A Boy Named Charlie Brown
Tags: psychedelic

Plot synopsis:
The film starts with Charlie Brown, Linus, and Lucy laying on a hill, staring at the clouds in the sky. Lucy asks both Charlie Brown and Linus what they see. Linus' views are incredibly detailed, making Charlie Brown feel inferior that he is only able to see a 'ducky' and a 'horsie' in the clouds.Sometime afterward, Charlie Brown attempts to construct a kite and fly it. His first attempt gets destroyed by a heavy wind before he even gets off the porch. His second attempt manages to get aloft, but not before dragging him everywhere, before the kite crashes to the ground. Angered at his kite, he thrusts it at Lucy, saying 'anyone who can fly this kite is a genius.' Lucy tosses it to Snoopy...who manages to get the kite flying with no problem, much to Charlie's irritation.Eventually, the baseball season starts, and Charlie is eager for the first game of the season. After first having to contend with his pitcher's mound being covered with dandelions, the groups ends up losing the first game of the season. Charlie dejectedly goes home. In the bathtub, he remarks over his inability to do anything right. As if to add insult to injury, a toy boat he attempts to sail in the tub, sinks to the bottom.The next day, Linus visits Charlie Brown, and they play tic-tac-toe in the sand on Charlie Brown's front porch. While Charlie laments about his losing streak, Linus tries to put a positive spin on it. "We learn more from losing, than we do from winning," he replies. "I guess that makes me the smartest person in the whole world," says Charlie, being sarcastic. This causes Linus to admit that if Charlie Brown stays positive, he'll win one of these days. However, just as he says this, Linus ends up winning the tic-tac-toe game.Still unsure what to do, Charlie goes to Lucy's psychiatry booth, seeking 'professional help.' Lucy ends up showing Charlie's many faults in a slideshow. The experience makes him nauseous, and he begs for the 'therapy' to stop. Lucy then attempts to have Charlie Brown kick a football, but once again, she pulls it away, and then plans to use a video camera's instant replay of the event, to analyze him even further. This just makes Charlie even more dejected, with Lucy adding with a smile, 'wait until you get my bill.'Going to school the next day with Linus, the two are informed of a spelling bee at the school. When Linus suggests to Charlie that he should enter, Lucy, Patty, and Violet begin making fun of him, saying he'll make a fool of himself.Eventually, Charlie enters, and becomes the winner in his class. With the all-school spelling bee the next day, he and Linus go home and study the dictionary. However, the next day, Charlie's head is a jumble of words.Even so, he manages to win for the school, and the kids cheer him on, as he heads home. As Charlie attempts to relax, the others tell him that his winning for the school, means he qualifies for the 'National Eliminations Spelling Bee.' Charlie then goes back to studying, but confides in Linus that he feels he'll make a fool of himself.Some time later, Charlie is sent off by bus to the Spelling Bee. Linus is so overcome with emotion, that he gives Charlie Brown his blanket for luck, before the bus departs for New York City.This plan backfires on Linus, who begins to experience withdrawal symptoms without his blanket. Talking to Snoopy, he convinces him to come with him to find Charlie Brown and get his blanket back.After showing up at Charlie's hotel room, Charlie explains that he is not sure where Linus' blanket is, but assumes he may have left it at the library.Both Linus and Snoopy wander out into the city to look for the blanket. Snoopy is eventually distracted by the ice rink at Rockefeller Center, and skates around the ice, even pretending to be embroiled in a hockey game.Linus makes it to the public library, but peering inside, sees nothing. After he finds Snoopy, he angrily returns to Charlie Brown's hotel room, only to find Charlie struggling to stay awake after studying hard for the Spelling Bee a few hours away.As Linus struggles to keep himself going, he sees Charlie shining his shoes...with his blanket! Linus quickly snatches up the blanket, and appears to be just fine.The three then head to the competition, with Linus and Snoopy watching in the front row, and the other kids watching on television at home.As the competition continues on, it comes down to Charlie Brown and