Snoopy Collection

“Come hang out with Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Linus, Lucy, and the rest of the Peanuts gang in the four, original feature-length movies, for the first time ever in one Blu-ray collection! First, sound out l-a-u-g-h-s at the National Spelling Bee with the very first Peanuts movie A Boy Named Charlie Brown. Next, go searching for Snoopy’s secret past in the hysterical Snoopy, Come Home. Then, making their Blu-ray debuts – Race For Your Life, Charlie Brown, full of camp-style fun, and Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (And Don’t Come Back!!), jetting the gang off to the French countryside.”

The Peanuts comic strip, created by Charles M. Schulz, is considered to be one of the greatest comic strips of all time. Schulz’s commentary on social issues providing intelligent insight from the perspective of a bunch of kids is still relevant after all these years, and it’s cast of characters instantly recognizable around the globe. Although it’s Charlie Brown who is the center of the comic strip and focus of the stories, it’s easy to see why Snoopy has become such a beloved character to fans all these decades, hence, why we have a Blu-ray set titled: Snoopy Collection, when it’s clearly stories about Charlie Brown.  Semantics aside, this is a fun collection of Peanuts stories, with two being released for the first time on Blu-ray.

A Boy Named Charlie Brown

The first animated feature film is perhaps the best, in my opinion, in terms of staying on point with those social commentary themes. It’s just really well written, and has the absolute perfect introduction to Charlie Brown, replying to his friends who see historical and religious figures in the clouds, that he sees a ‘duckie and a horsy’. He’s the epitome of ordinary, and everyone around him lets him know it. I enjoy these earlier ones the most because like I said they are more in spirit with the comic strip, with shorter, unconnected sequences like such as Lucy offering Psychiatric help for 5 cents, the football gag, and others. With no Woodstock created at the time, Snoopy tags along with Linus to search for his lost blanket, all the while living out some of his most vivid fantasies like being a fighter pilot or a figure skater.

Snoopy, Come Home

Snoopy, Come Home is perhaps my favorite of the bunch, just for the fact that we get more of Snoopy and his adventures. It’s a heartbreaking tale, as Snoopy learns that his former owner is sick and needs his help. Not only do we get some quality Snoopy and Woodstock scenes, but the music written for the film is superb, something that is still memorable from my childhood. For a ‘Snoopy’ Collection, this one is a must.

Race For Your Life, Charlie Brown

Charlie Brown and the gang head to summer camp and compete in a contest to see which group at camp is best, with Snoopy of course tagging along riding a motorcycle behind the school bus, eventually giving Charlie Brown a ride who misses it at a rest area. During some white-water rafting races, Snoopy and Woodstock are separated from the group, and each other, with Snoopy desperate to find Woodstock and Charlie Brown desperate to find Snoopy.

The clever writing from the earlier films just isn’t as prevalent here, as the story seems to follow a familiar trend, with Snoopy off doing his own thing and Charlie Brown searching for him. It is, however, the first in the set to feature Peppermint Patty, whose incessant badgering of ‘Chuck’ becomes a staple of her character and one of my favorite relationships in the cartoons.

Special Features

• Theatrical Trailer

Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (And Don’t Come Back!!)

The last film of the set is probably the one with the least number of familiar characters. Charlie Brown, Linus, Peppermint Patty and Marcie are selected to represent their school in a foreign exchange program that takes them to France, with Snoopy and Woodstock tagging along of course. There is a mystery surrounding the invitation Charlie Brown receives inviting him to a Chateau that the locals say has been abandoned. With the mystery very minor, Snoopy providing some funny adventures in France with Woodstock, Peppermint Patty receives a lot of the attention in the story, with her cognitive dissonance in full display, not accepting the fact that the local boy is more interested in Marcie than her, kind of like the fact she still thinks Snoopy is a long-nosed boy. She has a lot of funny scenes with Charlie Brown, accosting him as much as possible, which is the highlight of the film since so many normal Peanuts characters are absent.

Special Features

• Travels with Charlie: The Making of Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown
• Theatrical Trailer

Video

The first two films are presented in the original 4:3 aspect ratio, with the last two in 16:9 Widescreen. All these films look pretty good on High Definition, with no extra attention shown to the transfer or any cleanups done to them as far as I can tell. Still, colors are vibrant, the animation lines dark and bold, brining the latter two films to Blu-ray for the first time, which should be the deciding factor for any fan of Peanuts.

Audio

The first two films, A Boy Named Charlie Brown and Snoopy, Come Home are presented in DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. These tracks sound nice, especially considering the fact these have more of a musical score than the subsequent films. Those two are presented in Dolby TrueHD Mono. These sound fine for what they are, but they certainly don’t pop in quite the same way that Snoopy, Come Home does.

This set provides a lot of fun, and a lot of nostalgia for those, like me, who grew up watching the animated films of Charlie Brown and the Peanuts gang. I do wish it contained more films on it, perhaps more of the popular ones such as the Christmas special, as well as the Great Pumpkin, but for what it contains, this is definitely worth a purchase for those wanting to revisit some early childhood memories, or introduce a younger audience to these beloved characters.