Charlie Brown's All Stars!

Charlie Brown's All Stars! is the second prime-time animated television special based upon the popular comic strip Peanuts, by Charles M. Schulz.[1] It was the second such TV special (following A Charlie Brown Christmas) to be produced by Lee Mendelson and Bill Melendez (who also directed), and originally aired on CBS on June 8, 1966, with annual reairings on CBS through 1971.[2]

Charlie Brown's All Stars!
GenreAnimated Television Special
Created byCharles M. Schulz
Directed byBill Melendez
Voices of
  • Peter Robbins
  • Sally Dryer
  • Christopher Shea
  • Ann Altieri
  • Glenn Mendelson
  • Kathy Steinberg
  • Geoffrey Ornstein
  • Lynn Vanderlip
  • Karen Mendelson
  • Gail DeFaria
  • Bill Melendez
Theme music composerVince Guaraldi
Opening theme"Charlie Brown and His All-Stars"
Ending theme"All-Stars Theme"
ComposerVince Guaraldi
Country of originU.S.
Production
Executive producerLee Mendelson
ProducerBill Melendez
Editors
  • Robert T. Gillis
  • Steven Melendez
Camera setupNick Vasu
Running time25:05
Release
Original networkCBS
Picture format4:3
Audio formatMonaural
Original releaseJune 8, 1966 (1966-06-08)
Chronology
Preceded byA Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)
Followed byIt's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1966)

Summary

After Charlie Brown's team loses their first game of the season, his players quit. Linus meets Charlie Brown with good news: Mr. Hennessey, operator of a local hardware store, is offering to sponsor Charlie Brown's team, place them in an organized league, and even buy them new uniforms.

The excitement gets the better of Charlie Brown, and he eagerly tells the team the good news. Lucy is apprehensive, but states that if Charlie Brown can really get the team uniforms, they will give him another chance and return to the team. Later at home, Charlie Brown gets a phone call from Mr. Hennessey, and is told that the league doesn't allow girls or dogs. Charlie Brown tries to reason with Mr. Hennessey, but Mr. Hennessey replies that they are the league's rules, not his. Unwilling to sacrifice his friends, Charlie Brown has no choice but to turn down Mr. Hennessey's offer.

Moments later, Charlie Brown relays the news to Linus, who tells him that Lucy and the team will most likely be angry with his decision. However, Charlie hits on an idea: he will not tell them until after the next game, figuring their lifted spirits will drive them to a great win. Linus says this may not be a good idea, but Charlie Brown feels it will work. The game starts off slowly, but as it picks up, the team begins to play spectacularly. Inspired by Snoopy successfully stealing second, third, and home, Charlie Brown attempts the same thing in the bottom of the ninth inning, successfully stealing second and third. However, Charlie tries to tie the game by stealing home, only to be thrown out at the plate, ending the game.

Lucy and several others tell Charlie Brown that if it weren't for the uniforms and the league deal, they would quit. Charlie Brown then tells the team (leaving out the reasons why) that he told Mr. Hennessey that the deal was off. This causes the team to yell in anger and storm off. As the girls (Lucy, Patty, Violet and Frieda) complain about their misfortune and Snoopy is shown sharing their disgust, Linus speaks up telling them the real reason why Charlie Brown turned down the offer. Both Linus and Schroeder berate the girls and Snoopy for their selfishness. This causes the girls and Snoopy to feel terrible. They are uncertain what to do, until Lucy comes up with an idea to make up for the insults. Lucy and the other girls (Patty, Frieda, and Violet) decide to create a baseball uniform for Charlie Brown. Linus insists there is no material available. However, Lucy responds (grinning evilly). Seeing that Linus's security blanket is the only material around, she angrily makes Linus give up his blanket. Lucy, the other girls, and Snoopy (when creating the uniform) force Linus to act as a dress dummy. Finally, as Linus looks on, Snoopy, Lucy, and the other girls make the uniform by using Linus's security blanket (the only material). The dismayed Linus (used as a model) can only watch in horror as the girls and Snoopy destroy his blanket and (successfully) make (refashion) it into a baseball uniform for Charlie Brown.

The girls and Snoopy present the newly made uniform shirt (completed with the words "Our Manager" on the front) to Charlie Brown, who is very pleased with it. He is determined that his team will win the next day, but it rains, so there is no ball game. Charlie Brown just stands in the rain on the pitcher's mound, where Linus finds him and tells him that nobody will come to the field. When Charlie questions why Linus is looking at him nervously, Linus bitterly wails and says to him that his uniform was made from his blanket. Charlie Brown then offers his best friend Linus by revealing the shirt's tail of his baseball uniform. He does it so Linus can use it like a security blanket. Linus happily accepts it and stands with it pressed against his cheek, sucking his thumb as he normally does. Finally, the two of them are seen standing in the pouring rain during the closing credits.

Voice cast

Additional voices
  • Ann Altieri as Frieda
  • Glenn Mendelson as Schroeder
  • Lynn Vanderlip as Patty
  • Gail DeFaria as Shermy
  • Geoffrey Ornstein as Pig-Pen
  • Karen Mendelson as Violet

5 also appears, but is silent. This is also the first Peanuts special to not feature Tracy Stratford as Lucy van Pelt; she was replaced with Sally Dryer, who voiced Violet in the previous special. This is also the first special where Karen Mendelson voices Violet.