one other kid. The two are locked in a heated competition, until Charlie Brown is given the word 'beagle.' Unfortunately, Charlie trips up, and spells it b-e-a-g-e-l.Charlie sadly leaves the competition with his head hung low, and is silent for the rest of the day, even during the group's trip back home.The day after they get back, Linus stops by to see Charlie, who is laying in bed with the shades pulled down. Linus claims the kids at school missed him, but Charlie says he isn't going back to school. Linus even mentions that they had a ballgame after school, but this still doesn't relieve Charlie Brown from his morose mood, which gets a little more morose when he hears the team won.As Linus leaves, he notes that his friend seems down because he feels he let the others down, and made a fool of himself."But did you notice something, Charlie Brown?" asks Linus."What's that?" says Charlie Brown."The world didn't come to an end," replies Linus, who closes the door.These words seem to work on Charlie, who gets up, gets dressed, and walks outside. The world does seem to be going on just as normal. In a clearing, Charlie notices Lucy, sitting around with a football. As she seems to put it in a placekick position, he attempts to sneak up behind her and kick it, but she pulls it away from him at the last second, sending him sprawling on the ground.As he lays there, she comes up to him and welcomes him home.

Review: Meanwhile Linus goes cold-turkey.I have seen several of the Peanuts features and have enjoyed them as a fan but been the first to put my hands up and say that they are neither great films or totally captured the spirit of the strip.
Only the actual spelling bee final is a little slow as it is a couple of minutes of spelling!The film isn't heavy with songs like other features I've seen and the animation is nicely close to the strip and pleased me as a fan.
The voice work is all good  a little flat at times but it suits the characters (of course I'm used to them by now so I didn't have the 'problem' of imagining them myself first).Another reviewer has put this film on a par with Fantasia and, while I wouldn't say that, I can see what they mean.
Both these aspects are made better by a series of imaginative touches  in the writing it is funny little gags and the strips' usual philosophising while in the animation it is a series of imaginative fantasy sequences that really make the film feel like something special.
A BOY NAMED CHARLIE BROWN has got to be the ultimate Peanuts animation ever made!
It told a tragic story of Charlie Brown, the milquetoast little boy who works hard to be the best (trying everything from kite-flying to baseball to even competing at a spelling bee), so that he can be loved and respected by his friends, when, of course, he usually loses and his friends berate him.
Aside from creator Charles Schulz's screenplay, the great music score and songs by legendary jazz musician Vince Guaraldi, conductor John Scott Trotter, and gifted musician/poet/singer Rod McKuen really shines, and is the best score of any animated Peanuts project since the scores from all of the previous animated TV specials (only with more dimension)!
There's also some "artsy-fartsy" moments throughout the movie, including the Peanuts Gang saluting the National Anthem, Charlie Brown and Linus practicing "I before E, except after C," Schroeder playing Beethoven's Pathetique Sonata (2nd movt.) on his piano, and Snoopy skating at the Rockerfeller Center in NY, where Charlie Brown goes for the national spelling bee, but these are great images that make this movie all the more unusual!
The basic concept of this movie is that Charlie Brown is fed up with his title as a loser, a failure and a wash-out, so he gets in the class spelling bee and wins.
He's finally heralded as a winner, life is sweet.Well, after chilling out for a while, he studies for the all state spelling bee with the help of his best friend Linus, who gives him his beloved blanket for good luck.
He studies really hard and wins the championship at his school and gets to go to the "city" to be in the "National Elimination Spelling Bee"  I will not spoil the ending.Vince Guaraldi, the composer of the music for the six previous TV specials, is back for this one.
Sadly, I have seen this sequence cut from TV showings.Snoopy has a wonderful sequence while he and Linus are wandering around the city looking for his blanket that he sent with Charlie Brown for good luck.
