It Was a Short Summer, Charlie Brown
| It Was a Short Summer, Charlie Brown | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Animated TV special |
| Created by | Charles M. Schulz |
| Directed by | Bill Melendez |
| Voices of | Various (see below) |
| Composer(s) | Vince Guaraldi |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) |
David H. DePatie Friz Freleng Chuck Jones |
| Producer(s) |
Lee Mendelson Bill Melendez |
| Editor(s) |
Bob Gillis Chuck McCann Steve Melendez |
| Running time | 24 min. |
| Release | |
| Original network | CBS |
| First shown in | September 27, 1969 |
| Chronology | |
| Preceded by | He's Your Dog, Charlie Brown |
| Followed by | Play It Again, Charlie Brown |
It Was a Short Summer, Charlie Brown is the sixth prime-time animated TV specials based upon the popular comic strip Peanuts, created by Charles M. Schulz. It was directed by Bill Meléndez and originally aired on CBS on 27 September 1969. This was also the first Peanuts special not to feature the majority of the original voice cast from the inaugural A Charlie Brown Christmas, except for Peter Robbins and Sally Dryer.
Plot
School is out for the summer and Charlie, Linus, Schroeder, and Pig Pen are planning to spend it reading every comic book, watching television, playing baseball, and playing classical music. However, Lucy tells them that she signed them up for camp. The girls are eager to go, but the boys hate the idea. (Charlie adds that it's like finding out that he was drafted.) The boys shove each other to get on the bus, while the girls line up in order. At camp, Charlie is chosen captain of the boys camp. The boys and girls have a swim race which the girls win easily. Then they have a softball game, which the boys lose with only one run. Other competitions are just as lopsided.
Afterwards, the boys sit around the campfire and reflect on how miserable they are (In this scene, the colors of the shirts of Schroeder and Linus are mixed up).
Charlie and Shermy, disillusioned by their continued defeat, see Snoopy arm wrestling with the boys. They realize that the boys might get even with an arm wrestling game, with "The Masked Marvel" (Snoopy) as their champion. Snoopy goes into training, eating the camp's awful food, doing exercises, and drinking a nutritious and noxious concoction. In the contest, Snoopy goes against Lucy. They both get sweaty and tired in the match, which ends when Snoopy kisses Lucy. He pins her hand: but she says that kissing her was a foul, and she is the winner.
Back at school, Charlie only comes up with 13 words on his essay that he and Linus are forced to write on the first day, after both boys are caught playing hangman in class. Linus gets an A but Charlie gets a C-. Linus then says "Oh, well, it was a short summer, Charlie Brown", followed by Charlie saying gloomily "And it looks like it's going to be a long winter".
DVD
On July 7, 2009, it was released on DVD for the first time, in remastered form as part of the DVD box set, "Peanuts 1960s Collection." On October 6, 2015, the special was released in the remastered deluxe edition of He's a Bully, Charlie Brown along with an episode from The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show as bonus specials.
Voice cast
- Peter Robbins as Charlie Brown
- Pamelyn Ferdin as Lucy van Pelt
- Glenn Gilger as Linus van Pelt
- Hilary Momberger as Sally Brown
- Ann Altieri as Frieda and Violet Gray
- David Carey as Shermy
- Christopher DeFaria as Peppermint Patty
- Gail DeFaria as Pig-Pen
- Sally Dryer as Clara, Shirley, and Sophie
- Matthew Liftin as Roy
- Lisa DeFaria as Patty
- John Daschback as Schroeder
- Bill Melendez as Snoopy