He's a Bully, Charlie Brown is the forty-fourth Peanuts TV special. It first aired on November 20, 2006 on ABC, and is the final TV special to be produced by Bill Melendez and Lee Mendelson.
The plot is based on several storylines that had previously appeared in the Peanuts comic strip. The Joe Agate marbles-playing storyline originally appeared in the strip beginning on April 3, 1995, the story involving Peppermint Patty sneaking away from summer school to see Charlie Brown was adapted from a storyline that began on June 6, 1989 and the story involving implied to be Floyd calling Marcie names was adapted from a storyline that began on July 20, 1976.
Plot[]
With summer vacation in full swing, Charlie Brown, Marcie, Linus van Pelt, and the majority of other kids are preparing to leave for summer camp, with Lucy van Pelt choosing not to go. At the van Pelt home, Rerun van Pelt finds a jar of old marbles which his paternal grandfather Felix, a marble master in his day, kept in the attic, and decides to take them to camp with him. Meanwhile, Peppermint Patty is forced to attend summer school as a result of her poor grades. As Charlie Brown and Snoopy get ready to leave for camp, the beagle brings lots of junk with him, including a bowling ball. They ride the bus and Peppermint Patty is there saying goodbye. On the way, Charlie Brown realizes that most of his friends are going to summer camp with him. When they arrive, however, the kids meet a bully named Joe Agate, who taunts Charlie Brown and Snoopy.
Rerun eventually sees Joe Agate defeat a camper in a round of marbles. Intrigued, Rerun approaches Joe, asking if he can teach him how to play. Joe agrees, and decides to play against Rerun on the false pretense of teaching him the game. Joe quickly defeats Rerun, and then takes away all his marbles. Devastated, Rerun tells Charlie Brown about the incident. Disgusted, Charlie Brown takes responsibility and isolates himself in his cabin, where Snoopy (as Joe Cool) instructs him on the game until he becomes skilled enough to win back the marbles from Joe. Meanwhile, back home, Peppermint Patty suspects that Charlie Brown has become Marcie's love interest. She repeatedly calls Marcie, who teases Patty over the telephone, making her even more jealous. Finally having had enough, Peppermint Patty decides to leave town and interrupt Marcie's supposed romance, but when she arrives, she is dismayed when Marcie explains that Charlie Brown has not been seen in days.
On the last day of camp, Charlie Brown challenges Joe Agate to a game of marbles; the bully is surprised when Charlie Brown is insistent on playing "for keeps". Everyone tensely watches as Joe and Charlie Brown compete. At first, the game goes in Charlie Brown's favor, but Joe quickly makes a comeback and wins. He takes all of Charlie Brown's marbles, but fortunately, Snoopy provides his owner two spares and the game restarts. Ultimately, Charlie Brown beats Joe and wins back the marbles for Rerun. Triumphant, Charlie Brown returns home, much to the surprise of Lucy, who does not believe that he has become a hero.
Voice cast[]
- Spencer Robert Scott - Charlie Brown
- Stephanie Patton - Lucy van Pelt
- Taylor Lautner - Joe Agate
- Rory Thost - Peppermint Patty
- Jessica Gordon - Marcie
- Jimmy Bennett - Rerun van Pelt
- Benjamin Bryan - Linus van Pelt
- Bill Melendez - Snoopy/Woodstock
- Katie Fischer/Sierra Marcoux - Sally Brown
- Jolean Wejbe - Violet
- Paul Butcher - Roy
Patty, Frieda, Schroeder, and "Pig-Pen" also appear in this special but are silent.
Soundtrack[]
- "Linus and Lucy"
- "Air Music/Happiness Is"
- "Peppermint Patty"
- "Linus and Lucy"
- "Masked Marvel" (rearranged by Benoit)
- "Oh, Good Grief"
- "Masked Marvel" (rearranged by Benoit)
- "Happiness Is"
- "You're in Love, Charlie Brown"
- "Pebble Beach"
- "Masked Marvel" (rearranged by Benoit)
- "Masked Marvel" (rearranged by Benoit)
- "Linus and Lucy"
- "Masked Marvel" (rearranged by Benoit)
- "Red Baron"
- "Masked Marvel" (rearranged by Benoit)
- "Linus and Lucy"
- "Happiness Is"
- "Linus and Lucy"
- "Oh, Good Grief"
- "Linus and Lucy"
Notes[]
- To date, this Peanuts special holds the longest cold opening before the title card.
- Originally this special was to have been called It's Only Marbles, Charlie Brown.
- This is the last Peanuts special to use 4:3 fullscreen before switching to 16:9 widescreen in the 2011 special, Happiness Is a Warm Blanket, Charlie Brown.
- Charles M. Schulz was working on outlines for this special when he passed away, though he never completed the transcript for it. This explains the reasoning behind this special having the most original material of any of the specials produced after Schulz's death.
- It is the last special to feature Bill Melendez as the voices of Snoopy and Woodstock, as he died on September 2, 2008. It is also the last special to be produced by Bill Melendez Productions and Lee Mendelson Productions.
- This special first aired on ABC on November 20, 2006, following a repeat broadcast of 1973's A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. The late November airing of He's a Bully seemed a little out of place, considering its summertime setting, but ABC felt the new special would do better in the ratings if it aired right after Thanksgiving, The decision paid off, as the two shows won their time slot with 9.4 million viewers, beating out, among other things, a Madonna special on NBC.
- When Charlie Brown gets off the camp bus after arriving back from camp, Lucy criticizes him for becoming a hero, saying that he has never won a ball game and never kicked a football, however, Charlie Brown's team has won on several occasions in the strip and Charlie Brown has kicked a football while he was invisible in It's Magic, Charlie Brown, and although the events of It's Magic cannot be considered canonical to the strip, Charlie Brown has successfully place-kicked a football before in the strip (October 9, 1953 and September 12, 1956).
- The shot of the bus entering the campground was the first, and only, use of CGI in the animated Peanuts specials.
- Rory Thost, the voice of Peppermint Patty in this special, previously voiced Charlie Brown and Linus in a Robot Chicken parody that aired the previous year.
- This is the third Peanuts special to tackle a serious issue, which is bullying. The first was What Have We Learned, Charlie Brown?, which discusses war and the second being Why, Charlie Brown, Why?, which discusses leukemia.
Gallery[]
External links[]
- He's a Bully, Charlie Brown at the Internet Movie Database.
- He's a Bully, Charlie Brown on the Big Cartoon Database.
- He's a Bully, Charlie Brown on AllMovie.