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You're in the Super Bowl, Charlie Brown! is the thirty-seventh prime-time animated TV special based upon the popular comic strip Peanuts, by Charles M. Schulz. It first aired on NBC on January 18, 1994.

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VHS cover art.

Plot[]

This special begins with Snoopy, as the World Famous Coach, getting his football team, The Birds, ready. It consists entirely of Woodstock and his tiny friends. The announcer says, this game will decide the Eastern Division Champs for the "AFL" (Animal Football League). They are playing the team "The Cats" a ferocious group of cats. The Birds crush The Cats, 38-0, making them the Eastern Division champs. The Birds will be moving on to the East-West Conference Championship, but not before pouring a victory bath of "Chirpade" on the coach.

Lucy is seen asking Charlie Brown to kick a football. Charlie Brown refuses to do it. Lucy then asks him "Are you gonna go through life not trusting anyone? That's no way to live." Charlie Brown decides, she is right and tries to kick the ball, until Peppermint Patty comes, with Marcie, Franklin, and Linus. She tells Charlie Brown and Lucy there will be a football punt, pass and kick contest and first prize wins a new bicycle and a trip to the Super Bowl. She suggests that they should all enter. While Lucy is looking at the poster for the event, Charlie Brown realizes now is his chance to kick the football. He runs up to kick it but Lucy pulls it away.

While Charlie Brown and Linus are practicing for the contest they notice a very pretty girl, and she catches Linus's attention. They both walk over to her and introduce themselves to her. The girl says her name is Melody-Melody and she has been watching them. They flirt with her, and take her out for hot fudge sundaes. They then try to impress her and try to tell how they will be entering the punt-and-kick contest. Melody says she will be rooting for them at the contest.

A quick time-out for more Animal Football Action occurs as The Birds are seen playing against The Dogs in the East-West Conference Championship. Once again, The Birds crush the other team, this time 58-0. It is then onto the World Championship, but not until another bath of Chirpade is poured onto the coach.

At the punt-and-kick contest. Charlie Brown and Linus see Melody watching them, and they argue over which one of them Melody came to watch.

The announcer announces every player, and each player gets a better score than the previous one, except for Marcie who does not want to kick the football (because the football did not do anything to deserve being kicked).

Charlie Brown's turn comes. He scores more points then anyone so far and Peppermint Patty, says, "That probably wins it for Chuck." However, Linus' turn comes and he beats Charlie Brown's score. Linus gets excited because he thinks he won. The announcer then announces the last contestant, Miss Melody-Melody. This gets Charlie Brown and Linus confused. They thought Melody came to watch them play, and not enter the contest.

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Melody-Melody, after having won the compettion.

Melody goes, and beats Linus' score. Linus gets very upset. He admits to Charlie Brown that he was in love with her. Melody wins the new bicycle and the tickets to the Super Bowl, leaving Charlie Brown and Linus in shock.

Then comes the AFL World Championship. The Birds are playing against the The Bison. The announcer even admits he doubts The Birds have a chance against The Bison. The game begins, Lucy comes onto the field and tells Snoopy he is a horrible coach and his team will get crushed. However, once again, The Birds crush the other team, 62-0. The Birds are the World Champions and celebrate once more by pouring Chirpade all over Lucy!

The special ends with Charlie Brown and Linus at the wall. Linus says he is so upset that the girl of his dreams beat him in the contest. He says he will not trust anyone ever again. Charlie Brown tells him, "Your sister says we can't go through life doubting everyone. We have to learn to trust each other." Lucy then comes to them holding a football, to which Charlie Brown says, "I can't stand it."

Voice cast[]

Soundtrack[]

  1. "Charlie Brown Theme"
  2. "Pebble Beach"
  3. "Peppermint Patty"
  4. "Surfin' Snoopy"
  5. "Charlie Brown Theme"
  6. "Surfin' Snoopy"
  7. "Charlie Brown's All-Stars"
  8. "Surfin' Snoopy"
  9. "Surfin' Snoopy"
  10. "Charlie Brown Theme"
  11. "Linus and Lucy"
  12. "Charlie Brown Theme"

The Bison[]

The Bison are the team The Birds are up against during the finals of the AFL (Animal Football League) world championships in the TV special. Unlike The Cats and The Dogs teams, this team are tougher opponents for the Birds. However, even though they are a tough team, they still lose to The Birds 62–0.

