He’s Your Dog, Charlie Brown (Warner DVD)
Picture: C+
Sound: C Extras: C+ Main Program: C+
Warner continues their rollout of remastered Peanuts
programs with He’s Your Dog, Charlie
Brown from 1968, though this already debuted on the Peanuts 1960’s Collection as reviewed here:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/8790/Peanuts+1960%E2%80%99s+Collectio
It is the oddest of the shows produced, though it does
feature the original voice cast for the most part, the idea of Snoopy suddenly
becoming an indentured servant to Peppermint Patty when he has to leave the
Brown residence is supposed to be funny in a safe way at Snoopy’s expense (all
the characters have such moments of bad times), but it is not exactly a good
alternative to the famous dog not going to the puppy farm Charlie Brown intends
to send him to. Peppermint Patty is not
explicitly mean whatsoever, yet the character seems oddly voiced and out of her
element.
The bonus special Life
Is A Circus, Charlie Brown (1980) also puts Snoopy in the spotlight in the
worst possible way when he runs away to said circus and even meets a female dog
he falls for. It is also not bad, yet,
it also falls short and the specials started to become less energetic at this
point, though I would like to see some 1980s sets to rewatch them and see how
they really worked out.
The 1.33 X 1 image on Dog
is cleaned up and looks pretty good in its color and even sound, despite a
Dolby Digital 1.0 Mono soundtrack. Circus has the same picture and sound
specs, but it is an older transfer that looks softer than expected and the
sound has some slight compression. The
only extra is (at anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 and in Dolby Digital 2.0
Stereo) the featurette Snoopy’s Home
Ice: The Story Of The Redwood Empire Ice Arena. Charles Schultz and his wife intervened when
their town needed a new ice skating arena for the residents to use, but instead
of restoring the one that was falling apart, they built a whole new one from
scratch and it is an amazing story in how they backed it, made it special and
how it became a landmark for skaters and hockey players worldwide.
It is also my favorite program on the disc.
- Nicholas Sheffo
