It's Your First Kiss, Charlie Brown (1977)

In some of my other Peanuts reviews, I've talked about how I find this special, which I first saw on the second volume of the Peanuts 1970's Collection, to be quite infuriating to watch, as it takes the unfair cruelty and humiliation Charlie Brown often experiences at the hands of his peers, especially Lucy. to insane levels. I know it's an unwritten rule that very few things ever go right for Charlie Brown and he has to just deal with it but, from the first time I watched this one, I felt it went way too far in that respect. And it turns out that I'm not the only one, as the special had to be edited when it was re-aired and put on home media due to numerous viewer complaints, and I remember reading that even Charles Schulz himself ultimately felt he went overboard with it. But, that said, as frustrating as it can be to be watch Charlie Brown get repeatedly jeered at and blamed for something that's obviously not his fault, the special does make up for it with some funny moments and in the third act, where something really awesome happens to him, something he'd been hoping for a very, very long time. For that alone, I would say it's not as depressing or mean-spirited as other specials like Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown and especially You're in Love, Charlie Brown but, man, Chuck really tends to get slammed around Valentine's Day, doesn't he?

It's homecoming for Charlie Brown's school, and as he and the other kids take part in the annual parade, he learns that he, Linus, and some of the other boys are to escort the Homecoming Queen and her attendants to the dance that's to take place after the upcoming football game. He's then shocked to see that the Queen, Heather, is none other than the Little Red-Haired Girl he always pines for, and is further shocked when Linus tells him that he's going to escort her personally and, per tradition, he has to give her a kiss before the first dance! The football game then commences, with Charlie Brown on the home team, which is headed up by Peppermint Patty. Unfortunately, the placekick setter happens to be Lucy who, even during a real game with a lot at stake, and with hundreds of people, including the Little Red-Haired Girl, watching, won't stop pulling away the ball whenever Charlie Brown tries to kick it. This causes the poor kid constant humiliation, as well as criticisms from everyone, including his teammates and the crowd, as if he weren't already stressed enough about having to escort and eventually kiss his dream girl in front of everybody.

This was the sixth Peanuts special solely directed by Phil Roman and the seventh he'd directed overall, having co-directed A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving with Bill Melendez. Besides viewers not liking Charlie Brown's treatment here, there was also a bit of controversy between Charles Schulz and the animators concerning the Little Red-Haired Girl. Though he reluctantly gave them permission to actually show her onscreen for the first time, as well as name her, he was not involved with her character design, as he felt nothing that he or anyone else came up with could live up to her reputation of incredible beauty and cuteness. Eventually, he grew to regret his decision and would say that, in his eyes, the cartoons were in a different continuity than the comic strip, so the "real" Little Red-Haired Girl was still unseen (not that it mattered, since she didn't exactly become a recurring character after this special, anyway).

As I've been saying, while it's kind of the point of the character that Charlie Brown (voiced Arrin Skelley), more often than not, has crushing bad luck and just can't catch a break, this special cranks it up to the nth degree. After being told he has to escort the Little Red-Haired Girl to the Homecoming Dance and kiss on her the dance floor before it officially commences, he then has to endure a football game where he's the kicker and Lucy the placekick setter. Despite it being an actual, serious game, Lucy, as usual, pulls the football away whenever Charlie Brown goes in for the kick, costing them points, causing him to get repeatedly dogpiled, and leading to him getting jeered and booed at, all while Heather is watching from the stands. That last part is what's so aggravating, as anybody with functioning eyes and a brain could tell it's not his fault and that Lucy keeps screwing him over, but he's blamed by everybody, including Peppermint Patty, the team captain, who calls him a foul-up and tells him he can't do anything right. Linus doesn't help matters by innocently telling Charlie Brown how he "misses" the kicks, allowing the opposing team to gain ground. He even tries to remedy things by practicing some placekicks, which don't go well, and by taking a kicking tee out on the field, only for Lucy to get rid of it, insisting she wouldn't pull it away during an important game, right before doing it for the third time (yeah, as usual, Charlie Brown was dumb for trusting her, but still...). There is one instance where he tries to kick it himself, only to get run over by the other team, but for the most part, it's all Lucy's fault, including when he misses the field goal that would've won them the game. As if he didn't feel bad enough after this, thinking Heather must think he's a complete joke, he gets more crap at the Homecoming Dance, including from Lucy herself, as the girls tell him he shouldn't have even bothered showing up. He then has to do his duty and escort Heather onto the dance floor and kiss her, something he comes close to fainting over when the time comes. But, he musters up the courage and does it, sending him into La-La Land, after which he awakens back home in his bed. He then meets up with Linus at the wall and learns that he turned out to be the life of the party, that he swept Heather off her feet and danced the night away with both her and all her attendants. Although he's initially irked that he doesn't remember this moment of glory, when Linus reminds him it was his very first kiss and it was with Heather, Charlie Brown smiles at the thought of it.

