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What Have We Learned, Charlie Brown? is the twenty-sixth prime-time animated television special based upon the strip cartoon Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz who introduced the special. It aired on the CBS network on two occasions: originally on May 30, 1983 (Memorial Day), and last aired on May 26, 1984 (the Saturday before Memorial Day and ten days before the 40th anniversary of the D-Day Invasion).

The special is a sequel to the movie Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (And Don't Come Back!!). It depicts Charlie Brown, Linus, Peppermint Patty, Marcie, Snoopy, and Woodstock traveling through France and Belgium, visiting sites associated with World War II and World War I. The title is a rhetorical question asked by Linus, meaning, "What has mankind learned from war?"

Plot[]

The special opens with Charlie Brown back home, assembling a photo album of pictures taken from his trip. His younger sister Sally approaches and asks him how the trip went. From there, it is shown in a flashback:

As they begin to head back from the chateau to the train station for the return trip to London (where they would return to the US by airplane), their problematic rented car (a Citroen 2CV) slows their progress, before breaking down entirely in a small French town. They ask to rent a car from a French lady (who immediately accepts the offer realizing Snoopy is, in fact, a World War I Flying Ace) the group soon becomes lost and camps at a nearby beach for the night. Linus, however, wakes up shortly before daybreak and walks along the beach, realizing they are at Omaha Beach.

Linus then tells the battle of D-Day, leading the group to the nearby cemetery for all of the American soldiers. The voice of General Dwight D. Eisenhower is also heard, reminiscing about the experiences of the battle. Archival news footage is also used, in some cases with the characters inserted through rotoscoping.

While preceding up north, the group heads toward Ypres, which Linus recognizes as the site of a series of battles during World War I. They arrive at a field of red poppies, which grew through the wastelands of battles fought during the war, and which serve as a marker for the Ypres battle site. Linus then recites the poem, "In Flanders Fields", after directing the group to the British field dressing station where McCrae was inspired to write the poem.

They come away realizing what the impact of the war was and how important the sacrifice of the soldiers was. Standing among the field of red poppies, Linus then turns and asks, "What Have We Learned, Charlie Brown?". The scene then flashes back to Charlie Brown and Sally. Sally then tells Charlie Brown that he is pasting the pictures in the album upside down.

Voice cast[]

Notes[]

  • This is the only special to link to a previous special or movie.
  • Stock footages from Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (And Don't Come Back!!) are used.
  • This special was nominated for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program (as was Is This Goodbye, Charlie Brown?).
  • This special has a plot hole in which the car never had an ignition lever in the events of the previous movie, and Peppermint Patty even criticizes Charlie Brown in pain.
  • The last two digits on the license plates on the car that the Peanuts gang rent show that it is registered in France's Marche Department, where Omaha Beach is located.
  • This is one of the few specials that have adults visible on screen.
  • Charles M. Schulz was a World War II veteran but was not deployed until after the war ended and D-Day was complete. Also, the gang is in the same town and chateau that he was stationed at.
  • This is the first Peanuts special to tackle a serious issue, which is war. The second was Why, Charlie Brown, Why?, which discusses leukemia and the third was He's a Bully, Charlie Brown, which explains bullying.
  • The special also features real (albeit colorized) footage of the D-Day invasion.

Goofs[]

  • When Charlie Brown gets in the car after he first injures his hand while cranking the car at the rent-a-car place, Linus is in the back seat, but when they leave the rent-a-car place and run into the French girl on the bike, Linus is in the front seat.
  • During the opening credits, the title of the book about King Arthur is misspelled "Arther."

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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