Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (and Don't Come Back!!)

The magic created by Charles Schultz comes to the screen with the return of the always charming "Peanuts" gang. This time, they're headed for France for culture, but as always, this crowd finds some way to get into trouble. One of the better movies based on the famous comic strip.

The PEANUTS are at their best when they are celebrating a holiday or going to camp. Unlike the great PEANUTS classics RACE FOR YOUR LIFE CHARLIE BROWN and SNOOPY COME HOME, this PEANUTS outing is a little on the murky side. Due to a student exchange program Charlie Brown, Linus, Snoopy, stow-away Woodstock, peppermint Patty and Marcy are sent to Europe to go to school in France. Coincidentally, Charlie gets a letter from a little French girl who invites him to visit her familys château there. When the PEANUTS land in London and venture to France there would be plenty of observations that could be made on the cultural differences....however the big find here is "Hey...they eat French bread in France!". This special also shocks by breaking a PEANTUS cardinal rule: grown ups talk! And they don't just say "Mwah mwah mwah"...they actually speak in English and address the children! When Charlie and Linus head off to the château a little French boy named Pierre tells Marcy and Peppermint that a horrible Baron lives there who hates everyone, would never allow guests, and that if they attempt to stay there harm will come to them. (The "harm" is not explained...although there are two references to getting "mugged" in the film). when the boys get to the château and aren't allowed in they sleep on the cold wet ground instead of re-tracking back to the nice warm house Marcy and Patty are staying in. Snoopy spends most of his visit in a bar drinking root beer and crying over American show tunes. I've seen this film more than once and my mind just doesn't grasp WHY they were invited to a place they weren't allowed to go in and who exactly the baron was, why he was such a bastard and if he WAS such a bastard why he Doesn't actually hurt them. I think the plan was to get PEANTUS to Europe and have them have an adventure...but the storyline here is a little on the murky side. Also worth noting is that key characters such as Lucy, Sally and Schroeder remain in America and are sorely missed. This is not a Must Own PEANUTS collector (neither is the newer adventure ITS THE PIED PIPER CHARLIE BROWN....grown ups speak in that one too!....although my 5 year old actually prefers that one to this one.

Peanuts has become a staple of American culture, so the jokes have a hard time coming across as fresh nowadays. The pleasure I get from watching these films is not due to it being laugh-out-loud funny, but it's from the jokes reaching a nostalgic point. I remember liking this one when I was younger, but I think I found it too complicated, in comparison to Race For Your Life, Charlie Brown. Now, I think this one stands up the best in comparison to Race... and Snoopy Come Home. Some of the other comments have hit on that this one does not obey the normal formula rules as other Peanuts features. This is exactly what makes it noteworthy. Rather than being aimed more squarely at a family audience, there's a tiny bit of creepiness to the music, which could probably scare the youngest of children. The writing in this is far more entertaining and clever, less gags are recycled from the comic strip, and as such, it will be more deserving of your attention than the other features.

This is by far the best of the Peanuts movies. The artwork is pitch perfect without some of the characteristic sloppiness built into the other movies; the soundtrack, marvelous; and the plot expertly crafted. It's truly a shame that Paramount has failed to release this gem on DVD. It is a classic that far outperforms the Holiday films and still gives us the imaginative exploits of the Peanuts gang. If you haven't seen this one, go out and find some way to watch it. The storyline adds depth to the characters, with Charlie Brown, Peppermint Patty, Marcy, Linus, and (of course) Snoopy all heading to France for a student exchange program. For some purists the absence of the other characters may seem disappointing, but it offers the viewer a sharp focus on the characters who are in the movie. The cultural comparisons provide some of the drive for this movie, but there are also the Gothic overtones with mystery and a "forbidden secret," as well as romance (of course—they're in France!).

So in short, see this movie, and tell Paramount to release the DVD. Sign the petition at http://www.petitiononline.com/Snoopy/petition.html .

This is the 4th of 4 Peanuts specials and is precisely the coolest and best of them. As a great Peanuts fan, I must say that this is Peanuts at their best! Together with "Snoopy Come Home" and "Race for your life, Charlie Brown", this is a true Peanuts classic. I cross my fingers so that this film's petition for a DVD release works out because this movie deserves! "Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (and don't come back!)" isn't just another Peanuts stuff. This one takes the Peanuts gang (Charlie Brown, Linus, Peppermint Patty, Marcie, Snoopy and Woodstock) to the travel of their lives: they go to England and France as foreign exchange students. At the same time, they live the adventure of their lives in France.

The Peanuts gang first arrive to London and travel a bit in that city (including in a London bus with 2 floors and in a London Cab). After London, they go to France in a hovercraft and, before going to their student missions, they travel around France with the loyal company of their rental car, an old Citroen 2CV (the historical "deux chevaux", one of my all time favorite cars), leading to many hilarious moments and together they live many adventures, some of them extremely comical. By the way, it must be really cool to travel in a hovercraft. It's an interesting and different type of boat and I know that thanks to this movie.

This Peanuts classics has a dark atmosphere carried with suspense, which is quite notorious in many ways. The Château du Mal Voisin (which means "Château of the Bad Neighbor") gives the feeling of being a spooky and dangerous place, especially at night, combined with the rain, lightning, the mysterious feeling about it, the background music and the Baron himself. The Baron is only shown as a shadowy figure, which accents that creepy feeling, combined with his threats and the way he's described by Pierre (who is a cool chap). The kind Violette is so different from her uncle Baron.

Ah yes, the "Fire at the Château" sequence has strong suspense. Darkness and suspense are unusual on Peanuts shorts or movies, but that's one of the things that makes the difference in this one.

The dark atmosphere is brilliant and the artwork here is spectacular. Everything is so well designed, painted and perfect, which isn't very common on Peanuts. This movie has such a great combination of light humor, suspense and darkness which, together with the fact that it takes place in England and France, makes it a unique and distinguish Peanuts classic, as well as a favorite for many.

This great movie is also very humorous because comic gags are a strong point. Peanuts are usually funny, but this movie is funnier than usual on Peanuts. For example, the whole tennis sequence is simply hilarious. Other funny gags are, for example, the entire loaf of bread sequence; the car's wipers sequence; Snoopy saying "words" to a taxi-driver who speaks with a cockney British accent on his "typically Snoopy" language; both sequences of the cars's crash; Snoopy drinking root beer; whenever Woodstock gets grumpy; Linus getting furious when Charlie Brown falls asleep; Charlie Brown embarrassing Linus because of the passport; the noise of the car's dodgy transmission; and much, much more...

The entire soundtrack is amazing as well, including a slower version of James Bond's theme and the relaxing song "I want to remember this". The lines are all excellent too, as much as the actors's voice talents.

Adventure, comedy, darkness, suspense, classic humor, great characters, wonderful animation, amazing artwork, unforgettable moments, fabulous music... it has everything one can wish in an animated classic movie! This one has also the coolest ending credits ever. No other movie (before or after this) has such imaginative and creative ending credits like this.

It's a nostalgic movie that brings wonderful memories from childhood. The whole movie is awesome. I wouldn't change anything about it in any way. There's nothing wrong about it. I could even ask how can anyone not love this movie. I'm not afraid to say and I even dare to say that this and the early mentioned 3 Peanuts classics leave absolutely nothing to be desired comparing to the finest Disney classics. More than that, they are even superior to many Disney classics.

This should definitely be on Top 250.