It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown (1974)

As with A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, I never saw this special as a kid and didn't know it even existed until I saw its VHS advertised right before the main feature on the direct-to-video movie, Donkey Kong Country: Legend of the Crystal Coconut. I honestly can't come up with a concrete reason why I missed it all those years, as it aired on CBS annually up to 2000 and, after that, ABC did the same from 2001 to 2006 (its airing has been sporadic since then, though). I can't even say that it didn't interest me, as it looked charming enough from what little I saw of it in that preview. I guess I was just always off doing something else every time it was aired. In any case, I finally saw it when I bought volume one of the DVD collections of the Peanut specials produced in the 70's and, I must say, I did quite enjoy it. No Peanuts holiday special has ever been as classic as A Charlie Brown Christmas and this one is no exception but, that said, I enjoy this more than A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. Mind you, I didn't think that one was bad; rather, I found it to just be kind of ho-hum and not that memorable, whereas I found myself getting more into The Easter Beagle. It's odd that I say that because, unlike A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, this is one of those Peanuts cartoons where there's no concrete story running through it but, instead, it's just a bunch of random stuff that the characters get caught up in during the days leading up to Easter. It's even more scattered in that respect than The Great Pumpkin, which it happens to recycle a subplot from, and there's no true protagonist among the group that everything revolves around, either. And yet, I find it to be more fun to watch than The Great Pumpkin, probably because it's not talked up as much (I like that one fair enough but I don't quite get why it's looked at as such an immortal classic), as well as much more memorable than Thanksgiving (it definitely has more of a feel of its season than that one did, which is a plus) and nowhere close to the melancholy of Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown, which I really appreciate. It may be a controversial opinion but I do think this is one of the better Peanuts holiday specials.

Easter is coming and various members of the Peanuts gang are preparing in their own ways. Peppermint Patty is trying to teach Marcie how to dye Easter eggs but, having never done it before, Marcie continually botches it up in various ways. Lucy, meanwhile, believes that it's the "gift-getting" season and decides to paint and hide eggs so she herself can find them come Easter morning. Woodstock finds that his bird's nest offers no shelter from the spring rains and so Snoopy decides to buy him a birdhouse, although the gesture doesn't come without certain difficulties. Sally decides she needs some new shoes for Easter and she and Charlie Brown go with Lucy and Linus to the store to buy supplies for the holiday. Linus, however, tells everyone who will listen that it's a waste of time to go through so much fuss, as the "Easter Beagle" will appear on Easter morning and hand out eggs to all of the good little children. While most everyone either ignores him or writes him off as crazy, especially Lucy, Sally has a little bit of faith but is still cautious, given the fiasco she went with him over the Great Pumpkin. She'll have to wait and see if the Easter Beagle really will appear or if this will prove to be another farfetched fantasy from the boy she has a crush on.

As with It's a Mystery, Charlie Brown before it, The Easter Beagle was directed by Phil Roman, with Bill Melendez acting as producer. In fact, Roman would be the one guiding the Peanuts specials from here into the early 80's, directing ones like You're a Good Sport, Charlie Brown, It's Arbor Day, Charlie Brown, She's a Good Skate, Charlie Brown, and Someday You'll Find Her, Charlie Brown, among many others. Melendez, meanwhile, was focusing on other projects during this time, such as 1975's Dick Deadeye, or Duty Done and the 1979 animated TV movie of The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe, though he did co-direct 1978's What a Nightmare, Charlie Brown with Roman and the two of them would co-direct the features, Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown and Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (and Don't Come Back!!), during this time as well. He wouldn't return to actively directing the specials until 1982's A Charlie Brown Celebration.

Did you notice how Charlie Brown (voiced by Todd Barbee) only came up once during that plot synopsis? That wasn't me neglecting him but, instead, a reflection of how small his role is in this special, as he has no part in any of the subplots that make up the story and he's not seen until about four minutes in, when he's listening to Sally complain about how she has no new shoes for Easter. The two of them join Linus and Lucy in heading to the mall so she can get some new shoes, running into Peppermint Patty and Marcie there, and that's when Linus informs them about the Easter Beagle. When she questions him about whether or not Linus is all there, Charlie Brown isn't sure what to say and Patty tells him that he has some weird friends. While in the mall, he's disgusted at how they already have their Christmas decorations out, despite it still being eight months away, and has to deal with Sally and Snoopy trying on hats, as well as Sally becoming interested in a pair of shoes that are way too big for her and cause her to fall into him when she tries to walk while wearing them. He's not seen again after that until near the end, where Patty is lamenting to him about how she and Marcie have gone through three dozen eggs in their attempts to color them and Linus again goes on about the Easter Beagle taking care of it for her. He doesn't say anything but the look on his face shows that he's getting sick of Linus yammering on about that. Come Easter, most of the kids are miserable for various reasons and Charlie Brown is no exception, as he's completely alone, despite it being a holiday. His mood is momentarily brightened when Snoopy shows up as the Easter Beagle and passes eggs around to the kids, but that's ruined when, by the time he gets to him, he's run out of eggs.

Speaking of Snoopy (voiced by Bill Melendez), he has much more of a presence here than his owner does, especially since there are two subplots involving him. One revolves around him helping Woodstock after his nest proves to be no refuge from the spring rains. Going to the mall with the kids, he buys Woodstock a birdhouse and puts it in the tree where his nest was. However, he has some trouble in that he has to widen the opening so Woodstock can get in and then, when the bird refuses to try to go in, Snoopy loses his temper and slams the house down on him, getting him through the opening that way. Later, when he sees that Woodstock has made the inside of the place into something of a cool bachelor's pad, he tries to get a closer look at it but gets his nose caught in the hole and, in trying to pull it out, ends up smashing the house. Snoopy, in turn, buys Woodstock another one, this one with a little rope-ladder leading to the hole. Speaking of Woodstock, he mainly acts as a little brat of a bird here, going over to Snoopy and fussing at him after he gets soaking wet from the rain and then, when he doesn't understand what he's talking about, pouring the water on his head, followed by the soaked nest. After Snoopy buys him the first birdhouse, Woodstock has an angry frown on his face the whole time he's putting it up and refuses to cooperate even after Snoopy widens the entry hole for him. Of course, once he gets used to it, Woodstock turns the inside of the house in a nice little home for himself, only for Snoopy to accidentally destroy it and force him to start from scratch.

Snoopy's other part in this special is to show off a carefree, happy-go-lucky, and whimsically imaginative side, in how he tries on hats with Sally at the mall, looks into a special egg there with a bunny image inside it and imagines himself joining them in dancing ring-around-the rosie, and dances with Peppermint Patty and Marcie to the melodies that some music boxes displayed in the mall play. This culminates in him taking the eggs Lucy made and hid for herself and acting as the Easter Beagle, dancing around and passing the eggs along to the kids on Easter morning. He not only gives Lucy one of her own eggs but also gives one to Woodstock, who was sleeping before and then, simply lies atop it in much the same way Snoopy does with his doghouse. He also had every intention of giving Charlie Brown an egg, only to run out before he gets to him and look rather embarrassed about it. Lucy isn't at all happy when she figures out that Snoopy used her own eggs in his Easter Beagle act and is about ready to pick a fight with him over it, only for him to kiss her on the cheek in a way that even disarms her.

