Um Garoto Chamado Charlie Brown

The PEANUTS films, coming from a student of international cinema, have contained some of the truest statements I have borne witness to in my life. If you were to really sit down and listen to what these characters say to each other you would be surprised at how much you can truly relate to them. A BOY NAMED CHARLIE BROWN is the best of them because it does the best job combining the artistic with the humanistic. 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. The tragic sequence in the Film where Linus expresses remorse for lending Charlie Brown his literal "security blanket" and seeks to find it is a sequence that would make Bergman proud! I rarely recommend movies that I truly like but I have to say that A BOY NAMED CHARLIE BROWN is a film for everyone!

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.

Charlie Brown is a young boy who cannot ever seem to do anything right. His baseball team always loses the first and last games of the season (as well as most of the ones in between) and he gets the blame. He never gets a moment's rest from his friends putting him down as the designated goat – even his dog gives him a rough ride. Determined to show that he is more than just a failure, Charlie enters the school spelling bee, aiming for victory – but can he stand up under the pressure that awaits him? 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. However with this feature I am pleased to report that it was pretty much spot on in both regards. The plot starts well and the first half of the film is an enjoyable collection of episodes that act like individual strips while still moving the film forward. The second half moves into more solid territory with the spelling-bee but even then it keeps it together and is well structured. The humour of the piece will appeal to those who enjoy the strip – not hilarious but it has some funny moments as well as the amusing philosophising that they all do. The film benefits from imaginative writing that adds humour in various ways – Snoopy drinking the water and Linus going cold-turkey are two such examples. 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. However, again an added bonus, the animation opens out every now and again to become something much more sublime (and that word is not an exaggeration). Snoopy taking to ice becomes a blur of colour, while Linus playing the piano becomes close to art! It may not be as polished as Disney but it is really cool and imaginative while still staying within the Peanuts style. 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. The plot moves the film forward but also manages to capture the spirit of the strip really well. Likewise the animation is very close to the strip and is pleasing to watch. 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. The most pleasing Peanuts movie I have seen.

This groundbreaking animated film brought the bittersweet and somewhat bleak humor of Schultz's "Peanuts" comic strip to the big screen, with beautiful, lush artwork that has probably never been duplicated. Memorable scenes include Schroeder's piano concert; Snoopy ice-skating in Central Park; the New York City spelling bee (where the famous "wah-wah-wah" voice approves or disapproves of contestants' spellings); and a showstopping rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner," complete with psychedelic red, white, and blue imagery. A wonderful cult classic.

A BOY NAMED CHARLIE BROWN has got to be the ultimate Peanuts animation ever made! It's so epic, and it does a great job of showcasing the original Peanuts characters, especially the central character, Charlie Brown! 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. And only his best friend Linus tries to help Charlie Brown succeed in life. There's also Snoopy, Charlie Brown's wonderful pet beagle, who does his usual crazy thing, from playing a WWI Flying Ace to skating on ice. 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)! It really needs a CD soundtrack! 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! This movie made its premiere at the Radio City Music Hall in December of '69 (incidentally Rod McKuen performed one of the movie's songs months earlier at his birthday concert at Carnegie Hall, which can be purchased on a CD called "Rod McKuen: At Carnegie Hall"). There was also a documentary of the same name (the soundtrack of which is available on CD), which was transformed into CHARLIE BROWN AND CHARLES SCHULZ the same year this movie was released.

In summary, A BOY NAMED CHARLIE BROWN is the best of the Peanuts movies, and the best Peanuts animated project since A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS (the first Peanuts TV special)! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!