(Sorry this is two days late)
Marcie could easily have joined the legion of minor characters who interacted with a member of the Peanuts gang for a story arc or two, and then was never seen again. She made her first appearance during the summer of 1971, as a nameless tentmate of Peppermint Patty's at summer camp. After her two-week arc was over, she disappeared. However, Charles Schulz must have seen something he liked, because he would bring her back for two other arcs, during the fall of 1971 when she visited Patty (and finally acquired her name) and again the summer of 1972 when she and Patty once again met up at camp. It wasn't until early 1973 that she joined the strip as a regular character, suddenly living in the neighborhood and going to school with Patty and Franklin like she had always been around and becoming Patty's permanent sidekick, all reason and rationale compared to Patty's exuberance and impulsiveness.
She quickly graduated to appearing in the specials, making her TV debut in There's No Time for Love, Charlie Brown, which aired only a few weeks after she became part of the permanent cast. However, even though she would appear in most of the subsequent specials, and even have a major role in a few of them, she never was the main character in one, at least until she celebrated her 50th anniversary of becoming a regular in One-of-a-Kind Marcie, the 50th overall special, continuing the trend of the Apple TV+ specials to focus on longtime supporting characters.
Marcie is happy being a problem-solver behind the scenes, whether its caddying for Peppermint Patty for the school's golf tournament, solving the problem of the school halls being too crowded, or ensuring that the cafeteria doesn't run out of pizza at lunch. However, her work does not go unnoticed, and when she is unexpectedly thrust into a position she wasn't seeking or wanting, she has to decide what truly is the best way to help.
Given that three of the previous four specials had focused on Lucy or Peppermint Patty, its a nice change of pace to follow a character who is almost their exact opposite. Unfortunately, the script by Betsy Walters, a writer for production company WildBrain who had worked on Snoopy in Space and The Snoopy Show, but doesn't appear to have worked on the four prior specials the company produced, takes Marcie too far in the other direction. She seems to confuse Marcie's quietness with timidity, making the character a rather extreme introvert who locks herself in her room out of fear during the climax. This is a character who, in It's an Adventure, Charlie Brown, angerly kicked over a golf bag while yelling at the two squabbling old ladies she and Patty were caddying for. Even though golf plays an important role in this special, there was certainly no golf club kicking in this one.
It is a shame that I didn't really like what they did with Marcie, because, as with all the Apple TV+ specials, this is a very nice special to look at. There are also some inspired sight gags, such as Marcie unwittingly crowd surfing through the crowded school halls. I also liked the new character of Carlin, a younger girl who seems to regard Marcie as her own Peppermint Patty. Having a character that looks up to Marcie but is also willing to be honest with her is a nice touch. While Carlin is most likely a one-off, I do hope they bring her back again in future specials.
Raymond S. Persi once again served as the director. Given that this premiered a year after Lucy's School, it shouldn't be surprising that there was one major cast change, namely Arianna McDonald took over the role of Marcie. However, most of the remaining voice cast from the previous specials returned for this one. The father-and-son team of Craig and Bryan Schulz, along with their partner Cornelius Uliano, once again serve as executive producers, though they don't have any writing credits on this one (though Craig does serve as a story editor). Incidentally, don't look for any continuity between this and Lucy's School, as the gang seems to be back at the elementary school they had moved on from in that special. As for awards, it was nominated for Best Animated Program at the Canadian Screen Awards and won Animated Special Production at the Annie Awards. It is eligible for this year's Children's and Family Emmys, but the nominations won't be announced until this fall. As for exactly when it was set, the primary clue that this is set at some point before computer technology became widespread was an early scene in which Marcie uses an actual card catalog to look for a library book.
The disappointing treatment of the title character is the reason that One-of-a-Kind Marcie is the weakest of the Apple TV+ specials, though all of them have been leaps and bounds better than most of the Peanuts output from the mid-80s onward. Marcie deserves another shot in the spotlight. Hopefully, one day, she'll get it.
Next week: After three years and 51 specials, we finally reach the end with yet another supporting player getting the lead in Welcome Home, Franklin.
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