God knows where Linus (voiced by Stephen Shea) gets these concepts of nonexistent holiday figures but, in addition to his belief that a Santa Claus-like figure gives kids toys on Halloween night, he also believes in the "Easter Beagle," a canine substitute for the Easter Bunny who serves the same function. Telling people about the Easter Beagle and how he gives colored eggs to all the children on Easter Sunday is Linus' only role in this special, as he tells that to someone in nearly every scene he's in. He also manages to convince Sally of it, despite her reservations from wasting her Halloween waiting for the Great Pumpkin, and his only defense for that is, "This is different: that was Halloween, this is Easter." Incidentally, that's something else this special has in common with The Great Pumpkin: Linus trying to convince Sally, whom he normally wants nothing to do with, of this weird figure he believes in. And just like in that special, he gets bawled out by her when Easter morning arrives and it looks as if the Easter Beagle didn't come, only for him to get a kind of validation this time when Snoopy shows up, taking on the role of the Easter Beagle and giving eggs to all the kids (that's also interesting because, if you remember, Linus thought Snoopy was the Great Pumpkin when he appeared in the pumpkin patch with them). Also just like with the Great Pumpkin, Linus' belief in the Easter Beagle aggravates Lucy (voiced by Melanie Kohn) to no end, although she refuses to let it spoil Easter for her. She sees this time of year in a similar way to Christmas, as the "gift-getting" season, and views the very early Christmas decorations in the mall as validation for her feeling this way. She even tries to convince Schroeder of it, disgusting him with her "gimme, gimme" attitude, to which she responds, "That's called survival, baby." Her end game is to color, hide, and find a bunch of eggs herself, keeping a list of where she put them as she goes. When Easter morning rolls around, Lucy is initially the only one who's happy because of the prospect of her upcoming private egg hunt, but that immediately reverses itself when Snoopy gives her one of her own eggs. She's still miffed about this ten weeks later and goes over to "talk" with Snoopy about it, i.e. to punch his lights out, but when he kisses her on the cheek, she's so touched by it that it takes all the fight of her and she only sigh happily in response.

Though it's more than her brother, Sally (voiced by Lynn Mortensen) also doesn't have much of a role in this special. She's first seen in that scene where she's telling Charlie Brown that she needs some new shoes for Easter, which is also when Linus first tells everyone of the Easter Beagle. At the mall, she's just as annoyed as her brother about how they have their Christmas stuff up, despite it only being April, and after having some fun by trying on some hats with Snoopy, she tries on some over-sized, old-fashioned shoes because they're on sale; when she tries to walk in them, she falls into her brother. Regardless, she does get a pair of brand new shoes. As much she might want to believe Linus when it comes to the Easter Beagle, she's a bit skeptical because of how she got burned by sitting out in that pumpkin patch on Halloween night, waiting for the Great Pumpkin. She eventually goes along with it but, when Easter morning rolls around and there's no sign of the Easter Beagle, she lays into Linus, yelling about how she should have learned not to believe what he says and shouts, "Get me my lawyer! I've been humiliated!" But then, he faith in Linus is restored when the "Easter Beagle" shows up and gives the two of them and everyone else, save for Charlie Brown an egg, apparently not recognizing that it was just Snoopy with a basket.

The first characters that you see when the special begins are Peppermint Patty (voiced by Linda Ercoli) and Marcie (voiced by Jimmy Ahrens), as the two of them try to color eggs. However, because of Marcie's naivety, as well as, let's face it, lack of common sense, she constantly messes it up, much to Patty's growing aggravation. First, she fries the eggs on a griddle; the second time, she puts four in a waffle iron, then tries to put one in the toaster, and when that fails, puts the rest in the oven; and the third and final time, Patty tells her that they have to be boiled and she does just that, except she cracks them before putting them in the pot. Patty ends up spending all of her money on three cartons of eggs, with no colored ones to show for it, and she's both frustrated with Marcie and disappointed that she won't be able to teach her how to dye eggs. Initially skeptical about Linus' talks of the Easter Beagle, she starts to hope that he's right after running out of eggs, but when Easter morning comes, she and Marcie are as depressed as just about everyone else, Marcie apologizing for ruining th eggs. However, that's when Snoopy shows up as the Easter Beagle and gives an egg each. Afterward, Marcie asks what they do with the eggs and Patty says that they put salt on them and eat them. Marcie does so but eats it the egg shell-and-all, which she says tastes awful, and all Patty can do is facepalm in response.

Schroeder (voiced by Greg Felton) only appears in a couple of scenes, one of them being at the beginning when Lucy is going on about how Easter is a "gift-getting" season, despite him telling her that it's a time of renewal and admonishing her for only thinking of herself all the time. He's clearly disgusted when she says that what she's doing is nothing more than survival. He appears again near the end, when the Easter Beagle gives him an egg all his own and he's very grateful for it. While he may have gotten an egg when Charlie Brown didn't, at least Charlie Brown had more screentime than Schroeder!

The Easter Beagle looks an awful lot like A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving in terms of the feeling the colors and backgrounds create, which wasn't a good thing for the latter, as it felt more like spring than November; however, it works very well here. When I see those gray and white, overcast skies, suggesting possible rain, with just a hint of blue in spots where there are gaps in the clouds, combined with the lush greens of the grass and tree leaves, it feels like a spring day to me, especially since I live in the south. I also like how the inside of the mall (they call it a store but it's so big, with escalators that run up and down to different levels, it feels like a mall to me) has a bit more detail to it than you usually see in the interior scenes in these cartoons, with all the displays and decorations, as well as more stuff on the wall than normal. Surprisingly, the same goes for Peppermint Patty's kitchen when she and Marcie are trying to color eggs, as you see far more appliances and furniture than in settings like living rooms and bedrooms, which are usually made up of beds, chairs, and/or TV sets with a blank, nondescript wall behind them. Speaking of which, you have to love how Woodstock turns the inside of the birdhouse that Snoopy buys for him into a 70's style bachelor pad, with modern artwork on the walls, a sunken bed, a TV, and even a freaking quadrophonic stereo system! (Yeah, that kind of goes against the timelessness of Peanuts, which I personally feel is a big no-no, but it's only in this one scene, unlike a certain other special we talked about recently.) But, when Snoopy accidentally destroys the house, Woodstock seems to not consider trying to convert the second one he buys for him in the same way and just leaves it as is, using the Easter egg Snoopy delivers to him as something to sleep on top of. Finally, Snoopy has a cute, whimsical fantasy where he joins some bunnies in an idyllic field with a clear blue sky in the background, and this feeling kind of carries into the scene on Easter morning near the end of the special when he appears as the Easter Beagle, with the pinkness in the low part of the sky giving the feeling of an early sunrise (the deep blue color of the sky in the scene before that, where Lucy is hiding her Easter eggs, has a similarly lovely feel to it).

One thing about this special that makes me smile is the childhood nostalgia of Easter that it brings up for me. While it was never as important to me as Halloween or Christmas, I did enjoy Easter when I was a kid and a big part of that had to do with coloring eggs. Watching Peppermint Patty mix up the bowls of different-colored dye for the eggs and having to boil them before doing so brings back the fun memories I had of doing that with my mom, using these little tiny squirt bottles filled with the dye and squeezing it into bowls where the boiled eggs were held. I actually enjoyed that more than I did the egg hunts, though I do have memories of taking part in some, either at our church or in my grandparents' front yard (in the case of the latter, the eggs were plastic). And I hate to say it but I was kind of like Lucy in that I saw Easter as another opportunity to get presents, as my mom once put some type of video tape in the basket, along with the candy and plastic eggs, and after that, I expected to get something like that every year. That's how I ended up getting the copy of Mario Kart 64 that I've held onto since childhood (I actually cried for it, which is not something I'm proud of but, I'll admit, I was a tad spoiled as a kid). Yeah, if you're a parent, don't decide to give your kid a gift like that during a time of year when that normally doesn't happen, because then they'll come to expect you to do so every year.

