You're in the Super Bowl, Charlie Brown (1994)

Unlike Happy New Year, Charlie Brown, which I thought never made it past VHS but actually has, this Peanuts special has, so far, never been released on DVD or Blu-Ray, not even as an extra feature, and even its VHS release could only be found at Shell gas stations (the original VHS release of It's Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown, the special produced right before this, was also released in that same manner, although that one eventually managed to escape such a level of obscurity)! The reason for that is likely because, due to its being the only Peanuts special produced for and aired on NBC, neither Warner Bros. nor Paramount have the rights to it, and it's probably unclear how exactly that issue could ever be resolved. In any case, this was meant to tie in to Super Bowl XXVIII and, most notably, the NFL was fully behind its production. It's also noteworthy in that it was the last Peanuts special to be aired on television during Charles Schulz's lifetime (though not the last one ever produced, as there were a couple of direct-to-video ones put out before his death in 2000). But, aside from that fairly interesting trivia and its major obscurity among the franchise, this special isn't that good, to be honest. It really feels like its only purpose for existing was to promote that year's Super Bowl, as the story is paper-thin, even by Peanuts standards, and even then, it feels stretched out in order to fill the half-hour time slot. Also, there's not that much memorable or funny about it and it comes off as downright cheap in some sections, making this one Peanuts special that left me feeling kind of empty after I first watched it (which wasn't long before I decided to do this review).

While Snoopy is busy coaching the Birds, a team made up of Woodstock and his bird friends, and leading them to victory in every game of the Animal Football League playoffs, Charlie Brown and the gang have football interests of their own, besides Lucy's usual trick of pulling a football away when Charlie Brown tries to kick it. Hearing of a Punt, Pass, and Kick contest where the first prize is a new bicycle and a free ticket to the Super Bowl, Charlie Brown, Linus, Lucy, Peppermint Patty, Marcie, Pig-Pen, and Franklin all decide to enter. While the two of them are practicing, Charlie Brown and Linus notice a pretty girl watching them and introduce themselves to her. The girl, Melody Melody, appears to have an interest in both of them and they both, in turn, take her out for hot fudge sundaes. While on their date, they tell Melody they'll be entering the contest and she says she'll be rooting for them. Come the day of the contest, each kid, for the most part, does better than the previous one, with Charlie Brown and Linus proving to be the best out of all of them. But, while Melody is indeed at the contest like she said she would, she may not necessarily be there to cheer them on as they thought.

I may be wrong but, even though they respectively wrote and directed it as usual, Charles Schulz and Bill Melendez didn't seem to have their hearts in this and mainly just went through the motions since it was meant to be little more than a promotional film. Speaking of Melendez, right before this he'd directed Frosty Returns, the belated followup to Rankin/Bass' classic Frosty the Snowman cartoon from the 60's, which would prove to be the last non-Peanuts project he would ever direct, and afterward, he became involved with several Peanuts video games before directing the next special, 1997's It Was My Best Birthday Ever, Charlie Brown! Also around this time, he worked as an animator on not only It's Spring Training, Charlie Brown but also, weirdly enough, Ralph Bakshi's Cool World in 1992.

Though he hardly comes out of it unscathed, Charlie Brown (voiced by Jimmy Guardino), surprisingly, isn't the one who gets screwed over the most here. As in the past, Lucy manages to goad him into kicking a football while she holds it, getting past his initial skepticism by saying he shouldn't go through life without trusting anyone, but just as he's about to kick it, they get interrupted when the other kids bring them news of the Punt, Pass, and Kick contest. While they're passing around the form for the contest, he attempts to kick the ball while Lucy is reading the form, but she absentmindedly pulls it away at the exact moment he runs at it, causing him to tumble anyway. Despite this setback, he and Linus train for the contest, where they meet Melody Melody after noticing her watching them. Both of them are clearly interested in her, taking her out and having hot fudge sundaes, and are encouraged when she says she'll be rooting for them. Come the day of the contest, both of them notice that she is there watching them, and they each think she's there to cheer him on specifically. Amazingly, when it's his turn, Charlie Brown does really well, throwing the ball 72.6 feet and kicking it 70.4 feet, managing to outdo Lucy, Franklin, Peppermint Patty, Marcie, and Pig-Pen. Granted, Lucy and Marcie didn't do that well, especially Marcie, but it's still a miracle nothing went wrong for him. Not that it matters, as Linus does better than him and then, they're both beaten by Melody, who wins the contest altogether. Afterward, when Linus laments that he'll never trust anyone again as a result of that betrayal, Charlie Brown repeats what Lucy said at the beginning about how you shouldn't go through life not trusting anybody... and then, Lucy shows up with the football again, prompting him to groan, "I can't stand it."