Even though this is a movie that is defined through a series of seemingly unrelated moments (a fantasized hockey game, a spelling bee, a beautiful performance on  piano by Schroeder, a baseball game) this only adds to the closeness we feel toward the characters.
I rarely recommend movies that I truly like but I have to say that A BOY NAMED CHARLIE BROWN is a film for everyone!.
The storytelling of this film is wonderful, with a surprisingly insightful point for an animated film.This film follows the fortunes of our title character, Charlie Brown, as he finally proves his worth by making it to the National Eliminations Spelling Bee, Second Grade.
Aside from these deep meanings embedded, this is also a very funny and light-hearted film(with many great moments from Snoopy, of course, for comic relief) that I consider a classic since these characters very rarely made it to the big screen and this effort is done very well..
Schulz's beloved comic strip "Peanuts" had become so popular, as had the first six half-hour animated television specials based on it, that Schulz and animation director Bill Melendez decided it was time to bring Charlie Brown, Linus, Lucy, Snoopy, and all of their pals to the big screen for their first feature-length movie.
The result was the most delightful and wonderful masterpiece "A Boy Named Charlie Brown", which to my mind is not only the best animated special based on Schulz's comic strip, but maybe even the best animated film ever made.The story borrows elements from some of the strips Schulz had previously published, but also introduces a fresh new storyline.
But when Charlie Brown discovers he has a talent in a spelling bee and soon becomes selected to take place in a national contest, he finds his peers not only supporting him, but depending on him to succeed and he warily wanders in, determined to win for the first time in his life.I guess the most powerful element for me about "A Boy Named Charlie Brown" is that it contained the greatest message in Schulz's strip and the truest emotion in every young child in America or the world for that matter: the strive to prove oneself and facing the daunting possibility that one might not succeed and wondering how the world will respond to a failure.But Schulz, who wrote the screenplay, wisely decides not to let it become an all-out serious drama, for that would lose the spirit of his classic tale, which would run for nearly half a decade.
Charlie Brown's inability to kick a football from under Lucy's hand, his failure to fly a kite or win a baseball game, Linus' dependence on his security blanket, Lucy's lovable fuss-budget attitude, her "psychiatric treatment" for poor Charlie Brown and her unrequited love for Schroeder, Sally's for Linus, and of course, the ubiquitous and enigmatic beagle Snoopy performing one awesome performance after another amongst the characters.
We follow Charlie Brown so well, because a lot of us can personally identify with him, so that when he's in the national spelling bee, we are rooting for him all the way, hoping that once—just once—he can win and not be a failure in the eyes of his friends.This is the best of the animated "Peanuts" specials.
There's Lucy pulling away the football from Charlie Brown, Snoopy ice skating, a hilarious baseball game with a pitcher's mound covered in dandelions, Lucy and her psychiatrist booth, Linus and his blanket, and so much more.
The main plot centers around Charlie Brown entering a spelling bee and finding he's actually good at something for once.
With only one day until The Peanuts Movie comes out, I'm writing about the first big- screen adventure the Peanuts gang took for today's review: the 1969 animated feature, A Boy Named Charlie Brown.
This makes A Boy Named Charlie Brown that more special, because on top of its colorful animation, funny writing, original sound effects, and charming soundtrack, its story aims to make our hero relatable to as many of us as possible and provide a little hope for us in the most downer situations..
A Boy Named Charlie Brown from 1969 was the first Peanuts movie in a big screen.In the movie Charlie goes to spelling bee.You can also see the other great Peanuts characters like Snoopy in the movie.The characters that the master Charles M.
Schulz created about 50 years ago.Sadly the master died last February at the age of 77.If you think Peanuts are only for kids you're wrong.i'm 19 and I found this movie very entertaining.Everybody can watch Peanuts and enjoy.You don't have to be afraid of getting bored.A Boy Named Charlie Brown keeps you interested through the movie.I could end my comment with these two great words:good grief..