I like how, once again, Charles Schulz couldn't help but put in a little commentary on the commercialization of holidays, much like he did with A Charlie Brown Christmas. What's more, he did so in a way that's even more relevant nowadays than it probably was in the 70's (anyone who was around during this time, tell me if the special is accurate about that), with how stores now start pushing Christmas stuff on you before Halloween has even come and gone. The banner in the mall, which reads, "ONLY 246 DAYS UNTIL XMAS," and the signs that read, "SAVE," "BUY EARLY," "BUY NOW," and, "CHRISTMAS DISCOUNT," say it all, and it's very appropriate that, while Charlie Brown and Sally are irritated by it (remember in A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, she was annoyed that Thanksgiving was so soon after Halloween), Lucy is absolutely delighted. In fact, I'm pretty sure the reason why Schulz put this in here was so it would serve as a reflection of her being just as greedy about Easter as she would be about Christmas, to the point where it's like they're interchangeable and, therefore, the presence of Christmas decorations in the springtime has no meaning at all. Its meaning is not dwelt upon as much as it was in the actual Christmas special but, if you think about it, it is significant to the plot, given how Snoopy's giving all of the eggs Lucy made for herself to the kids and making them all happy shows that Easter is not about getting stuff for yourself, as she thought. Though, because of that, I do wish that things had turned out better for Charlie Brown, just as it did at the end of A Charlie Brown Christmas, and he got an egg too.

The special's opening concerns Peppermint Patty and Marcie's first ill-fated attempt at coloring eggs. Marcie shows up at Patty's house with the eggs and is led into the kitchen, Patty telling her to get the eggs ready while she mixes up the colored dyes. However, while Patty does her part, Marcie "prepares" the eggs by frying them on the griddle, asking, "Uh, sir, how do we color the eggs after we fry them?" Seeing this, Sally stutters and lets an exasperated yell, one of many she'll emit throughout the special, while facepalming. After the title and credit, you see Lucy leaning against the rear of Schroeder's piano as he plays, talking about another holiday is coming up that will allow boys the opportunity to buy presents for "pretty" girls; this attitude of hers leaves Schroeder more disgusted than here mere presence often does. Meanwhile, outside, the rain is pouring down and Woodstock is lying in his nest in a small tree, freezing his butt off in the puddle of water that's accumulated on the nest's bottom. Deciding he's had enough, he appears to take an invisible elevator down to the ground (i.e., he mimes pressing a button and you hear the sounds of buzzing, doors sliding open, and the car running, but he really just walks to the edge of the nest and flutters down) and, dripping wet, walks over to Snoopy's doghouse, where there's a clear sky and no rain whatsoever. Snoopy, as usual, is sleeping atop the house and Woodstock flutters up to him, landing on his feet, and starts jabbering at him, waking him up. Seeing that he's wet, Snoopy takes him and wrings and shakes him out, but Woodstock continues jabbering and hops on Snoopy's snout and off the top of his head, back down to the ground. Hopping down himself, he follows Woodstock over to the tree, where motions up to his nest and cheeps about it. Snoopy shrugs, as he doesn't know what he means, and Woodstock flits up to the nest, pointing at it and chattering some more. Snoopy still doesn't get what the problem is and, frustrated, Woodstock emphasizes his point by pouring the water in the nest onto his head and pushes it down on top of him.

The Peanuts gang heads to the mall, pairs of characters going for various reasons, and inside, they remark on how the Christmas decorations are already up. After a moment where Sally and Snoopy have some fun by trying on hats, Charlie Brown motions for them to come on. They head to the escalators but, while the kids go up, Snoopy takes the escalator that heads down. He passes them on their way up and, when the kids take another escalator further up, they pass him again (even though, this shouldn't be possible, given the complete opposite directions they took). Charlie Brown and Sally head over to the shoe department, where Sally picks and tries on an oversized and out-of-date pair, as she likes to be different from everybody else anyway. But, when she tries to walk in them, she loses her balance and falls over onto her brother, much to his annoyance. Snoopy, meanwhile, comes across a gumball machine and puts a quarter in, but when he presses the lever, all of the balls spill out and slips on them on the floor, ending up next to an Easter display. Spotting the large eggs with holes in them, as well as sign that reads, SEE THE BUNNIES, Snoopy takes one and looks inside it. He sees a simple, static visual of some bunnies sitting alongside a dirt trail but his imagination turns them into some happy, dancing little rabbits and he joins them in their dancing. He gets some applause from them for his dancing and as he continues watching, you see that he's dancing in place while he does so. Later, he's looking at some birdhouses and, after peeking at the price tags of a couple that are seemingly too expensive, he decides on a simple, tan-colored one and buys it. He later puts it up in Woodstock's tree but, when Woodstock tries to get it in, the hole proves to be too small, his beak barely fitting inside. He drops back to the ground and complains about it to Snoopy, who then opens the hole up a little more but now, Woodstock refuses to go in it. Snoopy quickly loses his patience with Woodstock's obstinate and ungrateful attitude and grabs the birdhouse, slams the hole down on the bird, forcing him in it, and hanging it back up in the tree. Inside the house, Woodstock is dazed over what just happened.

While Linus tries to convince Sally of the Easter Beagle's existence, Peppermint Patty and Marcie are once again attempting to color some eggs. However, Marcie still hasn't gotten the idea and puts four of the eggs in the waffle iron, creating a real mess. She then tries to put one in the toaster but all she manages to do is put it on top and press down the lever, which does nothing. That's when she takes the egg and puts it, along with the rest of them, into the oven and starts it up, prompting Patty to let out another furious scream. The two of them head back to the mall to get another dozen eggs, running into Linus on the way and listening to him again go on about the Easter Beagle. Elsewhere, Snoopy hears the sounds of sawing and hammering coming from inside Woodstock's birdhouse, followed by some smooth, relaxing music. Curious, he peeks through the hole and is surprised to see the inside completely furnished, with modern art paintings adorning the walls, a sunken bed, a spiral staircase leading up, and Woodstock lounging while listening to the music through some headphones. Snoopy tries to see more but in his attempts, he gets his big nose stuck in the hole and, in trying to wrench it loose, jerks the house off the tree and smashes it on the ground, the piece with the hole still stuck on his nose. Not surprisingly, Woodstock chews Snoopy out for this and the two of them walk to the mall, where they meet up with Patty and Marcie. Snoopy and the girls head in through the doors but Woodstock ends up stuck outside when the doors close on him (he tries to rush in but slams headfirst into the door). Inside the mall (which still has that, "ONLY 246 DAYS UNTIL XMAS," sign up, so we're seemingly still on the same day as we were earlier), they come to a spot where some Christmas music boxes are only display and Patty winds them up. As the music plays, Snoopy dances with Patty, then with Marcie, and then the three of them all dance together. After the music ends, Snoopy kisses both of them on the cheek before heading off by himself, leaving the two girls on the floor, fawning over him. Patty comments, "Boy, that kid really can dance, and he sure knows how to make a girl happy," before adding, "He sure is a funny-looking kid, though," to which Marcie responds, "He has a very strange nose, doesn't he, sir?" Snoopy, meanwhile buys another birdhouse and later, puts it up for Woodstock. This one comes with a rope-ladder, which Woodstock takes advantage of, crawling across and up it as it hangs from the perch below the entry hole.

