Happy 75th anniversary of Peanuts!

Today marks 75 years since Charles M. Schulz's Peanuts comic strip debuted in newspapers on October 2, 1950.

As readers of this blog no doubt know, it debuted as a daily-only strip in just seven newspapers, but within a year and a half added a full-color Sunday strip, and ultimately grew to a distribution of 2,600 newspapers, as well as numerous book collections of the strip, a series of award-winning and beloved television specials, more merchandise than one can count, and a lasting impact on pop culture.

There have been several news articles marking the occasion, including ones from USA Today and Schulz's hometown newspaper, the Santa Rosa Press-Democrat:

USA Today - As Peanuts turns 75, Charles Schulz's comic is more poignant than ever

Santa Rosa Press Democrat - Charles M. Schulz Museum, others celebrate ‘Peanuts’ 75th anniversary

The official Peanuts podcast, You Don't Know Peanuts, has returned for a third round of episodes, starting with a complete audio of this year's Comic-Con panel celebrating the 75th anniversary, which featured panelists Damian Holbrook (TV Guide columnist), Benjamin L. Clark (curator, Charles M. Schulz Museum), Paige Braddock (creative director emeritus, Charles M. Schulz Creative Associates), Melissa Menta (senior VP, global brand and communications, Peanuts Worldwide), Emma Harmon (assistant art director, Charles M. Schulz Creative Associates), and actor Alec Baldwin.

So cozy up with your favorite Peanuts comic collection or television show, and celebrate 75 years of Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Charles Schulz, and the rest of the gang!

Apple TV+ announces 2025 free streaming dates for classic Peanuts holiday specials

Subscription service Apple TV+, the only place where you can stream the classic Peanuts television specials, has announced the weekends when you can stream the three best known Peanuts holiday shows for free, without a subscription.

The free streaming window is just 2 days for each special, but it's better than no free option at all.

The free streaming dates for 2025 are:

• It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown - Saturday, October 18 & Sunday, October 19, 2025
• A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving - Saturday, November 15 & Sunday, November 16, 2025
• A Charlie Brown Christmas - Saturday, December 13 & Sunday, December 14, 2025

To watch the specials for free, an Apple device isn't your only option. The Apple TV+ app is also available for a variety of streaming devices such as Roku and Amazon Fire, on several different smart TV brands, and for portable devices running Android. You can also watch using a web browser on any computer by going to tv.apple.com .  

You won't need to subscribe to Apple TV+, but you will need to either have or create an Apple ID to sign in and watch. After you sign in, search for the name of the special, if you don't see it right away.

For more information about Apple TV+, visit this information page.

Of course, if you're already a subscriber, you can watch the specials at any time, on any day.

As has been the case since 2022, there will be no over-the-air broadcast of the Peanuts specials this year. The shows remain available to purchase on DVD and Blu-ray.

Apple also announced that they've extended their agreement to be the exclusive streaming home for all Peanuts shows - both the classic ones from Lee Mendelson Film Productions, and new ones created for Apple by WildBrain - for another five years, until 2030. The announcement says there are plans for "more new original Peanuts series and specials," without any specifics. You can read the full press release from Apple here.

The Royal Guardsmen and the World-Famous Beagle: Part 3 of 3

1968 was an election year, and Charles Schulz acknowledged this with a series of newspaper strips that featured Snoopy and a flock of “proto-Woodstocks” carrying campaign banners promoting candidates identified solely as “!!,” ”?,” “$” and many other droll symbols. Hallmark’s lenticular  “Snoopy for President” buttons became an instant hot seller, as was a plush Snoopy doll wearing a “Snoopy for President” T-shirt.

Phil Gernhard had an idea.

 

Clearly, a song titled “Snoopy for President” would gain similar attention. Gernhard, Dick Holler and Arnold Shapiro dashed off a clever tune that added a patriotic, banjo-hued flavor to the military cadence of the previous “Snoopy” efforts, along with the ubiquitous mid-point key change. The track opened with a German radio broadcast that announced the candidates: “President, United States: Kennedy, Nixon, McCarthy und Rockefeller, Schnoopy, Humphrey ... Schnoopy? Ach du Lieber meinet...” The chorus was quite catchy:

 

Some wear the sign of the elephant,

And some wear the sign of the mule;

But we’ll hold the sign of the beagle high,

And love will shine right through.

 

As summer began, however, the band suffered a defection. Barry Winslow, out of high school and lacking a college deferment that would prevent being drafted, left to “sort himself out.” The band toured as a quintet that summer. They returned to Fuller Studios to lay down the song’s instrumental elements, and Winslow added his vocal at a later date.

