DVD Review: Peanuts 1970’s Collection Volume 1

There is probably not a child, young or old, who does not know the names Charlie Brown and Snoopy. Charlie Brown, the original Debbie Downer and poster boy for the socially awkward, became the mainstay of holiday programming through countless TV specials since the 1960s.

Now, Warner Bros has released “Peanuts 1970’s Collection Vol. 1,” featuring six episodes you will quickly recall with a fond memory. The set includes two Peanuts episodes new to DVD, “Play it Again, Charlie Brown” and “It’s a Mystery, Charlie Brown,” as well as four previously released classics: “You’re Not Elected, Charlie Brown,” “There’s No Time for Love, Charlie Brown,” “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving,” and “It’s the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown.”

Most episodes feature the core set of Charlie Brown characters: Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Linus Van Pelt, Lucy Van Pelt, Sally Brown, Peppermint Patty and Marcy. However, “Play it Again, Charlie Brown” is an episode centered on Schroeder, the show’s piano-playing Beethoven connoisseur and Lucy’s love interest. It is in this episode that you will first notice that, despite having a package label proclaiming the word “remastered,” the episodes feel like they could have benefited from a better audio check. Call me a Beethoven lover, but Schroeder’s music is much too hollow. The sound and music still have the muffled feeling of when they were originally aired on TV. Character voices don’t have the full resonance that you would expect from a DVD release. This doesn’t really take away from the humor of this series, but it will strike you the first time you begin watching an episode. The lackluster sound is made especially clear since it comes right after a set of previews bearing a fully mastered voice track.

One thing you’ll notice from the episodes on this collection is the mild political subtext, social commentary and life lessons. Maybe, that’s why the humor in these cartoons still hold up today with older audiences. For example, Linus wages war on the school board in “You’re Not Elected, Charlie Brown.” In the episode he proclaims “no more kindergarten gown graduations and no more school dances.” Later on, he bows to the administrations wishes and Sally calls him a sell out. In another episode, the group goes to visit the museum. Marcy says to Linus, “Try not to have a good time, this is supposed to be educational.” I’m sure that line of humor may have eluded me as a child.

Also included on this release is a new Featurette, “Woodstock: Creating Snoopy’s Sidekick.” The Featurette exposes some of the political subtext in designing Woodstock. The DVD set comes with a bonus digital music download of two songs from Charlie Brown’s Holiday Hits: “Thanksgiving Theme” and “Charlie’s Blues.”

Although this is a great collection, I feel it makes more sense to have released a complete 1970s box set. Hopefully when complete set is released, especially if it’s done on Blu-ray, there will be more focused attention on audio quality. Despite a scant amount of special features, these Charlie Brown and Snoopy episodes will continue to please audiences several decades after they originally aired.

Special Features:
-Featurette: “Woodstock: Creating Snoopy’s Sidekick”
- 2 Bonus songs for iTunes Download