlie Brown, and Peppermint Patty wants Charlie Brown to take her as his date to the dance.
Once again, this show offers Charles M.
Schulz's trademark engaging blend of sharp humor (Snoopy's terrible stabs at poetry in particular are hilariously awful), well-defined characters, and bittersweet pathos (poor wishy-washy Charlie Brown's continual struggle with his low self-esteem and faltering attempts at getting the little red-haired girl to notice him are both funny and touching).
The climactic dance is a total hoot, with Snoopy wooing all the ladies and even stealing the last dance with the little red-haired girl away from Charlie Brown.
Linus' obdurate refusal to be Sally's sweet baboo likewise provides some good laughs and it's always a riot to see Lucy hitting on the blithely oblivious Schroeder.
David Benoit supplies a nifty and lively revamp of Vince Guaraldi's classic theme music.
Worth a watch for Peanuts fans..
Peanuts in Love.
Unfortunately, for them, pretty much all of it is unrequited in "A Charlie Brown Valentine".
This is a 25-minute short film from almost 15 years ago and this was one made in the brief period after Schulz' death while Melendez was still alive.
They could basically recycle some of the old stuff here for this one in terms of the story as the romantic preferences of the characters have been show in many films already.
Charlie and his little red-haired girl is my personal favorite, but one girl's love for the piano virtuoso and the other one's for her little baboo are fairly entertaining too.
All in all, another decent addition to this long-running franchise.
We shall see how the topic of love is used are used in the new Peanuts film this year.
We will certainly see a bit about these romantic connections in there as well.
Until then, I recommend watching this one here.
Snoopy's pranks are funny again too.