The single was rushed out at the end of May.

 

On June 5, Robert F. Kennedy was shot at the Los Angeles Ambassador hotel, and pronounced dead the following day.

 

The June 15 issue of Cashbox tagged the single a “Pick of the Week,” bravely insisting that it “...should hit the sales impact of their three previous Snoopy ventures. Bouncing beat and cute commentary add up to breakout power.”

 

Alas.

 

Laurie Records hastily recalled the singles; a revised version — absent the initial recitation of the candidates’ names — was re-released. Unfortunately, this turn of events cut off the minimal momentum that the single achieved on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It entered at No. 89 on July 13, rose four slots the following week, then disappeared.

 

Meanwhile, Gernhard produced the companion album ... which proved to be a Royal Guardsmen endeavor in name only. The actual Royal Guardsmen were too busy touring, so Gernhard brought in studio musicians, who laid down all the backing instrumentals; Winslow later added his vocals. The result, then, is more correctly a Winslow solo album.

 

Schulz, unaware of this, sent along a cute cover illustration.

Irritated by the tepid sales of the Snoopy’s Christmas LP, Laurie Records’ Robert and Gene Schwartz insisted that the new album’s remaining tracks be well-established pop hits. As a result, Winslow soulfully warbled Glen Campbell’s “By the Time I Get to Phoenix” and Bobby Goldsboro’s “Honey”; charged through a trio of rockers — The Fireballs’ “Bottle of Wine,” Every Mother’s Son’s “Come on Down to My Boat” and a medley of The Box Tops’ “Cry Like a Baby” and “The Letter” — and goofed his way through inane novelty tunes “Simon Says” and “Yummy, Yummy, Yummy.” Gernhard also added an eyebrow-lifting outlier — the Irish Rovers’ “Biplane Evermore” — solely because of the title’s vague connection to Snoopy’s Sopwith Camel.

 

All of which must’ve prompted devoted Guardsmen fans to wonder, What the hell?

The Royal Guardsmen and the World-Famous Beagle: Part 2 of 3

Producer Phil Gernhard rushed The Royal Guardsmen back into Fuller Studios in January 1967, to record “The Return of the Red Baron,” which he co-wrote with brothers John Yates and James Lee McCullough. Although not quite an identical clone, this sequel had the same military cadence and delivery, and the same mid-point key change. But the “Ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty or more” refrain gave way to a more amusing four bars that opened with “Hey, watch out, little Snoopy!” Perhaps wanting to tweak the Australian bluenoses, the last refrain concluded with:

Hey, watch out, Red Baron,

Snoopy is on your tail!

One of these days, he’s gonna make you pay,

And you’ll go straight to... 

 

...but the final word was cut off, as the refrain repeated and faded out.

 

“Return” was paired with the first album’s “Sweetmeats Slide,” and the resulting single was released in early February. It entered Billboard’s Hot 100 chart at No. 79, on February 25 ... so, for two consecutive weeks, The Royal Guardsmen had two singles and an album charting simultaneously.

 

Gernhard and the band took their time working on material to fill a second album. It was more accomplished; the band members’ performance chops clearly had improved, and Laurie Records’ execs gave Gernhard permission to bring the tracks to New York, where they were embellished with light strings, additional percussion and backing vocals.

 

But the finished product suffered from a serious identity crisis. Tasteful folk ballads — “Any Wednesday” and “I’m Not Gonna Stay” — shared space with hard rock covers of “I’m a Man” (made famous by Bo Diddly) and “Gimme Some Lovin’” (the Spencer Davis Group). Other tracks leaned toward the rising trend in acid rock, and the album also featured two instrumental tracks — “Om” and “So You Want to Be a Rock ’n’ Roll Star” — which were pointless filler. The latter, a recent hit by The Byrds, emerged as a last-minute “mistake” prompted by the tight production schedule; the Guardsmen never had a chance to add their vocals!

Worse yet, this new album’s second single, released in June to coincide with the LP’s debut, opened with another goofy novelty tune — “Airplane Song (My Airplane)” — paired with the weird instrumental “Om.” 

 

The first single from Return, fronted by the title song, stayed on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart for seven weeks, peaking at No. 15 on March 25. The album never charted.

 

Meanwhile, the first album remained on its respective chart for an impressive 22 weeks, peaking at No. 44 on April 15. The “Airplane Song”/“Om” single charted for six weeks, peaking at No. 46 in mid-July, for its final two weeks.