As he often does, Linus (voiced by Daniel Anderson) attempts to be a good, encouraging friend to Charlie Brown but ends up constantly causing him anxiety and worry. Right at the beginning, he tells him how he's going to be Heather's escort and that he's going to kiss her before the first dance, as if it's nothing, causing him to hyperventilate and fall off the float. During the football game, Linus, like everyone else, doesn't seem to comprehend that Lucy is the reason why Charlie Brown keeps messing up his kicks. Rather than being accusatory, he just comments on what a lousy job he's doing and how it's allowing the opposing team to gain traction on them. When it's over and they've lost the game, Linus tells him, "Don't feel bad, Charlie Brown," before adding, "But if you had only kicked that extra point." He also sucks at easing Charlie Brown's jitters over being Heather's escort, as he doesn't understand why he's so nervous and keeps going into detail about what he's going to have to do. Come the dance, despite Charlie Brown being a blushing, sweating, shaking wreck, Linus, again, tells him what he's expected to do, now mentioning that he's going to lead Heather in the first waltz, to which he responds, "And you wonder why I'm nervous?" At the end of the special, though Linus laments how badly the football game went, saying, "Too bad you missed that field goal, Charlie Brown," he tells him how awesome he was at the dance, how he gave Heather a really passionate kiss, danced with her and her entire court, and did all sorts of dances. And though Charlie Brown is annoyed that he doesn't remember any of it, Linus cheers him up by reminding him he had his first kiss that night.

As much of a bully as she can be, I can usually tolerate Lucy (voiced by Michelle Muller), sometimes even outright like her, but she's despicable here. It's not bad enough that, even during a real football game, she can't resist humiliating Charlie Brown by pulling the ball away, impedes his attempt to get around her by promising not to pull it away, only to do it yet again, or that she causes him to miss a field goal that makes them lose. No, the real salt in the wound comes at the Homecoming Dance, when she has the gall to actually join Peppermint Patty and Frieda in admonishing him, sneering, "Yeah, you've got some nerve, Charlie Brown," never mind that she's the one who should be getting the blame. And when Charlie Brown mentions that he's Heather's escort, she mocks him further, saying, "Ha, ha, what a laugh! Who'd want to be your date after today's game?... If you're smart, Charlie Brown, you'd get out of here fast, and spare yourself more embarrassment." By this point, I really wanted someone to kick Lucy's ass but, fortunately, the ending made up for it a little bit.

Peppermint Patty (voiced by Laura Planting) isn't much better in that regard; in fact, she's the worst about giving Charlie Brown undeserved crap, as she repeatedly yells at and admonishes him for "missing" the kicks and all but flat-out says that he's the weak link among them. She proves to be quite good as an actual player, repeatedly plowing through the much bigger guys on the opposing team and scoring a touchdown, but that doesn't make up for her behavior during the game and with how she joins Lucy and Frieda in roasting Charlie Brown at the dance, agreeing with Lucy that Heather won't have anything to do with him after they lost the game. As usual, she also proves to be rather dumb, with how Franklin twice asks her about the play on the chalkboard and she doesn't acknowledge him, proving she doesn't know either.

