DVD Review: Peanuts: Snoopy’s Reunion

Movie Info:
Writer: Charles M. Schulz
Director: Sam Jaimes
Cast: Philip Shafran, Josh Keaton, Kaitlyn Walker, Laurel Page, Steve Stoliar, Megan Parlen, Bill Melendez, Candy Hutson
Rating: Not Rated
Studio: Warner Home Video

Release Info:
Theatrical Release: May 1, 1991
DVD Release Date: April 7, 2009
Online Availability: Amazon for $17.99

It’s time for another adventure with the lovable Peanuts gang. This time, the entire plot focuses on Snoopy. It’s all about how Snoopy came to be and how Charlie Brown came to own him. The story is rather sweet, as it looks back at Snoopy’s birth at the Daisy Hill Puppy Farm. I had not seen this Peanuts special before, but it’s quickly becoming a part of my collection.

Charles M. Schulz was more than just an animator. He took the Peanuts comic strip from the papers and books and brought the characters to life on screen. I grew up watching Peanuts specials. I love the characters in the Peanuts series, but most of all I love Snoopy. I don’t think there is a kid or adult in the United States, if not the developed world who doesn’t know who Charlie Brown and his dog Snoopy are.

While I really love the title episode on the Peanuts: Snoopy’s Reunion DVD, I could give or take the second episode, “It’s Flashbeagle, Charlie Brown.” This special seemed disjointed and just kind of thrown together. It didn’t really follow a particular story or have a purpose other than to show Snoopy dancing as the Flashbeagle. The dancing is funny, but this episode was not really engaging otherwise. Kids may like it more than adults, but it won’t be something I’ll watch over and over again.

Peanuts and Snoopy are such a major part of my childhood. I loved the Peanuts gang. My teenage son has long been a Charlie Brown fan and now my four year old nephew is getting into the Peanuts craze. Even my mom loves the Peanuts’ stories and watches them with her grandchildren. This is truly a DVD the whole family is going to enjoy and that’s why Charlie Brown and Snoopy are so loved by families around the world.

The Peanuts: Snoopy’s Reunion Plot
The primary episode on this DVD is “Snoopy’s Reunion,” which premiered in 1991. At the beginning you see the Daisy Hill Puppy Farm. It’s located right outside the city in a quiet, rural location. A new litter of puppies has just been born. Snoopy is one of a large litter of Beagles born to Missy (his mom). They all share a unique gift for music, and are raised in a loving, caring environment.

When the puppies are old enough, they are sold, one by one. Snoopy is the first go. He is taken to the home of Lila, who was his first owner. One by one, all of the other puppies are sold. His siblings include Spike, Andy, Olaf, Marbles, Belle, Molly and Rover. After the puppies are gone Missy is sad, but is comforted by the thought of her pups going to good homes.

A short time later, Lila returns Snoopy to the Daisy Hill Puppy Farm. Her apartment building has a new rule. No dogs can live there. She is very sad, but knows the Farmer in charge of the farm will find Snoopy a good home. Around the same time, Charlie Brown decides he is going to get a puppy. He and Linus take the bus out to the Daisy Hill Puppy Farm. As Charlie Brown is negotiating a price (with his piggy bank) Linus is snooping around. He learns that Lila once owned Snoopy, but brought him back.

Some years pass and Snoopy is sad. Charlie Brown decides to have a reunion because his sadness is caused by the fact that he misses his brothers and sisters. He sends all of Snoopy’s siblings a letter inviting them to his house and they come from all over the country to visit their brother Snoopy, instruments in hand. The only thing left to do is to return to the Daisy Hill Puppy Farm where their lives began.

The second story on this DVD is called “It’s Flashbeagle, Charlie Brown.” It debuted in 1984 and is a humorous spin on the popular 80s movie, Flashdance starring Jennifer Beals. After winning against Peppermint Patty’s football game, Snoopy heads out to celebrate that evening. As he’s out, he transforms into Flashbeagle. Think Jennifer Beals in Flashdance meets Olivia Newton-John in “Physical” in Snoopy form and you have Flashbeagle.