(In an appropriate touch, this is because some of the first words that he gets are tailored to his personality, like "insecure".) He even goes to compete in the National Spelling Bee.There's some material here that could be seen as padding, but overall it's an effective means of stretching out a Peanuts story to a feature length of approximately an hour and a half.
Then, every time Linus keels over, Snoopy fills a glass of water, and you think it's for Linus, but he ends up drinking it himself.As a bonus, "A Boy Named Charlie Brown" features a catchy way of listing various spelling rules; watching this wouldn't be a bad way for kids to learn some of them!
Poor Charlie Brown ends up so stressed out and weary that he automatically spells words that he speaks or are spoken to him.You do feel bad for Charlie, but in the end, you can always leave it to Linus to put everything into perspective for him and the audience.Many genuine laughs, a solid story, some real heart, and a typically excellent jazz soundtrack by Vince Guaraldi (including some variations on the standard "Linus and Lucy") help to make this a winner.Eight out of 10..
In this particular film, Charlie Brown feels like a loser because he can't get his kite to fly, he can't play baseball and can't seem to do anything right.
In an attempt to overcome his inferiority complex and to prove to the other kids that he's not a loser, Charlie Brown decides to enter the school spelling bee.
Snoopy also plays the jaw harp to help Charlie Brown write a song to learn all the basic spelling rules ('i' before 'e' except after 'c').
One thing that made me laugh was that one of Charlie Brown's words in the spelling bee was "fussbudget." This film also brought up all kinds of questions that I suppose I should ignore, because it's a cartoon and it's Peanuts:-Why is Charlie Brown, an 8 year old, riding a bus alone to the city and staying in a hotel room alone?
This is the only of few Charlie Brown and Peanuts films that I feel mix on and that's rare for being a long time fan of Charlie BrownAfter watching this again after so many years I have to say the movie more or less I wouldn't call it one of the better films from Charlie Brown and Peanuts The reason for it being that while it did have all that makes the Peanuts Gang it just don't feel right to meIt does feature a original story for Charlie Brown and we get to see our favorite Dog Snoopy do what he does bestThe animation for the film is just what you would expect in the late 1960s this film animation is just far out there while there are moments of good animation some scenes just makes you go what were they thinking Some of the animation is way out there that I forgot how it was when I first saw itThe voice acting is mix to me on this one is as best as I could put itThe music of course is where the Peanuts always promise to have great musicWhile I still found some good out of this film I just wouldn't say it was one of their best ones in my opinion but if you're a fan of Charlie Brown Snoopy and the rest of the Peanuts Gang this would be one to watch with the whole familyI give A Boy Named Charlie Brown an 7 out of 10.
The music scenes were a bit off the track of the film about Charlie Brown competing in the national spelling bee.
This film is really for those who love the Peanuts gang especially Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Linus, Peppermint Patty, and others..
But when I watched it again on DVD, it was like revisiting my childhood.This film, although may not go on my top 5 all-time favourite animated films, has some of the best music done brilliantly in an orchestra way, which I think was great.
Like Charlie Brown's inadequacy with flying a kite, or Lucy's imperative to mess with the kid's head at most turns, or Linus's compulsive need for his blue blanket, or even Schroder's knack at the piano.
The animators also bring some interest and imagination to otherwise unnecessary (story-wise) scenes, like Schroder's piano sequence (as a kid I was a little perplexed but not now) and Snoopy's wonderful ice skating scene in the city.
The plot is more for the kids than adults as Charlie Brown competes at the one thing that looks like his knack, the spelling bee, reaching to the highest competition and a chance to make himself no longer an outsider.
It involves Charlie Brown entering a spelling bee to prove that he's not a loser like everyone thinks he is.There are a few moments, however, that struck me as odd and/or humorous considering that they involved kids only in second grade.1.