Yeah, poor Linus (voiced by John Christian Graas) is the one who really gets a raw deal here. Both he and Charlie Brown practice for the contest, confident that either of them could win it, when they meet Melody Melody. While they both fall for her, Linus is especially smitten, telling her while the three of them are having hot fudge sundaes that she's the prettiest little girl he's ever seen. A little hint of jealousy develops between him and Charlie Brown when they see Melody watching them at the contest and they each think she's there to root for him. Though Charlie Brown does really well, Linus does even better, managing to throw the ball 72.8 feet and kick it 70.8 feet, beating him by just two and four inches respectively. But, just when it looks as though he's won, it's revealed that Melody is the final contestant and she trounces them all. Linus is so shocked and hurt by this betrayal that he starts choking as Melody's victory is announced and, after the contest, he and Charlie Brown are at the brick wall, where he says he'll never trust anyone again. Though Charlie Brown tries to convince him it's not good to go through life suspicious of everyone, when Lucy shows up and he groans when she tempts him with the football again, Linus rejoins him in feeling low.

It wouldn't be a football-themed special if you didn't have Lucy (voiced by Molly Dunham) up to her usual antics of getting Charlie Brown to kick the ball so she can pull it away. As usual, he calls her out for thinking he'd be so gullible, but then she says, "Are you one of those people who's going to go through life without ever trusting anyone? That's no way to live, Charlie Brown," convincing him to go for it. However, it doesn't work out the usual way, as they get distracted when the kids tell them about the Punt, Pass, and Kick contest, and when Lucy is reading the form on it, Charlie Brown attempts a kick. Unfortunately for him, she pulls it away without even paying attention to what's going on, and at the end of the special, she shows up with a football, again trying to goad him into attempting another kick, much to his frustration. However, she does get some payback for it throughout the course of the special. She's the first one up in the contest and doesn't do that well at all. While she throws it a respectable 12.3 feet, when she goes for the kick, it flies straight up into the air, comes down and knocks on her helmet, and falls behind her, leading to a measurement of -8.4 feet, which she gets laughed at for. And then, during the game between the Birds and the Bison, Lucy walks out onto the field to tell Snoopy that he and his team have no chance, asking, "How long can you count on dumb luck? I'll give you some professional advice: why don't you just have your team run off the field, and go home?" Even though the Birds do well, managing to get the score up to 14-0 early on, Lucy remains unimpressed, saying it was just luck and that Snoopy should teach his team some "modern plays. They need up to date coaching... and a little weight training wouldn't hurt either." The Birds clearly didn't care for that last remark, as they become as annoyed as Snoopy. And when they ultimately win 62-0, she says, "That was a pretty close squeak, coach. Next time, change your strategy." With that last insult, the birds grab a big vat of "Chirpade" and douse her with it, rather Snoopy, whom they've doused after their past victories.

Peppermint Patty (voiced by Haley Peel) is the one who brings the Punt, Pass, and Kick contest to everyone's attention, but while she's really excited about it, Marcie (voiced by Nicole Fisher) doesn't feel the same way. First, Marcie says she wouldn't have a chance of winning because she can't throw a football, and then she says she doesn't know if she would even want to go to the "Splendid Bowl," as she calls it. In the actual contest, Peppermint Patty manages to throw the ball 28.4 feet and kick it 70.8 feet, but when it's Marcie's turn, she only throws it 18.6 feet and doesn't kick it at all, asking, "Whatever did it ever do to me?" Franklin and Pig-Pen also take part in the contest, with Franklin throwing the ball 27.6 feet and kicking it 60.2 feet, while Pig-Pen throws it 24.3 feet and kicks it 45.2 feet, covering it with a cloud of his dust when he does so. Also, if you were ever curious as to what some of the characters' surnames are, you learn here: Peppermint Patty's is Richardt, Marcie's is Johnson, and Franklin's is Armstrong, although Pig-Pen's actual name, if he even has one, is never revealed.

There's no denying that Melody Melody (voiced by Crystal Kuns) is quite pretty, and she comes off just as soft-spoken and sweet as she looks. She also seems interested in both Charlie Brown and Linus when she watches them practicing for the contest and joins them in some hot fudge sundaes at a small cafe afterward. When they tell her about the contest and its prizes, she says she believes one of them can win and that she'll be rooting for them. She does keep her promise, as they see her in the crowd at the contest, ostensibly there to cheer them on, but, when everyone else has had their turn, they're devastated to learn she's entered the contest as well. Moreover, she trounces everyone else, including them, throwing the football 80.6 feet and kicking it 72.8 feet, and when she wins the bicycle and the ticket to Super Bowl, she rubs it in Linus' face, appearing to know he was particularly sweet on her, telling him to watch her on TV. Not so sweet anymore, is she?