Trying for the third time to color the eggs, Patty tells Marcie, "These eggs are not to be fried, nor are they to be roasted, toasted, or waffled!... These eggs got to be boiled. You boil them, and then I'll show you how to paint them." Marcie seems to understand it now and heads over to prepare to boil the eggs. She fills a pot with water, puts it on the stove, and starts heating up the water. Patty tells her to let her know when the water starts boiling and to go ahead and put the eggs in. Marcie does just that: she cracks the eggs on the pot's rim and shucks the yolks into the water. She tells Patty that all the eggs are in the pot and Patty tells her to let them boil for a long time. The water starts boiling immediately and Marcie has Patty come over to have a look at them. Patty comments that it smells like soup and when she looks into the pot, she yells at what she sees. She then yells at Marcie, "You've made egg soup!", sending Marcie tumbling backwards off the stool she was standing on and letting out her third aggravated scream of the special. She then laments to Charlie Brown about their predicament, how they've gone through three-dozen eggs, still don't have any colored ones, and now she's out of money. Once again, Linus assures her that the Easter Beagle will take care of it, saying, "Everyone will be filled with great warmth and friendship." He later tries to tell Lucy the same as she's coloring eggs but she isn't having it, saying, "Easter is very simple: you paint the eggs, you hide the eggs, and you find the eggs." He follows her as she hides the eggs throughout the yard and makes up a list of where she put them, intending to find them all herself. Unbeknownst to her, Snoopy is following them and snatching up the eggs that she leaves on the ground.

Easter morning arrives and everyone is pretty miserable for various reasons. Peppermint Patty is down because she and Marcie never got to color any eggs, saying, "I've seen this happen on holidays before: you look forward to being real happy, and then, something happens that spoils it all,"; Sally is livid at Linus because, just like with the Great Pumpkin, the Easter Beagle was a no-show; and Charlie Brown is depressed because it's a holiday and he's by himself. The only one who's cheerful is Lucy, who is preparing to have a great Easter egg hunt since she's the one who's going to find all of them. Woodstock, however, couldn't care less, as he's in his new birdhouse, snoozing. After Sally declares that you shouldn't trust someone with a blanket and demands a lawyer, a figure appears in the distance and it turns out to be Snoopy, who's passing out the eggs he picked up earlier (I recognized the shot of him doing this as the first thing you see during the opening for the first season of The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show). Seeing him, Linus excitedly yells that the Easter Beagle is coming and this prompts all of the kids to stop and look. He passes by Patty and Marcie, tossing them some eggs, and does the same for Linus and Sally, act that elates the former. Schroeder is the next one to get an egg and, afterward, he tosses an egg into the birdhouse, where it knocks Woodstock on the head, startling him awake. After shaking off the daze, he gets up and simply uses the egg as something to sleep on top of. Snoopy then walks up to Lucy, shaking her hand, and hands her one of the eggs, before going over to Charlie Brown... but then, he discovers that he's run out of eggs and all he can do is shrug and smile sheepishly (maybe he shouldn't have been tossing them around willy-nilly before he got to the kids). As the other kids rejoice, Lucy isn't too happy, seeing as how she just got one of her own eggs. Marcie then asks Patty what they now do with the eggs and Patty tells her that they eat them with some salt. So, Marcie takes out a salt shaker, sprinkles some on her egg, and bites right into it, shell and all. Chewing on it and swallowing, she tells Patty that it tastes awful, while Patty can do nothing but facepalm yet again.

Ten weeks later, Lucy is still angry, declaring she'll never get over what happened and kicks the cushion she was lying on for emphasis. Linus suggests that she over and talk things over with Snoopy and she leaves to do just that, only her idea of "talking things out" is to challenge Snoopy to a fight. When she tells him come down off his doghouse so they can have it out, he scoots across the top of the house until his head is leaning over the edge and he's looking at Lucy, as she puts up her dukes. Turning right-side up, he jumps down in front of her, as she starts shuffling in place and tells him to put his hands up. Instead, he kisses her right on the cheek and does so in such a hard way that it leaves her a bit dazed. As he walks away, instead of being disgusted, like she usually is, Lucy can only sigh happily and intone, "The Easter Beagle."

Vince Guaraldi's score here is a little bit different than the music he normally created for the Peanuts specials in that it's not as jazzy. You still get those nice, mellow pieces that often come with these specials, such as some symphonic ones in scenes such as those with Peppermint Patty and Marcie, when Linus first tells the kids about the Easter Beagle, and when Snoopy tries to get a gumball, but the main title theme is this really whimsical, fairy tale-sounding, flute piece, which you also hear when Snoopy fantasizes about having fun with the bunnies (it's the only sound in that scene) and over the ending credits. A similarly magical, jig-like piece is heard when Snoopy shows up as the Easter Beagle, which actually the first movement of Beethoven's 7th Symphony, with the second one being played in the bit before that, when Sally is giving Linus an earful about the Easter Beagle. Speaking of classic pieces of music, the tune that the music boxes in the mall play is one that was written by Bach. The scenes with Woodstock have a distinctive, bluesy-sounding guitar piece set to them, the scenes at the mall have a high-pitched, softly-played, twanging theme with a Christmas twinge to them, and the look at Woodstock's little bachelor pad is set to some relaxing, lounge-like music. A symphonic version of the Linus and Lucy theme can be heard when Lucy is hiding the eggs she painted and the special ends with a nice piece similar to the one that opened it, only with a little more bounce to it.

For me, It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown is something of an underrated Peanuts holiday special. It may not have much in the way of one, concrete, instead being comprised of several different subplots, and Charlie Brown himself is barely even in it, but there's a lot to recommend it. Most of the characters featured do have a lot to do, particularly Snoopy, the look of the special really gives off the warmth and sunshine of spring, there's some surprising detail in the design of some of the environments, it can bring up some nice childhood memories of Easter, Charles Schulz again manages to slip in some commentary about the commercialization of holidays, there are a number of funny and memorable scenes, and the music score is really charming. There's just a real good feeling about this one, mostly because it doesn't revel in the melancholy that these cartoons sometimes do (sadly, Charlie Brown's lack of screentime could have something to do with that), and it's one I would recommend watching with your family this Easter.

