Pages

Featured Page

Other Pages

Thursday, January 07, 2016

The Lookback: The Charlie Brown Lookback : It's the Girl in the Red Truck

Peanuts the  Lookback 
                                          



    Happy New Year, and welcome back to our Charlie Brown specials Lookbacks  this is our 12th installment. "It's the Girl in the Red  Truck , Charlie Brown"  It's the 32nd special related to the Peanuts specials   it aired on CBS on September 27 , 1988.
       The first noticeable difference to this special is that you see a live action desert and  a live-action pick up truck .
                                                       
                                            Did we pick up the wrong special ?/ copyright Peanuts
          Then we see Spike , Snoopy's brother, and this will be about him  he is not a live-action dog it's back to cartoon world for this. Spike  lives inside a live-action catcus. ( words we never thought would be uttered in the English language)  and that brings us back to the live-action world.   This was all before the name of the special was introduced.   With Charlie Brown and Snoopy (ok so we will see them then?)  Back in Charlie Brown land , Snoopy gets a letter from his brother Spike.  Where Spike writes what he does on his days like take a long desert walk,  Spike, also learns French daily by cassette (aww the 80's).  One day , the highlight of this day was he waved at a girl driving  a red truck and she waved back. (awww middle school)  He sets alarm for early to make sure he can see her again.    Her truck brakes down in front of  Spike and the French tape very conveniently asks the right questions.  She talks to Spikes , fixes her truck and asks Spike if he would like to come with her.
                                                         
                                                   Comes fully loaded with cartoon seat belts / copyright peanuts

  She takes  Spike to a restaurant   that Spike apparently is the best customer at the restaurant (Snoopy has an interesting family) says the owner, Molly.   Also the girl's name is Jenny and she wants to be  a  jazz dancer , she is an aerobics instructor.   They go to her place ,when her boyfriend , Jeff, comes over, he sees Spike and thinks he's a wild animal. (unphased by the cartoon thing though, and very causal if a wild animal is around you)  Jeff tells Jenny that he set up a Jazz dance audition in a movie. for her , but it clashes with her aerobics teaching this upsets Jenny.  She says she not ready to leave everyone she teaches  and the area itself.  Jeff talks with Spike (honestly, they need these folks to keep some sound , since Spike doesn't talk)
                                                   
       
                                         Sitting on the dock of the bay/ copryight peanuts

more after the jump



       They all go roller skating with Molly.  (Jeff makes Spike ride in the back of the truck)  Jeff seems to be jealous of Spike  and  Jenny says this. (Umm Jeff)
     Spike is accidentally thrown outside in a skating move and gets locked out so he decides to go back to the dessert.  Jenny and Jeff go out and look for him , while Spike walks back he meets other wild beagles. (What?)  When he gets caught in Coyote hunting season. (oddest things we've written)  Jenny goes and rescues him , I guess Jeff does too.
   Spike decides to go back to his home. Jenny and Jeff apologize to each other and the end.

 A fun fact Jenny was played by Charles Schulz daughter, Jill.  That's our lookback of what could be the oddest Peanuts special. It was panned by critics and the timing  was  the same time as Roger Rabbit. (yep) It could have had more story but it's nice seeing spike. Odd for the credits said featuring Charlie and Brown and  Snoopy when they weren't in this really , except that short opening lines.
  Stay tuned to the next time when we look at  the special where we  the other peanuts characters blend with live action. (Wait that's a met life commercial)


No comments:

Post a Comment