Snoopy and Woodstock (voiced by Bill Melendez) do have roles in the special but it's only during the segments where the former is coaching Woodstock's team, the Birds, through various games in the Animal Football League playoffs (though, to be honest, I have no clue where Woodstock himself actually is among all those identical-looking birds). He manages to lead them to victory against the Cats, the Dogs, and the Bison during the championship game, and each time one of the players scores a touchdown, he does a different victory dance (the only true difference with each dance is that it has a new bird-themed name). Also, whenever they win a game, they douse Snoopy with a big vat of "Chirpade," save for after the championship game, where they douse Lucy for her unwanted and insulting advice. The announcer for all of these games (voiced by Steve Soliar) is a rare example of an actual adult voice in a Peanuts cartoon, rather than one of those "wa-wa-wa," sounds, and he also announces the Punt, Pass, and Kick contest, as well as actually appearing to present Melody with her prize, another rare occurrence.

From a visual standpoint, You're in the Super Bowl, Charlie Brown does a decent job in capturing the time of year in which the Super Bowl itself takes place (as opposed to something like A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, which felt like it was taking place in the spring rather than November), especially since, except for the Birds' locker room and the cafe where Charlie Brown and Linus take Melody for a chocolate sundae, all of it is set outside, on football fields and in backyards. While the grass looks a lot greener than it should, the sky is either partially or completely overcast, the trees in the background, except for those meant to be evergreens, are almost always bare, and the characters wear long sleeves and pants as opposed to their usual attire, giving the impression that, even if it's not

freezing, it is, indeed, the middle of the winter. Speaking of the look, it's also notable that this was the last Peanuts special created through traditional cel animation, with the following ones making use of digital ink and paint. However, the most noteworthy design aspect of the special is how the NFL allowed the characters to wear their official team uniforms: the Animal Football League teams of the Birds, Cats, and Bison wear the uniforms of the Philadelphia Eagles, Detroit Lions, and Buffalo Bills respectively, while Lucy's is the Los Angeles Raiders, Franklin's the Houston Oilers, Peppermint Patty's the Denver Broncos, Pig-Pen's the Green Bay Packers, Marcie's the Washington Redskins, Charlie Brown's the San Francisco 49ers, Linus' the Los Angeles Rams, and Melody's the Dallas Cowboys.

The animation is fair for the most part, sometimes even proving to be quite good, like during the games between the Birds and their opponents, where you see wide, panning shots of the teams rushing and struggling with each other, and the Birds doing their victory dances upon scoring a touchdown, but it's also where that cheapness that I mentioned in the introduction comes through. During these sequences, you see the same animation repeated again and again, sometimes with other teams simply put in place of those featured in the animation before, and it quickly becomes redundant. It also doesn't help that those games follow almost the same exact beats each time, which I'll describe in more detail later on.

The special really suffers from a lack of any kind of compelling story or much in the way of comedy, for that matter. Yes, the Peanuts cartoons aren't exactly known for having complex plots but they're typically at least somewhat strong enough to maintain the half-hour running time. The plot here is simply that Charlie Brown and Linus are looking forward to the Punt, Pass, and Kick contest, when they both meet and fall for Melody Melody, think she's going to be rooting for them at the contest, only to learn at the last minute that she herself entered it and beats them, completely demoralizing them, especially Linus. Since each of them has an interest in the same girl, you'd expect that to become a significant plot-point, one that leads to them

arguing and fighting about who she's actually rooting for and prompting them to try to outdo each other, but it doesn't go any farther than the two of them having a minor disagreement about it when they first spot her at the contest and Linus fretting about how good Charlie Brown's throw is. In fact, when Linus thinks he's won, Charlie Brown looks happy for his friend, and while I actually kind of like that they didn't go the way it usually does in this kind of situation, it also makes it feel like there was no point of it even being hinted at in the first place. In addition, there's nothing all that funny here, either, save for the twist on Lucy's football trick, how badly she does at the contest, Marcie's

ignorance about the Super Bowl and her reluctance to kick the ball during the contest because she doesn't feel it did anything to deserve it, and Charlie Brown and Linus' sheer horror when Melody beats them, the latter of which is itself diluted when you see how badly Linus was affected by the betrayal.

Because of how thin the main story is, the B-plot of Snoopy acting as the coach for Woodstock's team in the Animal Football League looks like it was put in for the express purpose of padding out the runtime. You see three such games throughout the special and all of them consist of the same thing: the Birds effortlessly crushing their opponents, usually after winning the coin toss and receiving the kickoff, each player doing a different, bird-themed victory dance when he scores a touchdown, and Snoopy getting doused with "Chirpade" at the end of each one, save for when Lucy gets it as payback for her condescending attitude and unwanted advice, all while Charlie Brown and Linus watch from a small bench on the field, sitting

