DVD Review: Peanuts: 1970′s Collection Vol. 2

Movie Info:
Writer: Charles M. Schulz
Directors: Phil Roman, Bill Melendez
Cast: Duncan Watson, Stephen Shea, Melanie Kohn, Greg Felton, Lynn Mortensen, Linda Ercoli, Stuart Brotman, Jimmy Ahrens, Gail Davis, Liam Martin, Bill Melendez, Arrin Skelley, Patricia Patts, Casey Carlson, Michelle Muller, Daniel Anderson, Laura Planting, Ronald Hendrix, Dylan Beach, Sarah Beach, Vinny Dow
Rating: Not Rated
Studio: Warner Home Video

Release Info:
Episodes Original Air Date: January 28, 1975-March 19, 1979
DVD Release Date: June 1, 2010
Online Availability: Amazon for $21.99

Everyone in our house loves the Peanuts gang. Three generations have grown up with Charles Schulz and his beloved Peanuts gang. Ashtyn’s mom watched the specials in the 60s when she was a teenager. Ash and I both grew up watching the specials. CT and Lil B have also grown up with several more specials to watch since the time when Ash was born in the 70s and I was born in 1980. All of us have warm, fuzzy places in our hearts for Peanuts.

CT has to be the biggest Peanuts nut of all. So, he was the first to rip open the plastic on our copy of Peanuts: 1970′s Collection Vol. 2 and pop it into our DVD player. What ensued was a plethora of Peanuts excitement and fun. I must admit that these are not our favorite Peanuts specials nor are they the best Schulz had to offer, but each one is enjoyable enough that fans of the Peanuts, especially kids, will be into what’s available on this disc.

The thing that is so enjoyable about Peanuts is that all people can relate to Charlie Brown. He’s an empathetic character that is likable, despite his lack of success, by those of nearly any age. Pictures of Charles Schulz reveal a striking similarity in appearance (it’s the face) to his anti-hero, Charlie Brown. Those aren’t the only similarities between Schulz and Brown, though the two clearly differ in their level of success (Brown always seems to fail, while Schulz is, clearly, one of the most, if not the most, influential cartoonists of the 20th century).

We own many of the WB Charlie Brown DVD sets. If you are like us, then you need to know that mos of these specials have already been released on DVD in other sets. In fact, only one of these specials is a brand new, never before seen on DVD special. That is the only drawback to this Volume Collection. It seems almost silly to get an entire DVD set for one special out of six, so make sure you don’t already own these specials before purchasing this set.

ThePeanuts 1970′s Collection Vol. 2 Show Synopsis’
There are six Peanuts specials included in this Peanuts: 1970′s Collection Vol. 2 set. Here is information on what is included.

Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown
Original Air Date: 28 January 1975
Valentine’s Day is always unsuccessful for Charlie Brown, who just wants to receive Valentines, especially from the Little Red Haired Girl (who was, coincidentally, based on a real life woman Charles Schulz fell in love with and had his own heart broken over). Charlie Brown waits each day at his mailbox, but to no avail, he gets no Valentines waiting for him. At school, everyone gets Valentines but good ol’ Chuck. He was expecting enough to fill a briefcase. Linus is in love with his teacher, Miss Othmar, and he decides to buy her chocolate, but things don’t go as planned when he learns how crushes on teachers turn out. Finally, Snoopy harasses Lucy in typical Snoopy fashion, at the puppet show he holds.

You’re A Good Sport, Charlie Brown
Original Air Date: 28 October 1975
Charlie Brown never gives up. This special proves this. Fans of motocross get their fill of racing excitement as Charlie and the gang go to the races. Snoopy starts thing off when he takes on an automatic tennis ball dispenser, he also dukes it out with an unseen tennis player. Sally wants to play tennis with Linus, but when big kids have occupied all the courts, she volunteers his “clobbering” services to try and get a free court. In the meantime, Peppermint Patty informs the gang about a motocross race, where the winner gets tickets to the Pro Bowl. Linus convinces Charlie Brown (who gets a broken down bike) to enter, but with Snoopy and Patty in the competition, the unlucky Charlie has little chance of doing anything more than making a fool of himself.

It’s Arbor Day, Charlie Brown
Original Air Date: 16 March 1976
This is one of the more goofy specials, by Schulz, but that doesn’t make it bad. In fact, Arbor Day is one of the more enjoyable Peanuts specials. To make the world a better, more beautiful place, the gang decides to plant a garden. Their location for the garden, Charlie Brown’s baseball field. is upsetting to Charlie, who has a game with Peppermint Patty’s team on the field. Hilarity ensues as they try to play the game around the sea of tree blooming throughout the field.

