Review of Happy New Year, Charlie Brown (1986) by Bradley W — 01 Jan 2011
As unbelievably cruel as the Peanuts holiday specials are, I enjoy them a lot. But Happy New Year, Charlie Brown is especially inhuman to the title character. The plot is one gloomy event after another and I question if being sadistic is supposed to be funny if there's no payoff.
It begins with Charlie Brown having to read War and Peace (yet mysteriously no one else in his class must) over Christmas break. This is depressing because it's as if they completely skipped Christmas and went straight to New Years.
Then Charlie Brown experiences failure after failure, with all of the female characters being snobby a-holes, and you can guess what kind of grade he gets on the book report. I like A Charlie Brown Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas, but New Year is the most tragic, polar opposite of uplifting as Charlie Brown can get and it's probably why it's not a classic.
Also (and my biggest complaint), there's not enough Snoopy.
This review of Happy New Year, Charlie Brown (1986) was written by Bradley W on 01 Jan 2011.
Happy New Year, Charlie Brown has generally received positive reviews.
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