 

The Royal Guardsmen and the World-Famous Beagle: Part 1 of 3

This has been the summer for long-gestating projects: first a thorough study of British artist/cartoonist Derek Chittock’s Peanuts-inspired newspaper strip, Benny, and now an even deeper dive into the meteoric rise of a garage band out of Ocala, Florida, back in the 1960s.

We speak of The Royal Guardsmen, of course, and nobody reading this blog needs to be reminded of their connection to Peanuts. Indeed, the very first 45 single purchased by blog co-author Derrick Bang was “Snoopy vs. the Red Baron.” (And yes, he still has it.)

 

No doubt most of you also are aware of the two subsequent efforts, “Return of the Red Baron” and “Snoopy’s Christmas.”

 

But did you know that they were followed by two more?

 

The wildly unlikely, head-shaking saga of how all that came about is the stuff of pop music legend.

 

We start by rolling the clock back to 1964, when Lake Weir High School students Bill Balogh and Jay Mayer saw The Beatles’ film debut in director Richard Lester’s A Hard Day’s Night. Balogh and Mayer were so inspired that — on the spot — they formed a band with mutual friend John Burdett. Mayer played guitar, Balogh played bass, and Burdett played drums ... despite never before having picked up a drum stick. Balogh’s father was a postman, so they dropped a letter and called themselves The Posmen. (It probably sounded clever at the time.) They began with the intention of becoming an accomplished local cover band, and their first performance was in May 1965.

 

A few months down the road, while setting up for a gig, somebody asked Balogh the name of his group. Suddenly embarrassed by the answer, he glanced at the front of their new VOX AC-50 amplifier, which (you’ll love this) was nicknamed the “Royal Guardsman.” He pulled the metal tag off the amplifier and stuck it to the face of the bass drum. Thus is history made...

Two months after adopting this new name, Barry Winslow — then 17 — auditioned and joined the band as lead vocalist/guitarist. He soon brought in Chris Nunley — then 19 — as supplemental vocalist; by this time, keyboardist Larry Rich also had joined. Mayer’s guitar chops weren’t progressing as rapidly as the other guys, so in March 1966 he stepped down and became the band’s manager; he was replaced by Tom Richards. Then Rich got his draft notice, opted to serve in the Navy, and was replaced by Billy Taylor. As of June 1966, the final lineup was complete: Bill Balogh, John Burdett, Chris Nunley, Tom Richards, Billy Taylor and Barry Winslow.

 

Meanwhile...

 

In 1959, while a student at the University of South Carolina, 19-year-old Phil Gernhard co-founded a record label (Cole) and production company (Briarwood). He began recording local groups and producing demos the following year, and worked with several artists; one was songwriter Dick Holler. Gernhard produced a recording session with Holler in 1962, at New Orleans’ J&M Studios. One of the songs was called “The Red Baron,” in the style of earlier historical, military-style “story song” hits such as “Battle of New Orleans” and “Sink the Bismarck.” 

 

(Holler’s lyrics, at that time, had only two verses but were identical to what we’d recognize today, without any reference to Snoopy.) 

 

Nothing came of this session, as had been the case with other Briarwood efforts. Gernhard abandoned his label and production company, moved to St. Petersburg with his new bride, and resumed law school studies at the University of Tampa.

 

A few years passed.

 

On October 10, 1965, Charles M. Schulz first put Snoopy on top of his doghouse, garbed as the World War I Flying Ace.

Gernhard hated his law school studies; he ached to return to the music biz. He began repping local bands in 1966, one of which was The Royal Guardsmen. In late spring, he brought them to Tampa’s Fuller Studios, where they recorded an emotion-laden cover of “Baby Let’s Wait,” a recent hit for The Young Rascals, along with a Winslow original titled “Leaving Me.” The resulting single, which hit stores that spring, was The Royal Guardsmen’s first release on Laurie Records, a New York-based label founded in 1958 by brothers Robert and Gene Schwartz. 

 

“Baby Let’s Wait” became a No. 1 hit in the band’s home town of Ocala, made a little noise in Tampa Bay, then went no further.

 

At home, Gernhard avidly read Peanuts in the newspaper every day, and got a particular kick out of Snoopy’s expanding fantasy adventures involving ... the Red Baron.

 

That tweaked a memory.