They are the only bison to ever appear in a Peanuts cartoon.

Unlike the other AFL teams featured in the special, their size, relative to the birds, is not realistic for the animals they represent

Trivia[]

  • This is the only animated Peanuts TV special that first aired on NBC. Several live-action Snoopy specials aired on the channel, however.
  • It was the last Peanuts special to be animated with traditional cel animation, all subsequent Peanuts specials beginning with It Was My Best Birthday Ever, Charlie Brown have used digital ink and paint.
  • This is the last of three specials animated at Wang Film Productions and Cuckoo's Nest Studios.
  • Although the special first aired in 1994, it is copyrighted 1993, meaning it was produced that year.
  • To avoid any copyright issues with the NFL, the Super Bowl is only referred to as "The Big Game". Copyright issues with the NFL have also prevented this special from being re-released.
  • Despite the title of the special Charlie Brown does not go to the Super Bowl and neither do any of the other Peanuts regulars, thus making the title misleading.
  • Every player on The Birds is named after a famous football player (Unitas, Csonka, etc...) in the games against The Cats and The Dogs and a United States president (Polk, Tyler) in the game against The Bison.
  • During the AFL games, stock footage of the crowd and the cheerleaders are reused from It's Your First Kiss, Charlie Brown.
  • Melody-Melody wins the Punt, Pass, and Kick Competition wearing a Dallas Cowboys uniform. Less than two weeks later, the Cowboys won Super Bowl XXVIII, which also aired on NBC. Charlie Brown wears the uniform of the Cowboys' chief rivals at the time, the San Francisco 49ers.
    • Interestingly enough, the team the Cowboys defeated in Super Bowl XXVIII, the Buffalo Bills, are not represented in the Punt, Pass, and Kick contest.
  • Each of the two competing Van Pelt siblings wear uniforms of the NFL teams that were based in Los Angeles at the time: Lucy wears a Los Angeles Raiders uniform while Linus wears a Los Angeles Rams one. Both teams would move out of Los Angeles the following year (the Raiders back to Oakland, California; and the Rams to St. Louis. The Rams, however, returned to Los Angeles in 2016, while the Raiders moved again in 2020, this time to Las Vegas).
  • In addition to the two aforementioned Los Angeles teams, Franklin's uniform was also worn by an NFL team that has since relocated-in this case, the Houston Oilers, which relocated to Memphis as the Tennessee Oilers in 1997 before relocating again to Nashville the following year and becoming the Tennessee Titans in 1999. However, Houston itself is still represented by an NFL team, this one being the Houston Texans, which joined the NFL as an expansion team in 2002, six years after the Oilers left. Additionally, the Oilers were one of the few teams in the NFL at the time with a black starting quarterback, in that case (Warren Moon).
  • Another representative in the Punt, Pass, and Kick contest, the Washington Redskins (represented by Marcie), would not relocate out of its market, but would still change its name since this special's airing, dropping their former name in 2020 and going by the placeholder Washington Football Team name for that season and 2021 before adopting its current name of the Commanders in 2022.
  • "Pig-Pen's" uniform is the only one which was never worn by an NFL team; his Green Bay Packers uniform consisted of a dark-gold helmet and pants and a dark blue jersey (this design was proposed by Packers management in the early 1990s, but due to overall fan dislike, it was rejected).
  • The Birds' helmets have a similar design to that of the Philadelphia Eagles with the wings on a green helmet.
  • Ironically, Charles M. Shulz's hometown team, the Minnesota Vikings are not represented in the Punt, Pass, and Kick contest.
  • Marcie and Franklin are given last names in this special - Johnson and Armstrong, respectively. Though Schulz chose the names as writer of the special, these names are generally not considered canon, due to the franchise's loose continuity and Schulz personally feeling material from the specials was not canon to the strip. However, Franklin's last name "Armstrong" (after Schulz's friend and Jump Start creator Robb Armstrong) has been reused in apocryphal material, and is prominently featured in the 2024 special Snoopy Presents: Welcome Home, Franklin.
  • This is the only time that Peter Robbin's screaming is not used when Charlie Brown tries to kick the football.
  • Snoopy does not interact with Charlie Brown in this special.
  • Even though Snoopy's team, the Birds, and their opponents all play in the AFL (Animal Football League), the scoreboard for their games has the then-current NFL logo on it for an undetermined reason.
  • During each of the three games played by The Birds and, to a lesser extent, in the Punt, Pass, and Kick Competition, the football constantly changes size.
  • This marks one of the rare instances where other animals are shown besides dogs and birds.
  • The Elementary School Cheerleading Squad has made reappearances since It's Your First Kiss, Charlie Brown.
  • The home video release of this special was available for purchase only as a promotional VHS tape from Shell gas stations. It was never reissued by Paramount Home Entertainment and it is unlikely that Warner Home Video has the rights to release this special. Along with It's an Adventure, Charlie Brown, Snoopy!!! The Musical, It's the Girl in the Red Truck, Charlie Brown and It Was My Best Birthday Ever, Charlie Brown, this special has yet to receive a DVD release.

