It's an Adventure, Charlie Brown

"It's An Adventure" is one of the lesser-known Peanuts specials of the 1980s (judging by its paltry vote total here). One reason for that may be its format. That is to say, this one doesn't tell one story, but rather contains several short skits. Some are just a few minutes long, others run closer to ten. There are eight individual stories in all and they are all unrelated. The total runtime (without commercials) adds up to nearly 50 minutes, double the length of a typical Peanuts program.

Why I rated it a '7': I found it relatively entertaining if not quite hilarious. The opening story, "Sack," about Charlie seemingly imagining a baseball where other spherical objects should be (sun, moon, ice cream scoop), has him wear a bag over his head and go to camp to be cured. OK. A little odd, but ok. Another story features Peppermint Patty and Marcie as caddies at a country club. Some of the others contain familiar themes, like Lucy flirting with Schroeder and Lucy trying to get rid of Linus's blanket.

For me the highlight of the show was "Kite." Here Charlie, in frustration, deliberately damages a tree that ate his kite. Fearing punishment from the EPA(!), he 'runs away from home' and winds up in a distant unfamiliar neighborhood where he befriends several young children. They ask him to be their baseball coach (little do they know of his ineptitude lol) and he is of course flattered by the request. All of these new characters were cool to see and were very cute, especially Milo. The title of this review is one of Milo's questions from the story. Like I said, it's probably the best one of the group, even it ends kind of abruptly.

This special originally aired in May 1983 and I wonder if it ever aired again. I suspect not. It's not even available on DVD from what I know, but you can find it online, like I did. Worth the effort for Peanuts fans for sure.

7/10. Would I watch again (Y/N)?: Yes.

There's no story or narrative linking the various sketches in this Peanuts TV special. We are presented with about seven, short unconnected stories that seem like they are lifted straight from the comic strip.

In the first Ol' Chuck is worried that his head looks like a baseball, while the others feature Peppermint Patty and Marcie becoming caddies, Chuck goes on the run after taking a bite of a tree, and Lucy throws away Linus' precious blanket.

At 50 minutes its twice the length of a typical Peanut's special, but I wish they used this as a chance to give us a good story. As it is, it's fun but nothing stand-out. Nice cameo by Alfred E. Neuman though.

How can I rate it at anything other then 10 stars?

It's the adventures of the gang, plus a whole lot more! I had not seen this in so many years I can just make out two small segments, that aren't that clear now, twenty six years later.

But I recall, how the quality in this is good stuff!! This gang of characters is definitely not gonna let the kids down. It won't let the adults who remember 'childhood', watching Charlie Brown do his thing 'down' either. With Snoopy flying, that means that, Charles daughter, was becoming a pilot. Obviously his children were close to his heart, that's what made his life's work that much better, for all of us.

Yes this is yet another shining example of many that, Schulz had great quality in his work and loved telling stories through the eyes of the 'Lil Folks'. As for miss 'Othmar' well, it was always just "Waa Waa Waaa Wa." (****)