The special opens with Snoopy and Woodstock (voiced by Bill Melendez) flying to the Homecoming Parade, using Snoopy's ears as makeshift helicopter blades. While Woodstock does little more than film the parade and the football game with a television camera, Snoopy has a fair amount to do during the game itself. He mainly acts as ref and gets up to mischief in this position, as he messes around with Peppermint Patty during the coin toss, has trouble pulling his whistle's string down around his big snout, gets a post stabbed into his foot by Woodstock, and when Charlie Brown gets sacked by the other team and Linus suggests he needs some water and salt, Snoopy sprinkles some salt on him and drinks the water himself. Snoopy also plays around with the cheerleaders and the band, although this doesn't go off without a few bumps, as he alone acts as the bottom of a "pyramid," with the expected result, gets sucked into a big, baritone horn while playing a flute in front of one, and falls on his head when two cheerleaders hoist him up from underneath each foot. And he gets some cheering all his own, both from the cheerleaders and the audience, who create a big image of his face at one point.

The only other Peanuts character with a speaking role is Franklin (voiced by Ronald Hendrix) who, before the game starts, notes the play Peppermint Patty drew on a chalkboard and asks, "Are we the zeros or the X's?" First, she doesn't know what he's talking about, and then, she simply comments on how it was a good question but never gives him an answer. On the way out to the field, Franklin asks Schroeder but doesn't get an answer from him, either. Both Franklin and Pig-Pen prove to be

really good during the football game, with Franklin nicely tackling one of the opposing players and Pig-Pen using his dust to score a touchdown. The two of them, along with Schroeder, are the three other escorts, in addition to Charlie Brown and Linus, and while none of them say or do anything noteworthy in this capacity, this time Pig-Pen's dust, naturally, doesn't sit well with the girl he escorts. The same also goes for Sally, Marcie, and Violet, who make silent cameos, while Frieda

merely glares and laughs at Charlie Brown along with Lucy and Peppermint Patty. However, the Little Red-Haired Girl, or Heather, may not say or do anything either, but she's noteworthy for actually appearing onscreen for the first time ever, which would be one of only a small handful. I have to say that, for as much as Charles Schulz felt no onscreen design could ever do justice to how cute Charlie Brown says she is is, I think she looks really cute here, with her pretty hair, rosy cheeks, and lovely and elegant queen outfit and crown. In

fact, I don't think any other character design for her was as appealing until she appeared in The Peanuts Movie. Plus, I like how nice she is to everybody and how, despite his fears and what everyone else says, she's not put off by Charlie Brown's losing the football game, allows him to be his escort (though she ends up escorting him, as his head is totally in the clouds by this point), and even looks at him with a sweet expression before gladly leaning in for his kiss. As brief as it is, you can tell she liked the kiss and, according to Linus, Charlie Brown managed to utterly sweep her off her feet afterward.

There's some really stellar animation in this special, with the characters often moving very fluidly and energetically, especially when they're worked up or agitated, with examples being Peppermint Patty's victory dance when she scores a touchdown, the cheerleaders' dancing and shaking their pom-poms, Charlie Brown's nervous shaking and sweating bullets over having to be Heather's escort, and Snoopy's various shenanigans, like when he manages to act as a helicopter with his ears or when he struggles with his whistle on the

football field. However, there are some repeats of animation, mainly during a montage of the ongoing football game, as well as when Snoopy and Woodstock fly off after the game, but that's not exactly alien to these specials, anyway. As per usual, the cartoon is bright and colorful, as well as very well-designed, with environments that are little more detailed and expansive than you typically get, as it's mostly set on the football field, with the completely full bleachers (which alternate between static pieces of art direction and actual

animation), trees, and houses in the background. You also get a serene shot of the stadium after the game when it's completely empty, as well as some really good, overhead wide shots of the whole town during the opening. The interior of the school auditorium where the Homecoming Dance takes place is quite glorious, with a bright yellow color scheme overall, brilliant red and pink decorations hanging from the ceiling, as well as some crystal globes, a big stage housing the band, a refreshments table near the entrance (where Charlie Brown spends most of his time before he has to be Heather's escort), and red-carpeted pathway leading to where Heather sits on a lovely, pink throne.

The most visually amazing moment in the special comes when Charlie Brown enters a state of complete euphoria after he kisses Heather. He spins around in place at the center of a kaleidoscope of bright colors, hearts, and flowers that completely fills the screen, followed by him dreamily swooping and floating in front of a colorful background that then turns into a breathtaking vista of big, fluffy white and pink clouds, with a set of yellow rays of sunlight shining out from behind them, up against a red-orange sky. After floating

beyond this, he falls down past a background of multi-colored skies and clouds, as well as some see-through clouds in the foreground, before landing in his own bed and waking up in his bedroom. It's definitely one of the most visually stunning moments ever seen in any Peanuts project and seeing Charlie Brown lost in absolute bliss, as well as then hearing about how awesome he was at the dance afterward, makes the hell he was put through up until then kind of worth it.