Peanuts: 75th Anniversary Ultimate TV Specials Collection DVD & Blu-ray coming October 7, 2025

As part of this year's celebrations of the 75th anniversary of Peanuts, on October 7, 2025, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment will be releasing Peanuts: 75th Anniversary Ultimate TV Specials Collection, a big box set containing 40 of the classic Peanuts television specials, ranging from 1965's A Charlie Brown Christmas to Happiness Is a Warm Blanket, Charlie Brown from 2011. The set will be available on both DVD and Blu-ray, and will come with a 28-page collectible book.

The box set will include most, but not all, of the animated Peanuts shows from 1965 to 2011; see below for a list of the shows that are included, and more details on what won't be in the box.

Of the 40 shows coming in the set, all but one have been previously released in standard definition on DVD, although often on separate, single-disc releases in no particular order and with odd pairings; this is the first time in North America that they've all been released together chronologically in one set. The single new to DVD show will be 1983's It's an Adventure, Charlie Brown.

However, the Blu-ray version of the set will be the first time most of these specials will have been released in high definition on physical disc. (Many are streaming in high definition on Apple TV+.) Shows that will be new to Blu-ray are noted in the list below.

Note that some shows will be upscaled for their Blu-ray appearance, due to lack of high definition elements.  ("Upscaling" is converting a lower resolution, standard-definition source to try to make it look as good as possible in high definition, but the results are still never as good as a true high-definition original.)  In particular, all the shows from It's Spring Training, Charlie Brown to He's a Bully, Charlie Brown will almost certainly be upscaled; and possibly some of the earlier shows will be as well. But hopefully most will be in true high-definition.

The DVD set is now available to pre-order at most (but not all) online stores; pre-orders for the Blu-ray set are just appearing as of the time of writing.  If it's not available at your preferred retailer yet, check back in a few days.

So, which Peanuts specials won't be included? First of all, none of the eight episodes of the 1988 miniseries This is America, Charlie Brown; no episodes of Saturday morning The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show; none of the retrospective documentaries; none of the theatrical movies; and none of the shows produced for Apple TV+ from 2019 onwards.

Also not included, for various rights reasons, are these five specials (which, except for Pied Piper, have never had a DVD release):

Snoopy the Musical (1988)

It's the Girl in the Red Truck, Charlie Brown (1988)

You're in the Super Bowl, Charlie Brown (1994)

It Was My Best Birthday Ever, Charlie Brown (1997)

It's the Pied Piper, Charlie Brown (2000)

Finally, it looks like none of the bonus featurettes/documentaries that were on previous Warner DVD releases will be included. Too bad!

On Apple TV+, It Was a Short Summer, Charlie Brown is an edited version, missing about four minutes, and You're In Love, Charlie Brown is missing some of the final lines of dialog. Hopefully these issues will be corrected on this new box set, but I don't have confirmation one way or another.

But enough of the "what's not here," let's talk about what will be on the set! The specials that will be included on the set are listed below.

*** indicates the shows that have not been released on Blu-ray previously.

All have been released on DVD in North America, except for It's an Adventure, Charlie Brown .

A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)

Charlie Brown's All Stars (1966)

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1966)

You're in Love, Charlie Brown (1967) ***

He's Your Dog, Charlie Brown (1968) ***

It Was a Short Summer, Charlie Brown (1969) ***

Play It Again, Charlie Brown (1971)

You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown (1972) ***

There's No Time for Love, Charlie Brown (1973) ***

A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (1973)

It's a Mystery, Charlie Brown (1974) ***

It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown (1974) ***

Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown (1975) ***

You're a Good Sport, Charlie Brown (1975) ***

It's Arbor Day, Charlie Brown (1976) ***

It's Your First Kiss, Charlie Brown (1977) ***

What a Nightmare, Charlie Brown (1978) ***

You're the Greatest, Charlie Brown (1979) ***

She's a Good Skate, Charlie Brown (1980) ***

Life Is a Circus, Charlie Brown (1980) ***

It's Magic, Charlie Brown (1981)

Someday You'll Find Her, Charlie Brown (1981) ***

A Charlie Brown Celebration (1982) ***

Is This Goodbye, Charlie Brown? (1982) ***

It's an Adventure, Charlie Brown (1983) ***

What Have We Learned, Charlie Brown? (1983) ***

It's Flashbeagle, Charlie Brown (1984)

Snoopy's Getting Married, Charlie Brown (1985) ***

You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown (1985) ***

Happy New Year, Charlie Brown (1986) ***

Why, Charlie Brown, Why? (1990) ***

Snoopy's Reunion (1991) ***

It's Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown (1992)

It's Spring Training, Charlie Brown (1996) ***

A Charlie Brown Valentine (2002) ***

Charlie Brown's Christmas Tales (2002) ***

Lucy Must Be Traded, Charlie Brown (2003) ***

I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown (2003) ***

He's a Bully, Charlie Brown (2006) ***

Happiness Is a Warm Blanket, Charlie Brown (2011)

Overall, this is pretty big news - fans have been waiting a long time for a comprehensive DVD and Blu-ray release of the classic Peanuts animated television specials, and it's great that one is arriving at last.

