You're in Love, Charlie Brown

I guess you could say that I'm a lot like Chuck Brown, kind, caring, shunned by from my peers (gotten better over the years). But as a teenager, Your In love Charlie Brown and the one about the prom gave me much hope. Maybe I do stand a chance with the Girl of my dreams.

I very much enjoyed Your in Love Charlie Brown, It had a good plot (one all of us could relate too) and like in most Peanuts specials and films, good music. Charles C. did good with this special, all of us has that red headed girl we adore from a far but don't have the guts to talk to. This is one of my favorite peanuts specials, I had this one on VHS and I watched it all the time. The tape broke though, but I still have the memory, thank you You're in Love Charlie Brown, you gave kind nerds everywhere hope for the future.

This third "Peanuts" TV special broke new ground -- the previous two, of course, were the classic "A Charlie Brown Christmas" and "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown", but this one doesn't deal with a holiday. Well, technically it does, as it's set on the last days before summer vacation, but while children doubtless view that as a holiday, it really isn't. Instead of being a new story, it was largely composed of adaptations of various "Peanuts" strips, including part of one that was also incorporated into "You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown".

Perhaps the most interesting thing about it is that it is clearly a "try-out" of sorts for "A Boy Named Charlie Brown". In both that feature-length animation and in this half-hour special, we see Lucy, Violet and Patty dancing around Charlie Brown singing a mocking song. I suspect that the dance in "You're In Love" was done to see whether the animators could make such a musical sequence "work". It's notably less effective here, but the practice made perfect.

This was also the TV introduction of the newest member of the "Peanuts" family, Peppermint Patty. In this one, as yet unaccompanied by Marcie, she's very much as she was in her introduction, and the other characters aren't quite sure what to make of her -- "Chuck?" wonders Charlie Brown aloud, while Lucy is perplexed by her reference to her as "Lucille".

Probably the worst part of it is the frankly creepy scene where Charlie Brown crawls, spider-like, over the school fence as he tries to sneak into school. This is a kid who's supposedly one of the worst athletes in history, and he's able to do that? Come on. Also, why does the Little Red-Haired Girl sign her note to him, "The Little Red-Haired Girl"? (On the other hand, considering the low quality of one of the few episodes that featured her as an active character, 1977's "It's Your First Kiss, Charlie Brown", maybe I should be more thankful that the animators didn't see fit to give her a name yet ...)

It's springtime, and love is in the air, as Charlie Brown tries to muster up the courage to talk to the Little Red-Haired Girl. This video is a laugh riot, due to physical humor and several good scenes. Lucy, told by Charlie Brown how the Little Red-Haired Girl's pretty face makes him nervous, goes on a tirade: "Why doesn't MY face make you nervous? I have a pretty face! Wasn't I the Christmas queen? You haven't answered me!" Also funny is an odd "tryst" between Lucy and Charlie Brown: Peppermint Patty, hearing Charlie Brown's frustrations over love, arranges a meeting between the two, mistakenly thinking she's Charlie Brown's object of affection. Upon seeing each other, the two, shocked, in unison, yell "YOU?! BLECCCH!!" (It actually seems as if this subplot was made just to write Peppermint Patty into the special, in her animated debut).

Though some (unintended) humor comes from odd animation: in one scene with children boarding a school bus, several characters can be seen boarding twice. More bizarre is a scene of Linus walking, as if he were a ghost, through 3 girls swinging in their schoolyard. I guess the animator though no one would notice.

At times the story takes strange turns, like with the previously mentioned Charlie Brown-Lucy tryst. Were it not for some sloppy animation, this would probably rank as a classic. Overall, though, this 1967 special, well scored by Vince Guaraldi, is cute, watchable, and often uproarious. I can't remember the last time a Peanuts cartoon made me laugh out loud!

Charlie is in love with 'the little red-headed girl', the very one he fancied in 'Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown'. But he's not got the courage to talk to her and frequently makes a laughing stock of himself with every attempt. Plus, everybody is making fun of him and Snoopy is not lending a sympathetic ear, as usual.

The emotional turmoil Charlie suffers is alarmingly true. Everybody remembers their first crush and how awkward it made them feel. It's little touches of reality like this in the far-fetched but wonderful world of Peanuts that make it so timeless. Though it was made in 1967 there is nothing in this TV special that dates it in any way.

This was a wonder to behold!! From the moment I put it on the DVD player, I was astounded at how, all of the Charlie Brown features are not carbon copies of each other. The animation had that good feeling classic made in the U.S.A feel to it. Further propelled by the storyline of Charlie Brown and his red-haired love sick obsession with that little 'Red Haired Girl'. He was just out of his mind, when he first saw her. Thoughts of romance and kisses on his mind. Bashful and hopeful of the time that he would get to just be with her! But with thanks to friends like Linus, and of course Snoopy, he has a support team second to none!! This is a feel-good Charlie Brown that is well equipped with laughs and heart warming fun, for family and friends alike. This is a don't miss, for all Peanuts fans out there, be sure and catch the romantic vision, feel the frenzied heartbeat and find the love! You're in love Charlie Brown!! Recommended to all the ages.(*****)