The first thing you see when the special starts is Snoopy sitting on the ground, when Woodstock comes up to him, wearing a pair of headphones, and puts some equipment, including a small TV camera, in his lap. He then tugs on his right ear and sits in his lap, when Snoop's ears start spinning around like helicopter blades and they take off into the sky. They head downtown, where the Homecoming Parade is underway, with the girls on one float, Heather sitting on a throne, surrounded

by her court, on another, and the boys bringing up the rear on a float that identifies them as her escorts. Linus explains to Charlie Brown what it means to be an escort and he then sees that the queen is the Little Red-Haired Girl. He starts grunting and gasping, telling Linus who the girl is, as Linus tells him that he's meant to escort her to the dance, adding, "She's your date, Charlie Brown." While Snoopy and Woodstock land nearby, with Woodstock grabbing his gear and

filming the parade, Linus then tells Charlie Brown that, as per tradition, he's going to have to kiss Heather before the first dance, a revelation that sends him tumbling off the back off the float. After the credits, Peppermint Patty tells the players in the locker room how they're going to do things, which involves them doing all the work while she scores the touchdowns. Ignoring Franklin's question of whether they're the zeros or the X's on the chalkboard, they rush out onto the field, with those in the stands cheering and the cheerleaders doing

their thing, with Snoopy joining in with some flipping. He then goes out onto the field as a ref, brings Peppermint Patty and the opposing team captain together, takes out a coin, flips it, catches it, and then does some slight of hand, acting like it disappeared and reappeared behind Patty's right ear. He laughs at their bewilderment, but when they glare at him, he gets serious and does the coin toss for real. Patty calls heads but it comes up tails and Snoopy gestures to them that Patty's team will kick and the opposition will receive. As they walk away,

Snoopy's whistle slips down his body and falls to the ground. He steps out of the loop and tries to put it back on, but finds it hard to get the loop around his big, fat snout. He pulls it but only manages to get the string tangled around his snout, and after some more fighting, it gets snagged around his torso. He lands on his back, with the whistle tied around his front, and blows it that way.

Lucy, holding the football, tells Charlie Brown to go ahead and start the game but, naturally, when he comes running in, she yanks it away, he flies up into the air, and lands on his back. He then gets dogpiled by the other team and crawls out from under the pile to a bunch of boos. He dizzily remarks, "Oh, boy, they must've blocked it," and staggers back to the bench, where Linus tells him, "You missed the ball, Charlie Brown. They ran right over you. They're on our five-yard line."

Charlie Brown decides to go practice with some placekicks and takes a ball over to a stand in front of a net and kicks it, only for it to recoil back into him. Snoopy then judges the placement of the ball on the field and runs back to Woodstock, who accidentally stabs him in the foot with a yard marker, causing him to grab his foot and hop around, squealing in pain. The two teams then collide on the field and Snoopy, after making his call, does some flips with the cheerleaders again,

before joining the band by playing a flute, only to get sucked into a big, baritone horn behind him. He sticks his head out of the mouthpiece and growls at the player. On the field, the opposing team kicks the ball, Peppermint Patty catches it, and she and the others charge at them, with both teams colliding again. In a huddle, Patty tells her team that she'll fake a pass and go up the middle, while on the bench, Charlie Brown glances up at Heather as she sits in the stands. He asks Linus if he's sure about escorting her and Linus, again, tells him that

he's sure and reminds him that he's supposed to kiss her. He gets so nervous at the thought that he falls backwards into an empty bucket behind him, to which Linus remarks, "Oh, good grief, Charlie Brown." Patty then makes good on her play, easily plowing through the other players and scoring a touchdown. Linus tells Charlie Brown, who managed to get out of the bucket, that it's time for him to kick for an extra point. He joins the others in a huddle and Patty tells him she's going to give him a chance to be a hero. But, when Lucy is

thrown the ball and he goes for the kick, she, again, pulls it away and he falls on his back atop a dogpile. Patty, who's on the bottom, admonishes him for this and he staggers back to the bench, getting booed as he does. Linus tells him, "Too bad, Charlie Brown. That leaves them ahead. Now, you gotta go back for the kickoff."