Snoopy Presents: A Summer Musical premieres August 15, 2025 on Apple TV+

Apple TV+ has announced another new Peanuts special, Snoopy Presents: A Summer Musical, is coming to the subscription streaming service on Friday, August 15, 2025.   (The show was originally publicized as premiering July 18, but a couple of weeks before that date, Apple quietly delayed it by a month.)

Here's the press release from Apple:

Get ready to gather around the campfire with the Peanuts gang as Apple TV+ announces the all-new original Peanuts musical special, Snoopy Presents: A Summer Musical, premiering globally August 15, 2025. Featuring original music by Emmy Award-nominated composer Jeff Morrow and Emmy Award-nominated singer, songwriter, composer and New York Times bestselling author Ben Folds, the latest 40-minute special under the acclaimed “Snoopy Presents” banner by Peanuts and WildBrain for Apple TV+ marks the first Peanuts musical in 35 years.

This summer, celebrate the joy and magic of summer camp and the importance of preserving what you love. Charlie Brown loves camp and is determined to make his final year special, but Sally, a first-time camper, is nervous and skeptical of the new and unfamiliar place. While everyone settles into camp, Snoopy and Woodstock discover a treasure map that takes them on a wild adventure nearby.

One morning, the Peanuts gang learns that their beloved camp is shutting down because fewer campers are joining each summer. The news especially saddens Charlie Brown, who feels hopeless about losing a place that has meant so much to him and his friends. Meanwhile, on their adventure, Snoopy and Woodstock find the sought-after treasure chest, but are quickly disappointed when they discover it’s not riches, but instruments and photos from past summer concerts held at the camp. Newly inspired, Charlie Brown and the Peanuts gang use the treasure to host their own concert to save the camp.

You can watch the trailer on Youtube.  The show will be 40 minutes long.

This isn't the first time Ben Folds has worked on a Peanuts special - he wrote a song and music for the 2022 show It's the Small Things, Charlie Brown; and Jeff Morrow has composed the music for most of the Apple TV+/WildBrain Peanuts shows.

(When Apple says this is "the first Peanuts musical in 35 years," presumably the previous one they're thinking of is the 1988 animated adaptation of Snoopy: The Musical.)

For more information about Apple TV+, including how to watch and subscribe, visit this AppleTV+ information page.

The sincerest form of flattery?

Not too long ago, a UK correspondent brought our attention to an obscure British newspaper strip titled Benny, because he felt it resembled Peanuts more than a little. He sent along a few examples, and he definitely had a point.

As it happens, those “few examples” were pretty much the only Benny strips readily available on the Web. That’s likely because the feature appeared in only one newspaper: London’s Daily Herald, from July 27, 1959, through October 14, 1961. Information about the strip’s creator — Derek Chittock, who hid behind the pseudonym “Droc” for Benny — also is rather thin.

Thanks to the British Newspaper Archive and newspapers.com, we were able to assemble all but a few dozen of the strip's entire run. Now armed with so many examples, it quickly became obvious that Benny was a deliberate attempt to mimic Charles Schulz’s popular strip. Unlike Peanuts, though, Benny appeared only Monday through Saturday; there were no Sunday strips ... undoubtedly because the Daily Herald didn't publish on Sundays.

Click on all images, for larger, easily readable versions.

But let’s begin with some background on Chittock.

He was born on February 21, 1922, and — after five years at London’s Slade School of Art — became an excellent artist and painter strongly in the Norman Rockwell tradition, as this magazine cover demonstrates. His work belonged in the Socialist Realism style, and he’s known to have exhibited at the Royal Academy and New English Art Club. He also was active with the Communist Party of Great Britain for roughly a decade — and was an art critic for its Daily Worker newspaper — until he resigned his membership following the Soviet invasion of Hungary in 1956. Be that as it may, those leanings remained evident in Benny, which often was openly political during its entire run. Chittock died on his birthday, in 1986; he was 64.

You can learn a bit more about him at this Lambiek Comiclopedia entry.