It's Spring Training, Charlie Brown (1992)

Unless you're a Peanuts fan of the highest degree, chances are that you've never heard of this special, let alone seen it, and there's a very good reason for that: it was never aired on CBS. For whatever reason, while it was completed in time for its planned airing in the spring of 1992, the network decided not to go through with it. It remained unseen until 1996, when it was put out on video with Charlie Brown's All-Stars, which it shares some similarities with, and was later aired on TV in 1998 by Nickelodeon (something that can't be said at all for a couple of other Peanuts cartoons made afterward). It is available on DVD, as part of the compilation of specials, Happiness is... Peanuts: Go, Snoopy, Go!, but it still remains an obscure part of the Peanuts' history, so much so that I, despite loving these cartoons, had never heard of it until late 2015, when I stumbled across it on YouTube. I wasn't expecting anything, as it looked like just another Peanuts special centered around baseball, but there were parts of this thing that were just... wow. Let me make it clear from the outset that this is not at all a hidden gem among these cartoons; in fact, it's one of the least effective of them, period. It's not entirely unfunny but, as a whole, it's just not very good. There are several reasons why that is. One, the premise and plot are uninspired, some of it retreading what was done decades earlier in Charlie Brown's All-Stars. Two, you can predict the ending from very early on. Three, not many of the Peanuts characters are featured, with Charlie Brown, Lucy, Linus, and Snoopy being the only main ones who have significant roles (yeah, despite that cover, Peppermint Patty and Woodstock are nowhere to be seen), while the others are little more than cameos in a couple of instances. And fourth and finally, the special has elements about it that are cringe-inducing in how dated they are, planting it firmly in the time period in which it was made, something that Charles Schulz always tried to avoid with his comic strip.

After failing to get his baseball team motivated for some practice while it's still wintertime, Charlie Brown starts putting them through spring training and, as usual, they're awful. They don't get much better when Frieda's little brother, Leland, joins the team because he desires to play in a big league. Following some particularly frustrating training involving Lucy, the outfielder, she brings up the fact that they have no uniforms, unlike the other teams in the league. Charlie Brown manages to get a deal with Mr. Hennessy, the owner of a hardware store, who agrees to sponsor the team and buy them uniforms... if they win the first game of the season. Despite his confidence that, if they really try, they could do it, no one else shares in his faith, and even if they do manage to win the game, will the uniforms really matter in their ability to play the game?

I couldn't remember in the long while since I first watched it but, while preparing for this review, I was positive that It's Spring Training, Charlie Brown wasn't directed by Bill Melendez, as I couldn't see him letting a lot of the stuff in this one slide, and I was right. While Melendez, along with Lee Mendelson, was a producer on it, the special was directed by Sam Jaimes, who was actually a veteran of the Peanuts by this point. Not only had he worked in the animation department on way too many of the past shorts and movies to count, he'd also directed other Peanuts projects like episodes of The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show, You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, Snoopy: The Musical, and It's Flashbeagle, Charlie Brown (ironically, another Peanuts special that is poorly dated). Moreover, he directed Why, Charlie Brown, Why?, the special that took on the subject of cancer and received an Emmy nomination for the effort. Spring Training is the last bit of directing on Jaimes' IMDB page but he did go on to work on other Peanuts cartoons in various capacities, often as animator, such as You're in the Super Bowl, Charlie Brown and It Was My Best Birthday Ever, Charlie Brown, as well as for other cartoons like Frosty Returns and an episode of Garfield and Friends. His last credit was as a character designer on a 2005 short called Jasper: The Story of a Mule.

Charlie Brown (voiced by Justin Shenkarow) has moments of being unusually optimistic throughout this special, right from the opening where he tries to get everybody pepped up for some "spring training," even though it's still cold as crap and there's snow everywhere. Come actual spring, he again tries to get everyone into practicing as hard as they can but, as usual, they suck hard, frustrating him. When Linus asks him how the team is shaping up, he says, "It's hard to say, but I try to be optimistic." He's good enough to let Leland join their team, despite being way too small for it, but he loses his temper with Lucy because of how awful she is at playing outfield. When she brings up the notion of them not having uniforms, Charlie Brown strikes up the deal with Mr. Hennessy, who offers to buy them uniforms if they win the first game of the season. Knowing that they've never won a single game ever (which isn't true, if you watch some of the past specials), he tells Hennessy that they would try and he's, again, optimistic that if they really try, especially with this incentive, they could win. He superstitiously wears his cap to bed the night before the game and, after they get pepped up before it starts, his confidence amps up when it starts. He throws the opening pitch, thinking, "For me, this is the most exciting moment of the year," and the batter hits it back hard enough to knock him out of his gear, making him think, "Why? I don't know." Despite this initial smack to his confidence, the team does really well, managing to keep up with their opponents, and they end up winning thanks to some dumb luck on Leland's part. They get their uniforms, but when Leland tells him that he can't continue playing with them because it's too big for him, Charlie Brown is nice enough to call him a good player and that they will miss him. Their cloud nine euphoria over winning and becoming a "legitimate" ball team with uniforms doesn't last, as they get killed during their second game, with Charlie Brown himself missing an easy pop fly that would have won the game for them. Schroeder asks him how he could have missed it and Charlie Brown says, "I will ask myself the same question... over... and over... and over." Following the loss, he and Linus talk about how it happened, despite their new uniforms, and Charlie Brown laments, "It's not how you look; it's how you play the game." Linus asks him who said that and he answers, "I don't know, but somebody said it. If they didn't, they should've."

Rather than being bullish and crabby like usual, Lucy (voiced by Marnette Patterson) is little more than an incompetent killjoy for the team. She's a horrendous outfielder, missing practically every ball that comes her way, and she often makes less than encouraging comments whenever Charlie Brown says he wants to hear some chatter on the field. During the opening in the wintertime, when he says they need the practice, she adds that they probably need some flu shots as well, and her response to his wanting to hear some chatter? "Chestnuts roasting on an open fire, Jack Frost nipping at your nose..." Come actual spring training, Lucy gets beaned in the head with a ball and misses a number of them, proving the only thing she can do right is come in when Charlie Brown tells her to. She frustrates him to the point where he goes, "You drive me crazy! You must be the worst outfielder in the history of baseball!" That's when Lucy brings up that they need uniforms, since they're the only team in the league that doesn't have any, saying, "If we had uniforms, with names and numbers, everybody would know who we are." But then, she thinks, "Then again, maybe we don't want anyone to know who we are." Like everyone else, she doesn't share in Charlie Brown's enthusiasm that they could win the first game of the season if they try really hard, and during it, she continues to mess up, miss balls (at one point, her excuse is, "I was hoping I'd catch it. Hope got in my eyes,") and kill the spirit with comments like, "We're not last place yet!" and "Just wait till next year!" There's one weird moment, right before the game begins, where she randomly goes, "Come on, Lefty! You can do it! Show 'em how, Lefty!" Charlie Brown, dumbfounded, yells, "We don't have anyone on our team named Lefty!" and Lucy goes, "We don't? Poor Lefty." Otherwise, she spends the game flirting with Schroeder, who, as usual, is disgusted, and doesn't grasp that Leland has a crush on her. When they win and get their uniforms, Lucy is confident that they're unbeatable, but when they get pummeled during their second game, she resorts to the same old excuses when she can't catch a ball: "I thought I had it, but suddenly I remembered all the others I'd missed. The past got in my eyes." After they've lost, she acts as the signal that it's over, forlornly yelling, "Augh!"

