Charlie Brown is a good man, and good grief, if people have forgotten that, all they need to do is tune in to ABC on Thursday to watch the first new “Peanuts” special in eight years, “A Charlie Brown Valentine.”
Executive producer Lee Mendelson and “Peanuts” animator Bill Melendez deliberated over whether to continue after creator Charles “Sparky” Schulz died two years ago.
“I had some doubts and thoughts about it,” Mendelson says. “I had known him for 40 years. And the family is now in charge, I have known them since they were kids. We all sat down and discussed if we should.
” . . . I have a good idea what he would accept or not accept,” he continues. “I can truly say, ‘Sparky would never do that,’ or say, ‘Linus would never say a thing like that.’ … Their characters are very well established in my mind certainly, and their characters are well formulated.”
Indeed, this special reminds viewers why this group is so delightful. Unlike many cartoons, “Peanuts” has no violence or nastiness. The children wrestle with school crushes and who will get a valentine.
Lessons subtly are imparted, such as when Peppermint Patty wonders if “a great big valentine means love” and Charlie Brown explains that size and price “have nothing to do with love.”
As always, unrequited feelings flourish. Charlie Brown loves the little red-haired girl, who doesn’t even know he exists. In one telling scene, Charlie Brown asks Linus to strike up a conversation with her so he’ll know if he can ask her to the dance. Linus spends the entire conversation with her trying to explain who Charlie Brown is, confirming his best friend’s fear.
Charlie Brown’s younger sister, Sally, continues to adore Linus, who rejects her. Linus’ older sister, Lucy, has a serious crush on the piano-playing Schroeder, who will have nothing to do with the bossy girl. And Marcie and Peppermint Patty continue their friendly competition for Charlie Brown’s affections.
“One of (Schulz’s) main themes has been unrequited love, going back to the days when he lost a girl in St. Paul,” Mendelson says. “A lot of it is somewhat subliminal N constantly getting knocked down and trying again.
“Lucy is still going after Schroeder for 50 years,” he adds.
They do look pretty good for their years, and little has changed over a half-century.
Melendez notes Schulz’s drawings were not as simple as they looked. Using a thick marker, he draws Charlie Brown’s famous round head on a large sheet of newsprint paper for Mendelson. Mendelson is delighted, because it’s the first time Melendez has ever given him a drawing.
Be that as it may, the old friends begin talking about their early years. “The first show was a trial for us, because, number one, we didn’t know what to charge,” Melendez says.
“None of us had done a special,” Mendelson adds.
“Specials in those days were hourlong shows,” Melendez says. “And I said we couldn’t do it. They wanted us to do the show in about three or four months.”
It takes at least six months to complete the animation for a half-hour special. And, both men say they prefer to have seven to eight months, which is a long time considering the cartoon only fills 22 minutes.
Though there was a Valentine’s Day special in the early ’70s, this one, culled from some of Schulz’s 18,000 comic strips, is new.