The next day, Peppermint Patty shows how inept she is in school. She falls asleep, gets her hair caught in her binder and other maladies. The only class she’s good at is gym. She sings a song similar sounding to “Hey Mickey” (in some parts) by Toni Basil about getting in shape and how much better she is at gym then all the other Peanuts human characters.

The Browns (Charlie and Sally) host a party. Sally tries to get Linus to dance. The kids pay Simon Says (Lucy Says). Snoopy siphons punch from drinks via a straw and Pig Pen leads the whole gang in a dance based hoe down. Charlie Brown is disappointed in Snoopy. He reprimands him and this leads to the big dance number “Flashbeagle” based on the song “Maniac” from Flashdance. This Peanuts special is kind of disjointed and the story flip flops everywhere, but it is fun to see Snoopy dancing as the Flashbeagle, even if this isn’t the best special out there.

Storyline/Plot:
Replayability:
Acting:
Directing:

Audio/Visual:
Snoopy’s Reunion easily takes you back to the classic cartoons that so many know and love. These cartoons may not be flashy, with CGI and modern technology, but they get the job done and in many ways end up looking as good, if not better than some of the other specials out there. As you might expect, Reunion is sporting a 1.33:1 aspect ratio in a fullscreen setting. The colors are acceptable and given the age of the original product I have to say that I was quite impressed with the remastered outcome. There were not too many instances of dirt, grain, or compression errors. In fact, I don’t recall anything that was truly distracting when it came to the video transfer of this DVD.

Warner Bros. takes their audio options seriously, as seen in this short collection of Snoopy movies. You receive the standard audio, which comes in English Dolby Digital Mono. There is also a Mono track in Japanese. Subtitles are available in English, French, Japanese, Korean, and Thai. Despite the lower end audio transfer, things here sounded good. Volume toggling was not necessary and the dialogue always remained easy to hear. There really is little to complain about in either the audio or video transfers.

Visual:
Audio:

Bonus Features:
There are a few bonuses that come with Snoopy’s Reunion. One of the bonuses is supposed to be “Flashbeagle” though considering the fact that this is really only a one episode special, I hate to consider that a bonus. If I did consider it a bonus, it would make the DVD seem rather sad. At some point Warner should consider making a larger set rather than remastering all of the classic specials and putting them on one DVD for each special.

Since “Flashbeagle” cannot really be considered a special feature that only leaves “Together Again: The Peanuts Voice Cast Reunion.” This featurette details the reunion of The Peanuts voice cast at the 2008 Comic Con. While this would have been amazing to see first hand, the featurette offers you a chance to see the gang all together after all these years. It’s an interesting featurette overall though it would have been nice to have a little more for Peanuts fans to sink their teeth into.

Bonus Features:

Bottom Line:
If you like the Peanuts gang and their series of specials, the Peanuts: Snoopy’s Reunion DVD is a great edition to your collection. This story focuses on Snoopy and his siblings, all of whom were born at the Daisy Hill Puppy Farm. You will enjoy this touching family story, and you should like to watch the Peanut style version of Flashdance at least once. The quality of this DVD and the stories presented on it make Peanuts: Snoopy’s Reunion worth the purchase. This DVD is recommended.

Overall Rating:

Technorati Tags: Snoopy’s Reunion, Peanuts, Charles M. Schulz, Snoopy, Charlie Brown, DVD, review, Warner Home Video, Cartoon, Family

Written by Ashtyn Evans - Visit Website
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Ashtyn lives in her home state of Michigan with her life partner, Dominick, her 14 year old son, and her baby, the Shih-Tzu, Oliver Twist. Ashtyn is in college, going for a degree in Criminal Justice. She eventually plans to intern with the FBI, if she can. Ashtyn is an experienced and talented chef. She also excels at writing and has worked as a professional writer for the past five years. Ashtyn enjoys spending time with her son and four year old nephew, watching movies, listening to music, and writing works of fiction.

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