Though present, Linus (voiced by John Christian Graas) doesn't have much of a role in the story, save for mainly just being another body on the team. Like everyone else, he doesn't give much for their chances at winning the first game of the season and, like his sister, he believes that if they had some uniforms, it would make all the difference in their performances. He does nothing significant during the big game and, when they lose the second one, despite now having uniforms, he expresses dismay about it, thinking that they would have been unbeatable. I'm not a fan of the kid who voiced Linus here, either, as his performance is pretty flat and has neither the spirit or inherent intellect that you often associate with the character. I guess I shouldn't be too hard on Graas, as he was only nine or ten when he did this cartoon, but Linus has had much better voice actors over the years (the kid who played him in the first specials in the 60's, while not a brilliant actor, left more of an impact). You also don't get much action from Snoopy (voiced by Bill Melendez), who's the team's shortstop. During the opening, when there's snow everywhere and it's cold, he enters the field on a ski-line, and later, when he goes with Charlie Brown and Linus to Mr. Hennessy's hardware store, he runs into trouble when a wrench snaps onto his nose, sticks his head in a machine that shakes him around, gets a bucket stuck on his head, and gets blasted around by a leaf-blower. When Charlie Brown tells the team about Hennessy's offer and tries to get them pepped up for it, he says, "I've asked an expert to lead us in some calisthenics." Said "expert" is apparently Snoopy, who's snoozing over on the bench while standing up. During the actual game, he manages to catch a ball with his mouth, and when he goes to get a drink of water during a break in the action, having to drink from the hose proves to be really hazardous for and the team, as it starts flailing around while he grabs onto it, trying to bring it under control. When they get their uniforms, Snoopy makes the painful mistake of putting his on without taking the pins out, not that it matters because, like everyone else, he doesn't play any better while wearing it.

Wearing a helmet and catcher's mitt that are far too big for him, Leland (voiced by Gregory Grudt) shows up during the team's spring training, hoping to try out for a big league, despite being much younger and smaller than the other kids. He's really earnest about it, willing to take any position that Charlie Brown gives him, and though he proves to not be that great of a catcher and has a hard time understanding their signals (he finally gets the signal for wanting to bunt but he ends up confessing that he doesn't know what a bunt is), he eventually gets the position of infielder. During the big game, he manages to get a pop fly when the ball bounces off the ground and up into his helmet, and he also turns out to have a crush on Lucy, telling her when he first meets her that he thinks she's pretty and calling her "gorgeous" at one point. At the last of the ninth, it's Leland's turn to bat and he almost strikes out, only to dizzily walk on base when a ball whacks him in the helmet and he also manages to score a run in the same manner, winning them the game. Though, after that game, Leland decides to go back to his little league, since the large size of the team's uniform convinces him that he's not ready for the big league yet. As I said in the synopsis, Leland is the little brother of Frieda (voiced by Noley Thornton), who has one appearance near the beginning of the special when she has to tie Leland's shoes for him before he heads off to try out.

Schroeder (voiced by Travis Boles) is also part of the team but he only has a couple of noteworthy moments. One is when he plays the piano so the others can do the hokey-pokey before the game (yeah, even on the ball-field, you can't separate him from his piano), as per their tradition, and the other is when, as the game is about to start, he walks up to Charlie Brown on the pitcher's mound and tells him, "One finger will mean just try to get over to the plate. Two fingers will mean try not to throw over the backstop. And three fingers will mean we'll all be glad when the season's over." After he walks away, Charlie Brown comments, "Catchers are weird." Other than that, not much can be said about Schroeder other than how, as usual, Lucy gets on his nerves with her constant and unwanted flirting. There's an unnamed girl player (voiced by Elisabeth Moss) on the team who, in one scene, looks exactly like Marcie, as she's randomly wearing glasses just like her, even though she doesn't wear them anywhere else during the cartoon. As you can see, even without the glasses, you could easily mistake her for Marcie, as she's dressed just like her and her hair is the same color and shape. Pig-Pen is on the team but he never says anything or does anything significant, nor does a dark-haired boy who I don't recognize at all. Franklin is on the team as well (voiced by Jessica Nwafor) and he has one very memorable scene but I'm going to wait a little bit before talking about it, as that scene deserves a section all its own.

For all of the faults that it does have, Spring Training is one of the lovelier-looking Peanuts specials, undoubtedly because it was made in the early 90's. Its color palette is very rich, for one thing (as you should have already noticed by this point, the colors really pop), and since 98% of it takes place outside, the designers really focused on making the environments look as nice as possible. The opening in wintertime looks like something out of a beautiful postcard due to the idyllic, snow-covered scenery, and during the bulk of the story during the springtime, the bright greens of the grass and the trees in the background are very pleasing to the eye, particularly in the big wide shots of the baseball diamond. And while the special ends on a melancholy note, the deep orange from the sunset makes it look pretty, at least. Moreover, the animation, while not Disney-level by any means, had really improved by this point in the specials' history, as the characters' movements are quite fluid and fairly detailed when compared to what had been done in the past. As cringe-inducing as the scene itself is, Franklin's rap song (yes, you read that right) before the game is made up of some really good and intricate animation involving his and the other characters' dance moves, and it's the only part where things get very stylized, with these colored backgrounds in the closeups and some showy panning movements from the camera.

Pretty visuals and technical savvy don't mean anything to me if I don't care what's going on and that's one of the areas where Spring Training falls flat. The story is uninspired, to say the least, and I'm not saying that because it's centered around baseball, which I have zero interest in, as I've enjoyed past Peanuts specials that involved sports (for that matter, I absolutely love The Sandlot, a big chunk of which is about baseball). All we're seeing is the gang being a lousy team, getting the idea that having actual uniforms will suddenly make them better, and actually trying to win the first game of the season for no other incentive than the offer of uniforms if they win. So, when they do win, through sheer luck rather than skill, and get their uniforms, you can see what's going to happen right then and there: it makes no difference, they get beaten (admittedly, not by much; just a couple of points, in fact), and learn that how you look means nothing if you can't play for crap. It's so predictable, and it would have been better if it had instead been about them simply trying to win just one game. What's more, it recycles a bit of the story of Charlie Brown's All-Stars, with Mr. Hennessy offering to sponsor the team and get them uniforms, but it has none of the depth of that much superior special, which involved Charlie Brown having to turn down Hennessy's offer because the league doesn't allow girls or dogs on the team, keeping this development from his friends to ensure they won't quit the team, and his friends becoming angry at him when they find out, only to feel bad when Linus tells them the real truth behind it (even Lucy felt bad, in that instance!) The only noteworthy side-plot in Spring Training is how they let young Leland play with them but they do nothing with it at all, as his winning the game, again, is a happy accident rather than any talent on his part, so his having to leave the team doesn't make a difference anyway. These story issues are weird because, as was the case with many of the Peanuts cartoons made during his lifetime, Charles Schulz did write this. Maybe he was just struggling for ideas or received some interference from the network or whoever but that's up to debate. And finally, while there are some laughs to be had here, like Snoopy's antics in the hardware store and his trying to get some water from the hose that serves as the field's drinking fountain, as well as Lucy's comments from the outfield, I'd be lying if I were to call Spring Training a complete riot.

One aspect of the Peanuts franchise as a whole that has always made it really special is how timeless the stories are. As Jim Davis did with Garfield, Charles Schulz never put anything in the stories that dated them and made them of a specific time period. Even though the comic strip began in 1950 and the specials in the mid-60's, they all hold up because there's nothing in them, not slang, not clothing, not hairstyles, not fads and trends, or anything else that ties them to those specific time periods. Schulz did take on period-relevant topics and issues in his stories but rarely did them in ways that were so blatant as to make it come off like they were in because they happened to be in the air at the time. For the most part, the specials kept this timeless feel about them, but every once in a while, you would get one that was heavily-influenced by the time in which it was made, like the aforementioned It's Flashbeagle, which draws a lot of influence not only from the movie Flashdance but other stuff from the early 80's, like the arrival of MTV and the breakdancing craze. Spring Training is not as dated in terms of the story's content but because of how it sounds. Even though you could make the argument that Vince Guaraldi's jazzy compositions do date the original specials somewhat because they're rooted in the music he did in the 50's and 60's, it fits with the mood of Peanuts so well that you don't think about it. Plus, whatever you may think about it, you can't tell me that you find it to be more egregious than the music score we have here.

