I'm Reviewing All Your Specials, Charlie Brown: It's Your First Kiss, Charlie Brown (1977)

 

Welcome to Year 2 of I'm Reviewing All Your Specials, Charlie Brown.  Last summer, we looked at the first 15 specials, covering just over a decade of time.  If anything, the next decade proved to be even more productive, as there would be another 15 specials produced in 8 1/2 years (after that, the pace would slow way down).  It's Your First Kiss, Charlie Brown was the first new special in a year and a half, undoubtedly because the animation crew was busy making the feature film Race For Your Life, Charlie Brown, which had opened over the summer of 1977.  Now, in the fall, came this, which was both the first special produced after the death the previous year of longtime composer Vince Guaraldi, and the first to feature this particular voice cast.

As Peanuts fans know, Charlie Brown's longtime crush is the Little Red-Haired Girl.  One of the cardinal rules of the strip is that we never saw her, never heard anything she said, or learned anything about her, up to and including her name (she did make one single appearance in the strip, in silhouette, very late in its run).  The first special to revolve around the crush, 1967's You're In Love, Charlie Brown, followed the rule exactly, to the point that, when Charlie Brown gets a note from her at the end of the special, she apparently signs it "The Little Red-Haired Girl".

Television is nothing if not a visual medium, though, and when it came time for another special to explore the crush a decade later, not only was The Little Red-Haired Girl seen quite frequently, but we also learned her name is Heather.  She still doesn't actually get to say anything though.

The special revolves around that hugely popular elementary school tradition of Homecoming.  There's a Homecoming parade, a Homecoming football game, and a Homecoming dance, of which there is a Homecoming court and a Homecoming queen, which this year is Heather.  Charlie Brown learns of this fact in the middle of the parade, even though he's riding on another float.  What's more, he's been selected to be her escort, which means he's going to have to dance with her and also to kiss her.  All this info comes in a rather awkward exposition dump by Linus, again, in the middle of the parade on a float, which makes me wonder why Charlie Brown is just now learning about all of this (though the end of the special does provide a possible explanation).

Most of the show is dedicated to the football game, which pits Charlie Brown's team against a team of kids who all look tougher and bigger.  For this specials Peppermint Patty apparently goes to Charlie Brown's school, as she's the team's captain (or maybe even coach).  Charlie Brown is the kicker, and Lucy is the holder, which of course leads to her repeatedly yanking the ball away from Charlie Brown, even though this is during an actual game.  For whatever reason, even though Lucy is performing her sabotage against her own teammate in full view of a stadium full of people, Charlie Brown still gets blamed for it, of course.  Peppermint Patty, who of course can be extremely competitive, doesn't come across well at all here.  Indeed, there were apparently complaints from viewers that her putdowns of Charlie Brown were too caustic, causing some of them to be redubbed in future airings (I didn't learn this fact until after I had already watched the special, and I'm not sure if the copy I watched had the original audio or not.  Even if it didn't, she still came across as really mean).  To be fair, the one time we see Charlie Brown try to kick the ball without Lucy's "help", he promptly got sacked by the other team and fumbled the ball, which was returned for a touchdown.  So he didn't seem to be much of a kicker anyway.

The dance sequence which climaxes the special is rather interesting, as an obviously nervous-but-giddy Charlie Brown almost reluctantly accompanies Heather onto the dance floor.  When he gives her the required kiss, however, he literally blasts off and finds himself floating in bliss among the stars, before waking up in his own bed.  Thoughts that the whole sequence was merely a dream were rebuffed by Linus, who informed him that yes, he did play in a football game, and yes, he did kiss Heather.  What Charlie Brown doesn't remember is that the kiss prompted him to become the life of the party, allowing Charlie Brown to be the hero after all (I'm guessing that same selective amnesia explains why Charlie Brown didn't remember his post-parade duties at the beginning of the special).  It is strangely appropriate for a Peanuts special to end with Charlie Brown being the hero but we never get to see it and he doesn't even remember it.

It's Your First Kiss, Charlie Brown is a decent little special that is mostly memorable because of the appearance of The Little Red-Haired Girl.  It's not the best, but it is nice that Charlie Brown got a win for once.

Next week: Snoopy goes Call of the Wild in What a Nightmare, Charlie Brown.