Trying to remedy the situation, Charlie Brown walks out onto the field with a kicking tee, but Lucy stops him and tosses it away, saying she'll hold it. Charlie Brown calls her out on how she'll pull it away again but Lucy, taking the ball from Snoopy, assures him that she wouldn't pull such a prank during an important game like this (despite the fact that she's already done it twice now). He stops and ponders it for a few seconds, but when she tells him he's holding up the game, he decides

to trust her and goes for the kick... and, again, she pulls it away, he lands on his back, and gets dogpiled. He crawls out from under the pile and staggers back to the bench while getting booed, as Linus informs him, "You did it again, Charlie Brown. You blew the kickoff." Following a fade to black, we come back to the game with Snoopy acting as the bottom of an upside down pyramid, only for the weight of the girls on top to push him down into the ground. In a huddle, Patty tells her

team they need nineteen yards for the first down and that she'll take it up the middle. The teams then collide and Patty runs with the ball, but is caught and tackled. In another huddle, Patty tells them they need to kick, leading Charlie Brown to join them in the huddle yet again. This time, the ball is passed to him as he brings up the rear, but when he goes for the kick he gets pummeled by the team and is knocked to the ground. Linus and Snoopy rush out to check up on him, with Snoopy using a

stethoscope. Charlie Brown dizzily comes to, asking what happened, and Linus tells him that he got sacked. When he then says he feels woozy, Linus suggests he may have hyponatremia, adding, "All you need is a little water and a little salt." Snoopy searches in his medicine bag, first pulling out a pepper grinder, then a salt shaker, and actually sprinkles some salt onto Charlie Brown. He asks if it's raining, before passing out again, while Snoopy opts to drink the glass of water himself and walks off. Charlie Brown regains

consciousness again, asks what happened a second time, and Linus tells him, again, that he got sacked, adding, "They ran the ball in for a touchdown," while guiding him back to the bench. He asks, "Is it baseball season yet?" Snoopy fires his popgun, noting the start of halftime, with the score being an abysmal 21-6. The home team heads back to the locker room, where Peppermint Patty says, "To answer your earlier question, Franklin, about the X's and the zeros, I think we've found out who our zero is," glaring at Charlie Brown, who looks really

shameful. She goes on to say she feels they can make up the two touchdowns the opposing team has on them, adding, "As a matter of fact, the only weakness I can see is our kicking game," again glaring at Charlie Brown. Giving them the rest of the play, she tells them to get out there and do what they need to.

Back outside, a big section of the audience holds up cards that create an image of the American flag, then cycle through various different flags, before creating a large image of Snoopy's face, as he has fun with the cheerleaders, though he ends up falling and landing on his head when two cheerleaders hoist him up by his feet. The home team runs back out and the main players head out onto the field, leading into a montage of them doing quite well, with Peppermint Patty scoring a

touchdown that brings them up to thirteen points, Franklin sacking one guy with the ball, Patty scoring once again, and Pig-Pen using his dust to create a cloud that blinds his opponents and allows him to easily make a touchdown. However, on the bench, Charlie Brown laments having made a fool of himself in front of Heather. Linus tries to cheer him up by saying it's better to have bad press than no press at all, but Charlie Brown has a hard time believing that, saying, "Look at her up there. I'm

going to be her escort, and she doesn't even know I exist." Time passes, with it ultimately coming down to thirty seconds left and the score being 21-20. Patty comes to those on the bench, telling them they're going to have to go for a kick and, looking at Charlie Brown, notes that they're on the five-yard line, adding, "And nobody could miss such an easy kick, not even you-know-who." Linus tries to encourage Charlie Brown, telling him he could come out of this thing as a hero, but when he gets up to head out onto the field, he adds, "Don't

worry, Charlie Brown, but just remember that little redhead girl is watching." He then runs out, joins the others in a huddle, and Patty tells him not to mess things up. He gets ready for the kick, noting how this is his last chance to impress Heather, but when Lucy catches the ball and he comes running in, she, once again, pulls it away and he flies through air and lands atop a dogpile, with Patty on the bottom. She angrily admonishes him and Snoopy shoots his popgun, marking the ending of the game. Charlie Brown leaves the field feeling like a fool and figures Heather must feel the same, while Snoopy and Woodstock leave in the same manner they arrived, via Snoopy's personal brand of air-power.