The music score for Spring Training was done by Judy Munsen who, like director Sam Jaimes, was certainly no stranger to Peanuts, having been doing music for them as far back as 1977's It's Your First Kiss, Charlie Brown and had also scored the movie, Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (and Don't Come Back!!), as well as the very serious, Why, Charlie Brown, Why? So, she was definitely no slouch in the scoring department, as the music she did for those projects is quite good, particularly her score for Bon Voyage, but she really dropped the ball here. I don't know if it was her call, Jaimes', or whoever, but she filled the soundtrack with this electronic, synthesizer-based, kind of grungy score. It's especially prevalent during scenes where they're practicing and playing the game, which are accompanied these big, bold electronic themes that, I swear, sound like they have DJ record scratching at some points, and if it weren't for the characters being onscreen, you would forget that you're watching a Peanuts cartoon, because it sounds more like a demo tape for an early 90's music video. That's the problem: it doesn't fit. I'll admit, there are some bits of this music that I do like the sound of, being a child of the 90's and all, but when I'm watching Charlie Brown, Linus, Lucy, and the gang playing baseball to a score that makes me think, any minute now, I'm going to start hearing Paula Abdul's greatest hits, it doesn't work! There are some flourishes in the score that do sound more appropriate, though, such as pieces of classic baseball music, like the first notes of Take Me Out to the Ball Game during the opening, and when Schroeder heads up to bat at one point, you hear the first notes of Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 played on a piano, a very appropriate motif for him. Following the credits, the opening scene in the snow it set to a piece made up of low strumming, piano, and saxophone, which works for both the scene and Peanuts as a whole, as does the solemn flute piece of the ending scene. But, instances of music like those are few and far between here, as you're mainly stuck with that grungy music, which may have been of its time but doesn't fit with Peanuts.

Speaking of not fitting with Peanuts, the actual music score has nothing on something that happens right before the fateful game begins. Rather than doing the national anthem, as a player on the opposing team asks, Charlie Brown says that everyone does the Hokey-Pokey before their games, which is fitting, in my opinion. But then, after the Hokey-Pokey is done, Franklin suddenly comes in with a boombox, starts some music going, and does a rap. For close to two full minutes (that's not an exaggeration), the story stops in its tracks and the cartoon truly becomes a corny, cringe-inducing music video, with brightly-colored backgrounds changing color, Franklin pulling off a number of dance moves while rapping, the other characters dancing behind him, and Snoopy doing a bunch of moves with his bat in front of those backgrounds, while kids' voices chant, "Go! Go! Go!" I think the rap is called That's What It's All About, I guess to go along with the Hokey-Pokey before it, but, wow! The first time I watched it, I couldn't believe what I was seeing, and because of its length, by the time we got around to the third verse, I thought to myself, "Man, this is going on long!" When I told a friend of mine about it, he initially couldn't believe it and then thought I was exaggerating how bad it was, until he saw it for himself and felt that I was actually downplaying it. There are so many reasons why this is just wrong. First, it's a rap in a Peanuts cartoon. Do I have to elaborate any more on that? Second, the lyrics are ridiculous: "It's time you started worrying, your strategy's in a muddle, if you're a little aeroplane, we're the space shuttle," "This game has a lot more meaning, our look is on the line, you may as well lay down your gloves, because we're gonna be sublime, "In the past, we've had our share of failures and defeats, but now our shining moment's here, might as well take off your cleats." Third, while the animation and choreography on Franklin is actually pretty good, the other characters aren't doing much more in those wide-shots than just dancing and hopping around in place behind him. If you're going to go this route, at least have better backup for him. Fourth, the length of the rap. Again, this thing goes on so long that it can make you think that they just gave up on the story altogether. Fifth, the stereotypical nature of Franklin being the one rapping, especially given how he was originally created in order to go against the prejudices and politics that were going on at the time. Also, I'm not trying to be racist but the sound of Jessica Nwafor's voice as she does the rap compounds the stereotype. And sixth, the rap dates this special just as much, if not more, than the grungy music score. You look at this and you know instantly that this is from the 90's, which is not a good thing for Peanuts. I honestly should just end the review right here because, trust me, nothing is going to top this thing. My words can't do it justice: you need to look it up and see it for yourself.

The cartoon opens with a snowfall so thick that Charlie Brown has to dig a path through it from his front step to the pitcher's mound, passing by Snoopy's doghouse, as he sits atop it, covered in snow.  He shakes the snow off his head, only for Charlie Brown to accidentally getting him on the end of his snout with some more snow as he shovels. Reaching the mound, Charlie Brown announces that it's time for them to start their spring training, when it dawns on him that there doesn't seem to be anyone else out there but him. He declares, "You'll all have weak arms if you don't start throwing the ball around!", only for a bunch of snowballs to whiz by him, causing him to do a flip in the air out of surprise. He sits up on the mound, only to get pelted by a couple of more snowballs, knocking his cap off. He puts it back on his head, which smokes from his aggravation. Following that, he asks Linus where the shortstop is and he says, "I think he's coming in now." Charlie Brown sees what he means by "coming in" when Snoopy rides a random ski lift in and says he doesn't want to hear them complain about the fact that there's now on the ground, as it's "spring training." He adds that they need the practice and, in the outfield, Lucy comments, "And maybe other flu shots!" Admitting that it is still winter, he says, "That doesn't mean we can't show spirit, does it? Let's hear some chatter out there!" So, Lucy gives him some chatter, starting to sing a Christmas song. With that, she and the other players run off, leaving a frustrated Charlie Brown out there by himself. After he gets no response when he repeatedly yells for them to come back, he walks over to a snowman and asks it, "Care to shag a few flies?"

Come actual spring training, Charlie Brown is disappointed to see that, as usual, the team is absolutely lousy at baseball: Lucy gets whacked on the head by the ball she was supposed to catch, Pig-Pen flat out misses the ball that's thrown to him when he's up to bat, Snoopy collides into Franklin while trying to get on base, and Lucy and that other girl player don't even react to a ball that comes their way until it hits the ground between them. Charlie Brown yells in frustration upon seeing this and sits down beside Linus on the bench. Meanwhile, little Leland gets out of bed and gets dressed, as well as puts on his oversized helmet, glove, and shoes. After having to get Frieda to tie his shoes for him, he heads out to the ball-field. He comes across Snoopy as he stands there with his bat, asking him where the manager is, but Snoopy flat-out ignores him. Leland then walks over to Lucy, who points him in Charlie Brown's direction when he asks about the manager, and he comments that he thinks she's pretty before walking on, much to Lucy's confusion. Charlie Brown is reluctant to put Leland on the team because of how small he is but lets him try out; sadly, Leland misses one ball Charlie Brown bats his way and another bounces off the ground and hit his helmet. After that, Charlie Brown tries to teach Leland their various signals, starting with the one indicating he wants to bunt. It takes a little bit but Leland does manage to memorize that complicated signal... only to then ask, "Mr. Manager, what's a bunt?" Charlie Brown then gets back to practicing with Lucy, who's now confident that she can catch the balls he bats to her, only for her to miss four in a row: one lands right behind her, two roll across the ground and go between her legs, and another hits the ground in front of her. Charlie Brown gives up and says, "Okay, everybody in!", to which Lucy, after saying "I can't do it!" after missing each ball, says, "I can do that." This is the last straw, as Charlie Brown calls her the worst outfielder ever, which is when Lucy brings up the fact that they don't have uniforms, thinking it would make a big difference.