One is with Schroeder playing a piece on his piano and the other shows Snoopy ice skating back and forth and back and forth and back and forth.Ultimately, the one thing which I did like about this particular movie was that it had a sophistication that was sorely lacking from subsequent Peanuts films.
That makes "A Boy Named Charlie Brown" an animated feature which I mildly recommend.
This meandering animated dud has our hero Charlie Brown trying to win a spelling bee.
While the movie's choppy animation remains intact (They must never ever get enough money for budget) this is saved because of the multiple ways the story is being presented.In the film, we follow Charlie Brown as he tries to win a national spelling bee after surprisingly winning the competition in his school.
The pop art undertones are much heavier here than in the next three Peanuts films combined.Charlie Brown would evolve into better-organized movies later in the 70s (Most notable Bon Voyage and Race for Your Life), but this was the writing staff getting their feet wet.
Serving as more a look at the art and styles of animation in the 60s rather than an amusing Charlie Brown picture, this film was proof that the comic strip medium can come to life in bigger ways than television.
Unlike all the others, which show haggard, underdog teams of non-atheletes defeating more skilled teams (most of whom are mean or cheaters), to supposedly prove that winning isn't everything and just have fun and heart (or worse, in the case of Angels, that God decides who wins in sporting events), Charlie Brown is simply involved in a spelling bee in which he, though an underdog according to his friends (they call him Failure Face), amazingly makes it to the final round in the national bee because he keeps getting words that have to do with "failure," something he is quite accustomed to!
Yep, that's what I said: this cartoon feature-length film featuring the beloved "Peanuts" gang is, like the comics of Schulz, a very realistic and intimate look inside the human psyche, not just of Charlie Brown, but of the Van Pelt kids.Charlie Brown believes he's a complete loser.
That only makes Lucy and the other mean girls Violet and Patty, feel more powerful.Desperately seeking self-worth, Charlie Brown decides to try out for the school spelling bee.
Even though he didn't win first place, he has returned home someone new, someone who takes risks and tries new things and works very hard toward a goal, and even though you'll never hear Lucy and the mean girls admit it, this is his victory.Deep down, at some point in our lives, "we're all a boy named Charlie Brown.".
In watching it again, I was hard-pressed to determine whether or not the feelings of depression, persecution and terror I felt were merely mirrored by the "Peanuts" comic strip which I loved so much, or were encouraged by it -- however, this is a question for my therapist.The movie builds slowly through a series of vignettes: Charlie Brown can't fly a kite, Charlie Brown can't play baseball, Charlie Brown is rather cruelly ridiculed by everyone he knows (except perhaps Linus).
Snoopy Come Home is almost like an extended wake by comparison.Much of A Boy Named Charlie Brown deals with him entering a school spelling bee, doing surprisingly well, and then heading to NYC for a national competition.
Schroeder simply repeats, "One finger will mean the high straight ball, two fingers will mean the low straight ball." Good Stuff.Does Charlie Brown win the national spelling bee?
This is a feel-good story, but its still a movie about Charlie Brown.
The film is simply a charming and clever string of events with a terrific conclusion, when Linus sees things clearly (finally, since he has his blankie back), and Charlie aims to kick the ball properly this time...I'll be looking forward to more of this, though I'm having big doubts with that recent one with the new animation style...
To show Lucy and her gang of equally mean friends that he is worth something, good old Charlie gets involved in a spelling bee.
"A Boy Named Charlie Brown" is the first of 4 Peanuts specials and also the first full-length Peanuts movie.
As for the rest of the soundtrack, it is nothing special, but I like the songs "I before E Except after C" and "A Boy Named Charlie Brown".The artwork here is quite simple, typically Peanuts.
There was one summer when I was a kid, I think it was 1984, they kept showing "A boy named charlie brown" and "snoopy come home" over and over again.
I like how in "a boy named charlie brown", there is that real down to earth feel combined with humor and good fun.
Charlie, Snoopy, Lucy, Linus, and Schroeder are decently colorful characters.