The Peanuts gang, of course, is no stranger to celebrating holidays. Besides the multiple Christmas specials, there are ones about Halloween, Thanksgiving, New Year's, Valentine's Day, Easter, Memorial Day, even Arbor Day. That said, it isn't too surprising that Peanuts hadn't tackled the twin early summer holidays of Mother's Day and Father's Day. After all, this is a franchise that by and large keeps its adult characters off the screen, and even renders whatever dialogue unintelligible. Still, the lack of actually seeing the kids' moms proves to be less of a hinderance in a special celebrating them as you might think.
While primarily a Mother's Day special, To Mom (and Dad), With Love is also a stealth Father's Day special, thanks to Peppermint Patty, who is first among equals this time around. While Peppermint Patty has had her own spotlight special before, 1980's She's a Good Skate, Charlie Brown, there hasn't been much about her rather unconventional home life, which apparently involves her single father leaving her home alone quite a bit. The closest we've gotten previously was 1985's Snoopy's Getting Married, Charlie Brown, in which Peppermint Patty hires Snoopy to be her (incompetent) watchdog.
While the strip never revealed what happened to Peppermint Patty's mom (though it is widely assumed she died), it did bring up her close bond with her father (who had to work long hours to support them) quite often. That relationship is the heart of the special, as it is Mother's Day Eve, and the gang is attempting to figure out what to get their moms for the big day. Patty is at first utterly annoyed at everyone taking more of an interest in their mothers than in football, but changes her tune after a talk with Marcie. To the special's credit, the special doesn't throw in a revelation about how heartbroken she is not having a mother, as she seems perfectly fine, as her dad does all the stuff moms are supposed to do. That gives her the realization that she should honor her father for Mother's Day (interestingly, the special doesn't bring up Father's Day at all). Of course, every possible gift and card is way too froo-froo and girly for Mr. Reichardt, who, not surprisingly, likes masculine things like flannel and sports, once again sending Patty into a fit of annoyance.
The special's other major subplot involve Snoopy and Woodstock taking a rather perilous journey to Woodstock's childhood nest to surprise his mother. As much as I like both characters, and admit they've gotten somewhat of a short shrift in the first two Apple+ specials, I frankly found the subplot kind of boring. That said, I'm glad they decided to focus on Woodstock and not to largely rehash the plot of Snoopy's Reunion, which dealt with Snoopy longing for his mother.
While the other kids' plans are mentioned, the only other characters we spend much time with are our sibling pairs, Van Pelt and Brown. Lucy, whose worst aspects definitely seem to have been toned down for Apple, is eager to make the perfect craft project that will earn a prominent spot on the refrigerator, while Linus, whose mom has a habit of putting affectionate notes into his lunch bag, strives to write the perfect note in return. We spend less time with Charlie Brown and Sally, though we do see them make what turns out to be one disastrous purchase, an ice cream cake, at a point where three of the four plots collide. Ultimately they, and everyone else, including Peppermint Patty, figure out exactly the perfect gift.
Despite being poignant, this one does have a solid sense of humor, more than the first two Apple specials. There are some solid sight gags, including the fate of both Lucy's watercolor painting and the aforementioned ice cream cake, and a very clever meta joke involving a trombone. The pre-credits stinger is also quite amusing. It should be mentioned there were no clear indications as to the time period this one takes place in, other than once again no one has a cell phone. However, it does feature the first explicit mention of homosexuality as Marcie mentions that some kids have two moms (though that could also be seen as a reference to stepmoms).
Returning to the director's chair was For Auld Lang Syne's Clay Kaytis. He would be a consultant on the next special, Lucy's School, but would depart the franchise to direct the live-action A Christmas Story Christmas. He and his animators have laid out some striking images, most memorably the sequence when Snoopy and Woodstock are fleeing through the woods. An action sequence in which the duo is trying to raft through rapids is also quite well done. Alex Galatis, who had co-written Syne, is credited as the solo writer here. This is his only solo credit on a special, but he is listed as the creator of The Snoopy Show and has an executive story editor credit on the subsequent specials. He has worked consistently on both live-action and animated Canadian TV productions since 1994. Tyler James Nathan, who voiced Charlie Brown in It's the Small Things, Charlie Brown, returns to the character for the second and final time in a special (though he would continue to voice the character on The Snoopy Show through the episodes of the summer of 2022). The other cast members, including Lexi Perry as Peppermint Patty, Isabella Leo as Lucy, Wyatt White as Linus, Holly Gorski as Marcie, and Hattie Kragten as Sally, all return from the first two specials (and the TV series). The voicework remains solid.
The franchise broke a 32-year Emmy dry spell (other than a couple of nominations given to documentaries) with two music nominations at the inaugural Children's and Family Emmys. In addition to the Original Song nomination for It's the Small Things, Charlie Brown, Jeff Morrow's score for this one was nominated for Outstanding Music Direction and Composition for an Animated Program, losing to Netflix's Cat Burglar. Oddly, there does not appear to be an Animated Special category that year (though there would be one the next year). In addition, the script got the franchise's second Humanitas Prize nominations, after Why, Charlie Brown, Why?. It would lose to the writing for another Apple+ show, El Deafo.
So far, I've been very impressed with the Apple productions. While I do miss the title format, I can't begrudge the production team for wanting to set out on their own (and given that Craig and Bryan Schulz are part of the team, doing so clearly has official approval), and the specials have been very heartwarming and sweet. They are a solid improvement over just about all the post-1980 specials. To Mom (and Dad), With Love is another winner, and another worthy addition to the canon.
Next week: Summer is over and the gang is heading back to school, though Lucy thinks she has a way to keep summer going forever in Lucy's School.
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