Later, Charlie Brown walks with Linus and Snoopy to Mr. Hennessy's hardware store. While the boys talk to Hennessy, Snoopy's nosiness gets him in trouble when, walking over to a tool rack, he touches a wrench and it instantly snaps on his nose. After struggling to yank it off, he walks over to a paint mixer and sticks his head in, only to get shook around and flung to the floor, a bucket getting thrown up into the air as a result and landing on his head. Trying to get it off he, he stumbles into a leaf-blower and gets blasted up into the air, before it shorts out and blasts him off to the side. Despite being distracted by this, Charlie Brown goes on to talk to Hennessy about his offer of sponsoring their team. After that, he tells his team about Hennessy agreeing to sponsor the team and buy them uniforms, which makes them happy. However, their excitement dies when he adds that Hennessy will only do it if they win the first game of the season, and their spirits aren't lifted at all when Charlie Brown declares that if they try hard, they could do it. He stops their bellyaching by saying, "We can do it! We'll start serious practice tomorrow," and they head out onto the field to warm up. That's when Charlie Brown says that he's asked an "expert" to lead them in calisthenics and it cuts to Snoopy, who's sleeping while standing up on the bench.

Come the day of the game, the team sees their end goal right in front of them when the opposing team shows up, wearing official uniforms. Following the Hokey-Pokey and Franklin's rap, Charlie Brown's team heads out onto the ball-field, everyone pepped up, including Lucy, who tries to flirt with Schroeder when he walks up to give Charlie Brown the rundown of the signals; as you can guess, he just glares at her in response. The game gets underway afterward and Charlie Brown throws the first pitch of the season, only for it to get batted back at him and knock him out of much of his gear and clothes. Next, Lucy, yet again, misses a ball and returns it to Charlie Brown, saying that she missed it because she was overly hopeful. He throws another pitch, resulting in a pop fly over to the infield, where it lands on the ground and bounces up into Leland's big helmet. He takes it out and tosses it to Pig-Pen, who then tosses it to Linus on base, but he misses it, as the batter rounds all the bases and scores a home-run, the other catchers all missing the ball or catching it too late. Charlie Brown throws another pitch and this pop fly is caught by Snoopy, who jumps up and catches it in his mouth. Charlie Brown is elated by this and Schroeder is then able to tag out another runner. He heads to the bench, with Lucy bugging him by hitting a homer for his "favorite girl" when it's his turn up to bat, while Linus is now the one up to it. He hits the ball easily and manages to round the bases, as his team cheers. Schroeder is up to bat next and, despite being annoyed and disgusted at Lucy's continued fawning over him, he does hit a homer. During a break, Snoopy goes over to get a drink from the water hose nearby, which serves as their drinking fountain, and when he shakes it when no water comes out, he gets blasted in the face and then tries to get it under control as it flails around and soaks the other players. After that mishap, the game continues and goes well for Charlie Brown's team, with Linus snagging a ball in mid-air with his blanket while on base and Lucy managing to distract a catcher long enough through some flirting for him to miss the ball, allowing her to touch home plate. The team is happy to just be keeping up with their opponents and they manage to keep it up to the last of the ninth, where they need a run to win. Leland is the one up to bat and, because of how small he is, Charlie Brown hopes he'll simply get on base rather than get a hit. The first pitch, Leland gets a ball, but then, he gets two strikes and the team starts fretting about how, if he strikes out, Charlie Brown will be up to bat. Lucy frets that they've lost their uniforms and lets out an "augh!" The pitcher throws a curve-ball to Leland, which whacks him in the helmet and he dizzily staggers over to first base. The pitcher throws the ball to the baseman on first base and Leland manages to stagger over to second base and then third, the basemen both missing the balls. The baseman on third falls back when try to catch the ball and Leland heads for home, touching it as the baseman falls over to the right while trying to get the ball. He walks back over to where the team is cheering happily and is tossed up and down by them, hailed as a hero.

The game won, the team heads over to the hardware store, where Mr. Hennessy (whom you actually see, unlike most adult characters in these cartoons, and who is possibly designed after Bill Melendez) presents them with their uniforms. Snoopy puts his uniform on straight out of the plastic, only to flail around and squeal in pain; Lucy growls, "You stupid dog! You gotta take out the pins before you put it on!" At the start of their next game, the team is dressed in their new uniforms, Lucy declaring, "Well, this is better! Now that we have uniforms, we'll be unbeatable." Leland then shows up, wearing the uniform, which is far too big for him, and tells Charlie Brown he doesn't think he can play with them anymore, as it's made him realize he's not ready for the big leagues yet. He thanks him for the chance to play with them and heads back to his own league, Charlie Brown telling him they'll miss him. They then head out onto the field, confident that they have it in the bag, but the game turns out to be a total disaster. Like before, Charlie Brown throws the opening pitch and the batter knocks him out of his shoes, mitt, and cap when he returns it, and the ball then lands right behind Lucy, just like during the training. She brings the ball back to Charlie Brown, her excuse this time being that the "past" got in her eyes because she remembered all the balls she missed before. Charlie Brown throws another pitch, which gets batted to Pig-Pen, who picks it up amongst the big cloud of dust he kicks up, who then throws it to Snoopy, only for him to come up short on getting an out. After that, Snoopy attempts to catch a ball that comes his way, only for it to bounce off the ground in front of him and over his head; Charlie Brown again gets knocked senseless by a return from the batter; and when he tries to catch a pop fly at the end of the game, hoping that he'll be the hero this time, it bounces out of his mitt and onto the ground, causing them to lose, and only by two points. On the pitcher's mound, Schroeder asks Charlie Brown how he could miss such an easy pop fly and he answers that it's a question he'll ask himself over and over again. Linus then comes up and asks, "Have we lost? Is the game over?", and Charlie Brown says, "Not quite. I'm afraid it's all over, but the shouting." Lucy lets out a mournful, "AUGH!", and with that, Charlie Brown says, "Now it's over." After the game, he and Linus think about their loss, as Charlie Brown figures out what they should have known from the beginning: looks mean nothing if you don't have any skill or talent. And on that solemn note, the special ends.

Other than as a curiosity piece as one of a handful of Peanuts cartoons that went straight-to-video rather than being aired on television and for how dated it is, It's Spring Training, Charlie Brown is one that I can't in good conscience recommend. It has some good points, like the characterizations and voice-acting for Charlie Brown, Lucy, and Snoopy, a really nice look with rich colors, better than average animation, a few funny moments, and some nice instances of music, but its cons outweigh the pros in my opinion. Besides being dragged down by the inappropriate, grungy music score and the cringe-inducing rap scene with Franklin, the story is uninspired, you can see the final outcome from very early on, and most of the characters, what few there are, are underutilized, with Linus' role and performance especially leaving a lot to be desired for. Being available on DVD, it's not as obscure now as it once was, but it's far too problematic to ever be one of the more fondly-remembered Peanuts specials. Bottom-line, just watch Charlie Brown's All-Stars if you want to see this story done right.