Gallery[]

External links[]

Peanuts Animated Features
TV Specials Released 1960s A Charlie Brown ChristmasCharlie Brown's All-StarsIt's the Great Pumpkin...You're in Love...He's Your Dog...It Was a Short Summer...
1970s Play It Again...You're Not Elected...There's No Time for Love...A Charlie Brown ThanksgivingIt's a Mystery...It's the Easter Beagle...Be My Valentine...You're a Good Sport...It's Arbor Day...It's Your First Kiss...What a Nightmare...You're the Greatest...
1980s She's a Good Skate...Life Is a Circus...It's Magic...Someday You'll Find Her...A Charlie Brown CelebrationIs This Goodbye...?It's an Adventure...What Have We Learned...?It's Flashbeagle...Snoopy's Getting Married...You're a Good Man...Happy New Year...!Snoopy!!! The MusicalIt's the Girl in the Red Truck...
1990s Why, Charlie Brown, Why?Snoopy's ReunionIt's Spring Training...It's Christmastime Again...You're in the Super Bowl...It Was My Best Birthday Ever...
2000s It's the Pied Piper...A Charlie Brown ValentineCharlie Brown's Christmas TalesLucy Must Be Traded...I Want a Dog for Christmas...He's a Bully...
2010s Happiness Is a Warm Blanket...
2020s For Auld Lang SyneIt's The Small Things...To Mom (and Dad), With LoveLucy's SchoolOne-of-a-Kind MarcieWelcome Home, Franklin
Movies A Boy Named Charlie BrownSnoopy, Come HomeRace for Your Life, Charlie BrownBon Voyage, Charlie Brown (And Don't Come Back!!)The Peanuts Movie
The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show Season 1 "Snoopy's Cat Fight" • "Snoopy: Team Manager" • "Linus and Lucy" • "Lucy vs. the World" • "Linus' Security Blanket" • "Snoopy: Man's Best Friend" • "Snoopy the Psychiatrist" • "You Can't Win, Charlie Brown" • "The Lost Ballpark" • "Snoopy's Football Career" • "Chaos in the Classroom" • "It's That Team Spirit, Charlie Brown" • "Lucy Loves Schroeder"
Season 2 "Snoopy and the Giant" • "Snoopy's Brother Spike" • "Snoopy's Robot" • "Peppermint Patty's School Days" • "Sally's Sweet Babboo"
This Is America, Charlie Brown "The Mayflower Voyagers" • "The Birth of the Constitution" • "The Wright Brothers at Kitty Hawk" • "The NASA Space Station" • "The Building of the Transcontinental Railroad" • "The Great Inventors" • "The Smithsonian and the Presidency" • "The Music and Heroes of America"
Snoopy in Space "The Application" • "Training" • "The Graduation" • "Welcome to the ISS" • "I Never Promised You a Space Garden" • "Space Sleepwalking" • "The Journey on Orion" • "Crater Crash" • "Searching for Moon Rocks" • "You're a Good Moon, Charlie Brown" • "The Next Mission" • "Mars or Bust"
Others Peanuts (2014 TV series) • Peanuts Motion ComicsThe Snoopy Show


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