next to an egg carton full of other birds who are there as fans, as is an entire stadium full of spectators, and the announcer provides commentary. The first game against the Cats is especially repetitive, as you watch the same animation of two of the cats getting fooled by a sudden pass, two cats stomping angrily behind a heap of unconscious cats and birds, a line of cats trying to stop the birds from reaching the goal-line but falling over themselves in the process, a collision between the two teams that results in the ball getting passed to a sole bird outside the heap, and several cats on the ground, with one struggling with a bird, watching as a bird goes for a

touchdown. There are some other animations in-between these moments, yes, but for the most part, you watch the same thing again and again, as the announcer yells out random names for the players such as Gribalsky, Kowalski, Witznitsky, etc. (how he can tell these identical birds apart is anyone's guess), spews out a bunch of alliterative descriptions of what's going on ("truculent tabbies," "a caravan of contrary kitties," and such), and names the various dances the players go into, like "Birdy Bassanova," even though they're all one of the same two dances.

We don't even see beginning of the Birds' game against the Dogs, as we go right into the middle of it following the scene at the cafe with Charlie Brown, Linus, and Melody. This game repeats some of the animation from the first one, like a pileup resulting in the ball getting tossed to a bird on the outside and the dogs running after a bird heading for a touchdown while tripping over themselves (the speed of it is much faster), as well as comes up with new moments like the dogs getting clobbered by a bunch of birds and a side-view of them trying to stop a touchdown. We get more weird names for the Birds' players like "Zonka" and "Namith," victory dances like the "Birdy Ballet," and more alliteration and puns from

the announcer, such as "purloined pups," "hearty hounds," "This could still turn out to be a dog day afternoon," "I'm surprised those dogs don't cry 'fowl!'," and, "This game is definitely not going to the dogs." The poor Dogs, who don't even get an NFL uniform equivalent, just look sad and pitiful when they're defeated, and while Charlie Brown and Linus merely watched the first game in a state of seeming confusion, here they actually cheer along with the bird and human audiences (speaking of which, the Birds now even have cheerleaders... human cheerleaders, mind you).

The championship game against the Bison actually does get an introduction, and we even see the Bison storm onto the field at the start. Like with the dogs, we get the same animation with the Bison clumsily trying to catch a bird running with the ball, and a repeat of two of them jumping up and down in frustration behind a heap of their unconscious teammates. Some of the wide shots of the teams charging at and struggling with each other is quite good, although it does get reused, along with a shot of the Birds hiking the ball while squaring off with the Bison, the Bison colliding into each other when charging at the Birds, and the Bison running while looking back with confused expressions on their faces. We get

some more typical player names like "Buchanan," "Coolidge," "Harding," and, "Tyler," for the Birds (I just now realized these particular players are named after various presidents), victory dances like the "Tweety Twist" and the "Winged Watootsie," and puns like, "The Bison are completely buffaloed," "A battalion of bovines," "Those Bison must have quite a beef with those birdies," and, "A big goose egg for the Bison." It would have been a little bit better and more interesting if the Birds had actually struggled with the much bigger Bison but, nope, they crush them just as easily as they did the Cats and Dogs. Really, the most notable thing about this game is Lucy's unwanted presence on the field and the absence of Charlie Brown and Linus in the audience (no doubt because they're both licking their wounds after losing the Punt, Pass, and Kick contest).

As with many of the Peanuts specials made around this time, David Benoit performed and arranged the music, creating variations of Vince Guaraldi's original themes (though, he must have changed them around quite a bit, as I can't perceive much of a similarity between the tracks here and the pieces they're supposed to be based on). The most notable part of the score is a very energetic, rousing horn theme that plays during the Animal Football League playoffs, as well as during the opening and ending credits, perfectly suited for anything having to do with sports. You also do hear the famous "Linus and Lucy" theme, but it's only at the very end, when Charlie Brown and Linus are lamenting their loss at the brick wall they always stand behind. The rest of the music is made up of the usual type of mellow, jazz piano pieces you'd expect from the Peanuts, like when Charlie Brown and Linus are practicing for the Punt, Pass, and Kick contest (the music there fits with the bucolic image of two young boys having fun while passing a football back and forth), when they first meet Melody Melody (the music there becomes softer and more airy), and during the actual contest, even.

Other than those who bought those Shell gas station VHS tapes back in the day and have nostalgia as a result, You're in the Super Bowl, Charlie Brown is likely only to appeal to either the most diehard Peanuts fans or football fans who like to see the game portrayed in animation. It's a nice-looking, fairly well-animated special, with good music, and has some noteworthy historical significance in how it was produced with the full cooperation of the NFL and was the last one to originally air on television in Charles Schulz's lifetime, but it reuses a lot of animation to the point of redundancy, there isn't much in it that's that funny, and the actual story is so thin that the sequences with Snoopy and Woodstock feel as though they were added merely to pad it out to the necessary half-hour time slot. If you want something relevant to watch on Super Bowl Sunday, there are much better options available to you, animated or not.