That night at the dance, after getting unfairly chewed out by Peppermint Patty, Lucy, and Frieda, Charlie Brown, who's already feeling pretty low, looks over at Heather, as she sits on her throne, and starts sweating bullets, blushing, and gulps loudly. Linus then comes up to him and, yet again, makes him feel all the more nervous by talking about how bad he looks and that he'd best snap out of it before escorting Heather. He fixes his tie, says he doesn't understand why he's so nervous, and Charlie Brown lays it out for him, especially when Linus

mentions his having to escort her to the dance floor, kiss her, and lead her in the first waltz. At that moment, the dance music stops and is replaced by a fanfare, which Linus says is their cue. While he, Franklin, Schroeder, and Pig-Pen get in line for their own escorts, Charlie Brown nervously gulps down an entire cup of punch. He joins the other boys, as the band starts playing and each of them bows to and takes his individual member of Heather's court, with Pig-Pen's date coughing from his dust. After Schroeder has taken his date,

Charlie Brown very nervously and slowly walks up to Heather, bows next to her rather than in front of her, and is then dreamily led onto the dance floor by her, rather than the other way around. Once they're out there, Heather smiles and warmly blinks at Charlie Brown, who's sweating bullets. She then leans in for his kiss and, amazingly, he manages to pull it off, after which he's in absolute euphoria, leading to his fantasy that ends with him waking up in his own bed at home. At first, he seems

confused, wondering if the whole thing was a dream, but then finds the Homecoming Dance's program on his nightstand. Not sure what to think, he gets out of bed, puts his clothes on, and heads out, meeting up with Linus. As they walk to the wall, he confirms that the football game, as well as their team's crushing defeat, was real, but then adds that the dance turned out well, commenting on his giving Heather the passionate kiss, sweeping her off her feet, dancing with the rest of her court, and

doing dances like the Hustle, the Bump, and the Chicken. Charlie Brown is dumbfounded by this, as he remembers none of it, and grumbles, "What good is it to do anything, Linus, if you can't remember what you did?" Linus responds, "Well, at least it was your first kiss, Charlie Brown," which leaves Charlie Brown with a satisfied smile on his face.

This was the first Peanuts special produced after the sudden, tragic death of Vince Guaraldi in 1976 (and the second overall, after the feature film, Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown, released the same year); in his place were Ed Bogas, who would also score the Garfield specials and shows, and Judy Munsen, and rather than imitate Guaraldi's style, they would bring their own musical flavor to the specials. In fact, the only familiar theme here is a nicely done, soulful piano version of the main Linus and Lucy theme, which plays during both of the flying sequences with Snoopy and Woodstock. In any case, Bogas and Munsen really managed to do their own thing and make it fit with the Peanuts style. With the parade and football game in the story, they were able to create a lot of big, memorable fanfares, as well as a fun, funky theme for the scene where the football game is underway and a country-esque, banjo piece for some of Snoopy's antics on the field. As for the scenes at the Homecoming Dance, they come up with some energetic dance music, a royal-sounding march for the escort, and a lovely string piece that goes fully orchestral during Charlie Brown's dream of flying through the clouds after he kisses Heather. Along with the work Bogas created for Race for Your Life, this score went over well enough to ensure that he and Munsen would continue working on the specials for well over a decade.

Yeah, I don't think I've ever been as thoroughly mixed on a Peanuts special as I am with It's Your First Kiss, Charlie Brown. I apologize for fixating on it so much but I can't stress enough how enraged and frustrated I was with how Charlie Brown is treated throughout the story, which makes it rather hard to watch. But, that said, the special makes up for it with a nice ending, as well as good animation and artwork, a visually stunning sequence for when Charlie Brown is over the moon after kissing Heather, some funny moments, especially involving Snoopy, and some well-done music by a couple of newcomers to the series. If you're interested, then, by all means, check it out for either Superbowl Sunday or Valentine's Day, but be prepared to sit through a lot of unfair crap.