Warner Bros.
As much as I love nostalgia, not everything holds up at the same level.
Making it’s Blu-ray debut via Warner Bros. Home Video is The Peanuts: Ultimate TV Specials 75th Anniversary Edition Collection.
At first glance, it seems irresistible; 40 animated Peanuts specials collected across five Blu-ray discs, spanning 1965 to 2011, clocking in at over fifteen hours of melancholy, wit, and gentle jazz.
The lineup reads like a time capsule of holiday rituals and heartbreaks.
A Charlie Brown Christmas still delivers its quietly devastating message about commercialism that’s as effective now as it was when it premiered in 1965.
It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown continues to be the definitive Halloween story about misplaced faith.
A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving and Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown round out the emotional roller coaster, reminding us that gratitude and unrequited love are lifelong companions.
Beyond the classics, the collection tosses in everything from It’s the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown to Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (and Don’t Come Back!!) and dozens more, most fairly forgettable and without the emotional connection that seems to define why the classics are still revisited annually by millions of viewers and many of the others are fairly forgettable.
Visually, the results are a mixed bag. The majority of them have been remastered in 1080p and look better than they ever have. Early film-sourced episodes are especially radiant, revealing the subtle textures and painterly charm that DVD releases once muddied. Vince Guaraldi’s legendary jazz scores are warm and enveloping, but the sound mixes occasionally result in the dialogue being drowned out by the music.
Not all of the specials received equal treatment. A Charlie Brown Celebration and It’s an Adventure, Charlie Brown look faded and grimy, while It’s Spring Training, Charlie Brown runs like it was encoded through a snowstorm. Some titles appear to have been upscaled from old video masters, and some episodes actually look better on Apple TV+. I’m not sure if this is the ultimate presentations overall.
The omissions include Where is This Is America, Charlie Brown? What happened to Snoopy! The Musical, It’s the Girl in the Red Truck, Charlie Brown, or It Was My Best Birthday Ever, Charlie Brown? Whether the rights are tangled up or the source materials were missing or damaged. These omissions establish that this release is far from the encyclopedic archive it should have been.
But the most glaring omission is the lack of extras. Previous releases featured interviews and retrospectives; this release includes neither the previously released material or any new insights. No commentary tracks, The lack of a single interview with Schulz or any member of the creative teams or the lack of any featurettes or the lack of historical context is almost unforgivable. The lone physical extra is a 28 page booklet with photos and essays.
Nevertheless, these specials endure because they strike a balance few franchises ever manage: funny yet philosophical, innocent yet deeply aware of life’s disappointments. Charlie Brown’s quiet resilience, Linus’s eternal optimism, and Snoopy’s blissful delusion all serve as reflections of the human condition, wrapped in Schulz’s deceptively simple art and Guaraldi’s beautiful melodies.
In today’s streaming era, where content is temporary, there is value in a physical collection—imperfections and all. Thizs Blu-ray set is far from perfect, but it does preserve the Peanuts and give both new viewers and nostalgic adults an opportunity to embrace Charles Schulz and his world.
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