Snoopy Come Home

This melancholy entry in the Peanuts quadrilogy stands out among the four, simply because of the difference in tone from the other entries. "Race for Your Life" is much lighter in tone, while "Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown" is more shallow. "Snoopy, Come Home" is the most memorable because of its unusual depth, as well as the bittersweet themes that it touches on: friendship; loyalty; and partings of the way.

The plot, in a nutshell: Snoopy's former owner is sick, and calls him to her side. Snoopy makes a cross-country journey, and is then torn between staying with his former owner, who needs him, and returning to the place he considers home.

Though the animation is still fairly simple here, it's a notch above the usual Peanuts movies and specials - check out the beautiful backgrounds of the beach scenes, or the wonderful palettes displayed as Snoopy and Woodstock travel at sunset. Really striking, and different from what we usually see in the Peanuts stories.

The real mixed bag here is the music. This was the first Peanuts project that did not features a score by the brilliant Vince Guaraldi. Instead, the Sherman brothers of Disney fame provide the songs, several of which are sung by the characters (in contrast to Guaraldi's usual instrumentals). Some of these songs are quite good, like Fundamentalfriendependability, the song sung by a girl who captures Snoopy when he is en route. Others, like Snoopy and Woodstock's "Me and You" theme, are pure early 70s (think The Association) and unfortunately date the movie.

The voice work is generally good, unlike the more recent Peanuts entries where sounding somewhat like the original voices doesn't seem to be a prerequisite. Stephen Shea as Linus sounds almost exactly like older brother Chris, the original, definitive Linus who grew out of the role. The one weak voice is Charlie himself, whose voice is different enough from his predecessors to be distracting.

But these are nitpicks. The strength and depth of the story itself is more than enough to make up for the few weaknesses. For whatever reason, this is rerun less than the later two Peanuts movies, so seek it out on DVD - you won't be disappointed. And if you're softhearted, be sure to have a handkerchief handy.

This film rocks. Its funny, its sad, its more touching than any cartoon has a right to be. In it Low-man-on-the-totem pole Chalie Brown cuts himself on a metal dog food can and laments to his ungreatful beast that after "All I do for you I get no thanks". Later in the film Snoopy receives a letter from a mystery girl in a hospital and he rushes to her side. We find out this little girl Lila was Snoopys original owner who had to give him up when her family moved. They had brought Snoop to the Daisy Hill Puppy Farm and the Brown family gotr him for Charlie Brown after he got a mean trick played on him by a kid in a sandbox at the neighborhood playground. Now the question is who will Snoopy end up with: Charlie or Lila? Even though snoopy has never been a character with much depth you can actually TELL he's torn to where his loyalties lie. (Your under the impression that he wants to go home to the PEANUTS but because of Lilas illness he cant bear to leave her either). I remember watching this as a child and thinking the "NO DOGS ALLOWED" parts were very funny. I didn't remember how sad this story is, especially Charle Browns song he sings late at night losing sleep wondering where Snoopy is and if he's really gone for good. The song is about how just as life seems good "IT CHANGES" and something messed up happens and sometimes you just wish that life had more "Hellos" than "Goodbyes"...the song is a true heart breaker and if I could write the lyrics (I don't know them all) I would. It almost reminded me of Ozzy singing "Im Going through CHANGES"...maybe thats just me. Anyway, SNOOPY COME HOME is a true classic that should be in every child's collection. My best friend is pushing 40 has no children and has confessed to me that this was the most touching childhood special he can recall. My mother who is in her 60s watched it once while babysitting my daughter and thanked me for packing that video in the sleepover bag...she held onto it and watched it again stating "That was the best Charlie Brown special i've ever seen!"

I remember this Peanuts movie-special, along with A Boy Named Charlie Brown, fondly as a kid, when they replayed these specials on Nickelodeon (or it might have been Disney's channel, can't remember which). Each one had several songs in each pot, all of them catchy to one degree or another, and featuring some of the genuine wit of the comic strips. This film is maybe relying on more sentimentality than the former, as in this one the issue of leaving home and belonging to an master/owner (and the attachment), and the comedy isn't as rampant as in other Peanuts specials. But of the dozens of Peanuts specials- and the short-lived television series- this is one of the better ones, as there are some moments that still stick in my mind many years after seeing it. One of these is the classic "No Dog's Allowed" song, with the perfect bass sounding voice. And the whole sequence where Snoopy is under protest taken in by a very determined little girl is brilliantly done for laughs. For some kids, depending on if they're attached to the Peanuts or not, may feel stronger with this film, with the very conflicting climax with Snoopy and his masters. There's enough fun though, as Woodstock's first appearance in the Peanuts series is well placed and delivered, with as many vaudevillian expressions as Snoopy.

Just good, family fun for all.

This movie had it all for me as a kid... laughs, sadness, and suspense. (Hey, when you're 6 years old, you don't know if there's really going to be a happy ending). I never forgot the scene with Charlie Brown singing mournfully after Snoopy leaves "for good." Even now I get goosebumps thinking about him standing next to Snoopy's empty doghouse, and laying in bed knowing his World War I Flying Ace isn't outside to protect him from the Red Baron. Probably the best Peanuts movie ever made.

When I first saw this on TV at the tender age of 4, I cried my eyes out during Snoopy's going-away party near the end. When I recently saw it again, 20+ years later, I did exactly the same thing. The characters and situations are so genuine that I forgot it was a cartoon.

And I noticed how many brilliant little details are hidden in this gem: the copy of "Sambo" at the library, then Snoopy's reaction to the highbrow humor of "The Bunnies," and Woodstock's assistance in helping Snoopy cheat at chess against Lila. Note my two favorite scenes: when Sally absent-mindedly grabs Snoopy's nose through the library bookcase (and her little smile afterwards), and when Woodstock falls asleep watching the flock of birds pass gracefully overhead.

And the music is on par with anything you'd hear in an old Looney Tunes cartoon. Notice how the carnival music shares its melody with the sad song Charlie Brown sings after Snoopy leaves the second time? Or the zany symphonic freakout that accompanies the chase through Crazy Clara's house? And I love the lyrics to the "Me and you, a two-man crew" song that's used as the duo's song of the open road. And of course the hilarious basso profundo that underscores every appearance of the dreaded "No Dogs Allowed" sign!

Rent it, buy it, love it. This is the real thing!