It's Magic, Charlie Brown is the twenty-first animated television special based on the Peanuts comic strip by Charles M. Schulz. It was the first broadcast on CBS on April 28, 1981.
Plot[]
Snoopy goes to the library and finds a book on magic. He decides to put on a magic show for the neighborhood children, calling himself "The Great Houndini," and using Sally Brown, Marcie, and Woodstock as his assistants. Most of Snoopy's tricks have slight flaws to them, but his disappearing trick becomes successful as it causes Charlie Brown to become completely invisible. However, before he can be changed back, a rainstorm causes everyone to scatter.
Charlie Brown returns home, where he decides to leave, declaring himself 'doomed to roam the Earth as a lost soul.' Sally then wastes no time moving her things into his room. However, being responsible, Charlie Brown decides to feed Snoopy one more time. Confronted by his invisible owner, Snoopy is coaxed to try and make Charlie Brown visible again. Snoopy tries covering Charlie Brown in water and suds, but that washes off quickly. Snoopy then coats Charlie Brown in clay then hardening it with a hairdryer (to which Charlie comments "Now I feel like a chocolate chip cookie"), but that also proves fruitless as this then cracks off his body. Snoopy then settles on covering Charlie Brown in a sheet and a necktie. Sally notices then and screams, thinking a ghost is in the house.
Shortly thereafter, Charlie Brown roams around the neighborhood and finds Lucy in a clearing holding a football. Being invisible, he manages to sneak up on her and kick the football. Having the upper hand against Lucy's taunts, he then teases her with the ball, before forcing her to hold it in place, causing him to kick it. His triumphant laughter irritates Lucy.
Furious, Lucy goes to Snoopy and demands he make Charlie Brown visible again, promising to slug Snoopy if he does not. After studying the book, Snoopy experiments on Woodstock, causing parts of him to grow and shrink, before finally perfecting the cure to invisibility. Snoopy then hops off his doghouse and goes searching for Charlie Brown, sending his de-invisibility powers hither and tither, hoping they will cure him.
Eventually, Snoopy comes within range of Charlie Brown and brings him back to the world of visibility. However, Charlie Brown is oblivious to this, and his attempts this time to kick the football are foiled by Lucy.
Even though he falls flat on his back, Charlie Brown still revels in the fact that he had previously kicked the football. Lucy scoffs at this, saying no one will believe him. When Charlie Brown suggests that Snoopy will believe him, Lucy throws an insult to Snoopy as well. Angrily, Snoopy causes Lucy to levitate into the air. Charlie Brown and Snoopy joyously dance away leaving Lucy hanging in midair to conclude a most satisfying day. As the credits roll, Lucy remains up in the air until her brother Linus comes by and uses his blanket to get her down. Lucy is left angered and humiliated about what happened to her and walks home.
Voice cast[]
- Michael Mandy – Charlie Brown
- Sydney Penny – Lucy van Pelt
- Cindi Reilly – Sally Brown
- Rocky Reilly – Linus van Pelt
- Shannon Cohn – Marcie
- Brent Hauer – Peppermint Patty
- Christopher Donohoe – Schroeder/Franklin
- Bill Melendez – Snoopy and Woodstock
Patty appears but is silent.
Notes[]
- This is the last Peanuts TV special to begin with the "A Lee Mendelson-Bill Melendez Production" credit until Charlie Brown's Christmas Tales. Starting with Someday You'll Find Her, Charlie Brown, the credit would appear at the end again.
- This is the only time in Peanuts, for both the TV specials and strip, where the interior of Snoopy's doghouse is shown. It includes a room with exercise equipment, sports equipment, lockers, awards, and trophies; and a lab with a Bunsen burner, flasks, and distillation equipment.
- Counting both the comic strips and TV specials, the special features the only instance in which Charlie Brown kicks the football that Lucy is holding (It was not regarded as canon by Schulz, however).
- This special was nominated for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program. The award ended up going to Life is a Circus, Charlie Brown.
- This special features heavy use of Rocky and Bullwinkle sound effects.
- While trying to make Charlie Brown reappear, Snoopy uses a ghost costume similar to the ones seen in It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.
Soundtrack[]
- Magic Theme (It's Magic1)
- Magic Show (It's Magic2)
- Tada1
- Tada2
- The Great Houndini
- That's No Rabbit
- The Box
- The Magic Closet
- Telepathy
- It Won't Hurt Your Blanket
- Just Lie On The Table
- Gentelman With Large Round Head
- Good Grief, Rain
- I Hear Breathing
- I Should Feed My Dog
- Suppertime
- What Are You Doing?
- Have You Seen Charlie Brown?
- I Can't See My Feet
- Kicking The Football
- Did You Lose Something?
- Disappear And Reappear (It's Magic3 flats)
- Practicing On Woodstock
- Charlie Reappears
- Welcome Home Charlie Brown (It's Magic4)
- Magic Credits (It's Magic5)
Goofs[]
- In the audience at the magic show, Charlie Brown is sitting next to Linus while Patty sits next to Lucy. In later scenes, their places are switched.
- Linus' blanket is cut into pieces during the magic show, but in a later shot, Linus is shown with the blanket restored to normal.
- A boy sitting next to Peppermint Patty during the magic show is first seen with short hair. It is larger in later scenes.
- A boy sitting next to Franklin during the magic show is first seen with stringy hair similar to Linus'; in a later shot, he is shown with Schroeder-like hair.
- When Snoopy turns Charlie Brown invisible, his wand pokes the spot where he was standing, causing it to go through thin air. However, since he is invisible, the wand should have bumped into him, causing the magic trick to fail.
Gallery[]
External links[]
- It's Magic, Charlie Brown on the Internet Movie Database.
- It's Magic, Charlie Brown on the Big Cartoon Database.
- It's Magic, Charlie Brown on AllMovie.