It’s Your First Kiss, Charlie Brown
Original Air Date: 24 October 1977
Linus and Charlie Brown are a part of the Homecoming Court as the escorts of the queen. The queen turns out to be Heather, the little red haired girl, on whom Charlie Brown has a crush. When Charlie Brown learns that he is going to be Heather’s main escort and he has to partake in the Homecoming tradition, which involves kissing her on the cheek before they dance, he isn’t sure he’s the right man for the job. This special features typical football antics between Lucy and Charlie Brown (as he plays kicker on the football team).

*This special features a few lines that have been altered from the original broadcast, due to a high influx of viewer complaints. The lines altered involve excessively pessimistic dialogue by Peppermint Patty about Charlie Brown.

What A Nightmare, Charlie Brown!
Original Air Date: 23 February 1978
Snoopy is living it up in a great life with Charlie Brown, which Charlie points out to him. After indulging a little too heartily in the pleasures of his life, Snoopy awakens to find himself a part of a dog mushing team in Alaska. His master is harsh and unfeeling and all the luxuries that Snoopy is allowed to partake in at Charlie’s house are no longer allowed. As Snoopy finds himself in his worst nightmare he begins to understand just how good he really has it. What A Nightmare, Charlie Brown! makes its debut on DVD in this set.

You’re The Greatest, Charlie Brown
Original Air Date: 19 March 1979
Charlie Brown’s family is not going on vacation like they planned, so he must find something else to do this summer. He decides to enter the Junior Olympics at his school. His late entry means he must enter the only open event, the decathlon, which is also the hardest event. With very little athletic coordination, Charlie Brown’s persistence is the only thing to get him through competition with the likes of Freddie Fabulous and Snoopy.

Storyline/Plot:
Replayability:
Acting:
Directing:

Audio/Visual:
All of the specials have been digitally remastered and look great despite being presented in their original 1.33:1 aspect ratio. Warner Bros cleaned many of these up in past releases, so they aren’t really new to those who own previous versions of these specials from Warner. That being said, the quality for animated films made in the 70s is fantastic. The black levels are solid, which is important since they highlight and outline all of the animations. These specials have been enhanced so their colors are refreshingly bright. No matter when Warner enhanced the visual quality of these specials does not really matter. It just matters that they look spectacular.

The specials in this set all sound great. They aren’t amazing or as dynamic as cartoons of today, but that is because they all feature English Dolby Digital Mono tracks, typical for the time in which these specials initially aired. Still, the sound did come in loud and clear with no volume toggling necessary, so there are very few complaints from me. Spanish, Portuguese and Japanese Mono tracks are also available. This set of specials features subtitles in English, Spanish, French, Japanese, Portuguese and Thai.

Visual:
Audio:

Bonus Features:
Like every other Charlie Brown/Peanuts DVD we’ve reviewed, Peanuts: 1970′s Collection Vol. 2 features just one bonus. It is a brand new featurette. The featurette is a little under 20 minutes in length and is called “You’re Groovy, Charlie Brown: A Look at Peanuts in the 1970s.” This is a retrospective, as those who witnessed Peanuts history being made first hand reflect on their experience. Those reflecting include Jean Schulz, Charles’ widow, Craig Schulz, his son, Lee Mendelson (a producer) and Alexis Farjado (cartoonist), amongst others. This is a fun and entertaining listen, as all of the new featurettes made for these DVDs seem to be.

…BUT…sadly that is all that is here.

Bonus Features:

Bottom Line:
The bottom line for Peanuts: 1970′s Collection Vol. 2 is simple. If you own these specials in other sets, consider whether the addition of one previously released special (What a Nightmare) is worth it. Otherwise, if you do not own these specials, this set is worth it. The specials contained on Peanuts: 1970′s Collection Vol. 2 look excellent and honestly, who does not like Peanuts? This set is recommended.

Overall Rating:

Technorati Tags: Peanuts, Charles Schulz, Be My Valentine, It’s Arbor Day, Charlie Brown, It’s Your First Kiss, What a Nightmare, You’re the Greatest, Peanuts: 1970s Collection, Volume 2, DVD Review, Snoopy, Kids, Family, Television, TV Specials

Written by Dominick Evans – Visit Website
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Dominick is in his late 20s. He lives in Michigan with his life partner, Ashtyn, their 14 year old son Robert, and their Shih-Tzu, Oliver. Dominick is a writer and the head editor for both LI Kids and Literary Illusions. He enjoys composing music and is an aspiring director/screenwriter. In his free time he enjoys spending time with his family, playing and watching sports, playing video games, watching movies, and singing.