Music score

The music for Charlie Brown's All Stars! was composed and conducted by Vince Guaraldi and performed by the Vince Guaraldi Sextet.[3]

  1. "Charlie's Run"
  2. "Charlie Brown and His All-Stars"
  3. "Baseball Theme"
  4. "Baseball Theme" (brass version)
  5. "Baseball Theme" (guitar version)
  6. "All-Stars Theme" (variation of "Oh, Good Grief")
  7. "All-Stars Theme" (reprise)
  8. "Air Music" (aka "Surfin' Snoopy")
  9. "Pebble Beach" (brass version)
  10. "All-Stars Theme" (second reprise)
  11. "Baseball Theme" (reprise)
  12. "Air Music"
  13. "Baseball Theme" (reprise, brass version)
  14. "Trumpet Fanfare"
  15. "All-Stars Theme" (third reprise)
  16. "Air Music"
  17. "Baseball Theme" (second reprise, brass version)
  18. "Rain, Rain, Go Away"
  19. "All-Stars Theme" (fourth reprise, end credit)

No official soundtrack for Charlie Brown's All Stars! was released, although select music cues have been made available on several compilation albums:[3][4]

End Credits
  • Created and Written by: Charles M. Schulz
  • Original Score Composed and Conducted by: Vince Guaraldi
  • Graphic Blandishment by:
    • Ed Levitt,
    • Bernard Gruver,
    • Ruth Kissane,
    • Dean Spille,
    • Frank Smith,
    • Bob Carlson John Walker
    • Rudy Zamora Ed Love
    • Herman Cohen Beverly Robbins
    • Reuben Timmons Eleanor Warren
    • Russ Von Neida Faith Kovaleski
  • Editing: Robert T. Gillis
    • Assisted by: Steven Melendez
  • Sound by: Producers' Sound Service
  • Camera: Nick Vasu
  • Executive Producer: Lee Mendelson
  • Produced and Directed by: Bill Melendez

Book vs. television special

A book about the television special was published shortly after it initially aired. In the book, Charlie Brown approaches him teammates and said the whole simple "we don't need them" line, then turns and walks away as his teammates heaps verbal abuse on him nonstop until Linus steps in to stand up for him, but without telling them why. In the book, Schroeder is not shown berating the girls and Snoopy along with Linus, although he does in the television show. It is Schroeder who says: "Those uniforms meant just as much to Charlie Brown as they did to you. Probably more!". Also, at the end, Linus just comes up to Charlie on the pitchers mound where Charlie had the new uniform shirt on, and without a word spoken, as if he knew, Charlie lets him use his shirt tail to hold up against his cheek like at the end of the show.

Home media

The special was first released on RCA's SelectaVision CED format in 1983 as part of the "A Charlie Brown Festival Vol. IV" compilation. It was also released on VHS and Betamax by Media Home Entertainment in 1984, along with It's Magic, Charlie Brown. It would be released again by its kids subdivision Hi-Tops Video in 1988. Paramount Home Media Distribution released it on VHS on January 9, 1996, along with It's Spring Training, Charlie Brown. Charlie Brown's All Stars! was released in DVD format on March 2, 2004, grouped with the similarly themed It's Spring Training, Charlie Brown (1992) and Lucy Must Be Traded, Charlie Brown (2003). On July 7, 2009, it was released in remastered form as part of the DVD box set, Peanuts 1960's Collection.

Production notes
  • The scene where Snoopy is surfing is later used in Snoopy Come Home, You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, and Snoopy's Reunion.
  • Like A Charlie Brown Christmas before it, this special also had sponsoring from Coca-Cola (and Dolly Madison on a repeat after 1966), which was later edited out from later broadcasts and video/DVD releases. The original music cue "Surfin' Snoopy" was later used in a re-broadcast of "A Charlie Brown Christmas".
  • This is the first non-holiday-oriented Peanuts special.
  • Even though Linus knows why Charlie Brown didn't get the uniforms, he can be seen getting angry and yelling at Charlie Brown with the others. He then explains to them why Charlie Brown turned down the offer.
  • Linus' blanket is replaced before the next special.

Reception

The special was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Children's Program in 1967, along with It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. It lost to Hanna-Barbera's Jack and the Beanstalk, starring Gene Kelly.

References
  1. Solomon, Charles (2012). The Art and Making of Peanuts Animation: Celebrating Fifty Years of Television Specials. Chronicle Books. pp. 62–65. ISBN 978-1452110912.
  2. Woolery, George W. (1989). Animated TV Specials: The Complete Directory to the First Twenty-Five Years, 1962-1987. Scarecrow Press. pp. 71–72. ISBN 0-8108-2198-2. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  3. Bang, Derrick. "Vince Guaraldi's Peanuts Song Library: Charlie Brown's All Stars". fivecentsplease.org. Derrick Bang, Scott McGuire. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
  4. Bang, Derrick. "Vince Guaraldi on LP and CD". fivecentsplease.org. Derrick Bang, Scott McGuire. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
  5. Koda, Cub. Charlie Brown's Holiday Hits at AllMusic. Retrieved i June 2020.
  6. Bang, Derrick. "A Charlie Brown Christmas Redux ... and redux and redux". fivecentsplease.org. Derrick Bang, Scott McGuire. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
  7. Ginell, Richard S. "Oh, Good Grief!". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
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