It Was My Best Birthday Ever, Charlie Brown!

I really did not like this video. The music was corny and the characters did not act like themselves. The sole redeeming feature was that they got a child who could actually sing, to do the bit with the singing. By the way, in case you're wondering (I was), I went and looked it up and the name of that song is "O Mio Babbino Caro" -- it's by Puccini.

I agree with the other reviewers. This was an extremely bad Peanuts special.

The first seven minutes was taken up entirely with an entirely wordless montage of Linus roller blading, and then Linus at a party. We then see Sally and Charlie Brown have a brief discussion and then another few wordless minutes of Linus skating and exploring a garden. By now about half the special is over.

It is very boring, there are almost no jokes, and the characterization is not well done.

Stick with the specials done up until the early 80s.

You know a special is thoroughly uninteresting when the main premise of Linus waiting for someone special to come to his birthday party doesn't show up until the last few minutes. As off putting as the digital ink & paint look, I can give the crew a pass as this was the first Peanuts special to be handled in that technique. That said, less forgiving is how poorly structured this entire special's story is, and they under utilize the character of Mimi so badly that I wish she appeared in at least half of the special's run time. Too many scenes are spent on birthday nonsense or the characters doing their things.

Mimi's actual singing voice is pretty phenomenal and David Benoit's modern compositions are a lot of fun to jam to, but that's about it. Considering this was one of the very first Peanuts specials to be released straight to home media instead of television, it was probably for the best that we were spared this embarrassment being broadcast to the world.

These people have no taste or class. Ignore the negativity. This video was touching and beautifully served its purpose. I hadn't see it in years but I decided to crack out my old VHS from my childhood. It's coming up to Linus' birthday and he meets a girl singing the most beautiful song and is absolutely smitten by her! It's really cute. Is it the best Peanuts special? No, but is it as charming if not MORE charming as any? ABSOLUTELY by leaps and bounds. See it, you won't forget it. This is Schultz doing what he did best, and in the most fabulous way possible. I also really dig how they updated the characters to 90's dance moves! 🤣 I made a point to watch it on today, my birthday, this year and I'll make a tradition out of it. Love it!

As a lifelong "Peanuts" fan, I'd like to honestly say every "Peanuts" special is an animated classic. Unfortunately, "It Was My Best Birthday Ever, Charlie Brown!" proves I can't. Without being too repetitive of the other reviews, the production quality is poor, the plot is extremely thin, and the music pales in comparison to most other "Peanuts" specials. That it was a straight-to-video release is no surprise. The first third of the program is probably the weakest part, as it does essentially nothing to advance the plot and is actually rather difficult to follow. On a positive note, the voice work is solid, especially the singing, and the gags with Snoopy and Woodstock are amusing. If you're a "Peanuts" completist like me you'll still want to watch it, and fortunately as of this writing you can find "It Was My Best Birthday Ever, Charlie Brown!" on YouTube.