Snoopy, vuelve a casa

Lila's Tune, which is sung by Shelby Flint seems to get no credit even for it's existence. Thats a shame because it still haunts me twenty years after I first heard it. I wish a soundtrack was available on cd or cassette. I had to jump through hoops just to find out the name of the song, and then to find out who sang it. The show was fantastic even though sad. Sad is a lesson we tend to shield our children from, and when something sad happens in their real lives they don't know how to deal with it.

I remember this Peanuts movie-special, along with A Boy Named Charlie Brown, fondly as a kid, when they replayed these specials on Nickelodeon (or it might have been Disney's channel, can't remember which). Each one had several songs in each pot, all of them catchy to one degree or another, and featuring some of the genuine wit of the comic strips. This film is maybe relying on more sentimentality than the former, as in this one the issue of leaving home and belonging to an master/owner (and the attachment), and the comedy isn't as rampant as in other Peanuts specials. But of the dozens of Peanuts specials- and the short-lived television series- this is one of the better ones, as there are some moments that still stick in my mind many years after seeing it. One of these is the classic "No Dog's Allowed" song, with the perfect bass sounding voice. And the whole sequence where Snoopy is under protest taken in by a very determined little girl is brilliantly done for laughs. For some kids, depending on if they're attached to the Peanuts or not, may feel stronger with this film, with the very conflicting climax with Snoopy and his masters. There's enough fun though, as Woodstock's first appearance in the Peanuts series is well placed and delivered, with as many vaudevillian expressions as Snoopy.

Just good, family fun for all.

This movie had it all for me as a kid... laughs, sadness, and suspense. (Hey, when you're 6 years old, you don't know if there's really going to be a happy ending). I never forgot the scene with Charlie Brown singing mournfully after Snoopy leaves "for good." Even now I get goosebumps thinking about him standing next to Snoopy's empty doghouse, and laying in bed knowing his World War I Flying Ace isn't outside to protect him from the Red Baron. Probably the best Peanuts movie ever made.

I was a 21 year old working as a projectionist in a neighborhood theater when this film was released and I had the opportunity to help get it up on the screen. This seemed like such a nice and enjoyable gem back then, with some scenes as breezy as a summer's day and others with a somewhat darker but thoughtful tone (themes of rejection and the sadness of separation). It was an early " buddy movie" shown pointedly in the cross-country journey that Snoopy takes with Woodstock. Some scenes are reminiscent of a Hope and Crosby "road" picture. There is a delightful song sung by Shelby Flint in the film....she would later sing another in the first rate animated film, The Rescuers. I actually tracked down a couple of her albums as a result. I don't have children, but I still think this is a delightful film and I have my own personal video copy. Good for all ages.

This is a sad, sad movie. Just the thought of Snoopy possibly thinking of leaving is enough to make anybody with a heart cry. Worth seeing, though, for the whole "NO DOGS ALLOWED" scenes, Woodstock's whistle-along tune, and the ultra-happy ending. If you don't like the idea of a puppy running away from home, though, don't even try this movie.