In addition to the artistic style Chittock employed for Benny — which strongly evokes Schulz — the two strips share these traits:

• Both involve children who are wise beyond their years, and appear to be roughly the same age ... although the only time age is mentioned in a Benny strip, the character says that she’s 5, whereas the Peanuts characters are a few years older.

• Both strips have characters who often break the fourth wall, to address the reader directly.

• Both feature a blend of one-off gag strips and longer “serials” that run a week or more.

• Panel composition, word balloon use, and lettering style are very similar.

• Both occasionally name-check real-world events and individuals. Characters in Benny cite (among others) Austrian biologist Hans Haas, U.S. President Kennedy, jazz musician Johnny Dankworth, and orchestra conductor Malcolm Sargent.

• No adults appear in either strip.

• Both feature dog companions who “talk” — usually to the reader — via thought balloons. That said, the pooches in Benny are just-plain-dogs, and don’t have anything approaching Snoopy’s fantasy escapades.

You're a Good Sport, Charlie Brown soundtrack coming July 11, 2025

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Emmy-award winning show You're a Good Sport, Charlie Brown, Lee Mendelson Film Productions have announced that the complete Vince Guaraldi soundtrack to the 1975 Peanuts animated special will be released on July 11, 2025.

In You're a Good Sport, Charlie Brown, Charlie Brown and Peppermint Patty compete in a charity motocross race, trying to overcome the challenges of crashes, mud, and the strangely familiar Masked Marvel.

The soundtrack album will feature 14 tracks that make up the complete Vince Guaraldi score for the show, together with a bonus track of unused cues intended for the beginning of the special.

As an additional bonus, the album will also include four additional tracks of music that Guaraldi composed, and his trio performed, for Bicycles Are Beautiful, a 1974 non-Peanuts film promoting bicycle riding produced by Lee Mendelson.

All tracks have been mastered from the original session tapes for excellent stereo sound; total runtime will be 28 minutes.

The soundtrack will be available on CD, vinyl, and digitally, and can be pre-ordered from the MVDShop, Amazon and other stores now.

The vinyl for You're a Good Sport, Charlie Brown will also have a built-in bonus feature.  The record will be a Zoetrope album - a picture disc where animated scenes from the cartoon come to life as the record spins. (You may need special lighting for best results - the album will come with a QR code taking you to instructions for viewing the Zoetrope effect.) Sounds nifty - and it looks pretty cool even when it's not spinning!

Initially only a Zoetrope vinyl was announced, but later LMFP added a plain black vinyl option as well.  However, it will not be available until September 12.

The physical albums will include track-by-track analysis from album producer Sean Mendelson, notes from album producer Jason Mendelson, an essay giving historical context for the special and soundtrack by Guaraldi historian Derrick Bang, and an essay from Charles Schulz's son Craig Schulz about the special's inspiration, along with images from the special and rare photographs.

More information:

• The full You're a Good Sport, Charlie Brown press release
• The Lee Mendelson Film Productions webpage for the album
• Short preview samples for several tracks on Soundcloud
• Listen to the full "Motocross" track on YouTube

A few You're a Good Sport tracks have appeared previously on compilation albums, but this is the first time the entire score will be available; most of it has never been released before.

Here's the full track list for the You're a Good Sport, Charlie Brown album:

Show Score

1. Motocross
2. Peppermint Patty
3. You’re a Good Sport, Charlie Brown (Centercourt)
4. Fanfare / Fanfare (Alternate Take) / Hospital Scene / Hospital Scene (Bonus)
5. Bass Blues
6. Linus and Lucy
7. Motocross (Reprise)
8. You’re a Good Sport, Charlie Brown (Unused Opening Cues) - BONUS TRACK
9. The Great Pumpkin Waltz
10. Motocross (2nd Reprise)
11. Motocross (3rd Reprise)
12. Motocross (4th Reprise)
13. Motocross (5th Reprise Extended with Additional Piano)
14. Lunch Theme / Motocross (6th Reprise)
15. You’re a Good Sport, Charlie Brown (Reprise)

Bonus Tracks from Bicycles are Beautiful

16. Bicycles are Beautiful (Reprise)

17. Bicycle Ballad (Medley)
18. Bicycle Bounce (and Reprise)
19. Bicycle Wizard (and Reprise)

A milestone anniversary

All sorts of things and events will help mark this year's 75th anniversary of Charles M. Schulz's Peanuts newspaper strip, but Abrams ComicArts likely will take center stage with this lavish coffee table book.

The Essential Peanuts — an opulent hardcover in a slipcase — is assembled by Mark Evanier, and presents the most iconic and essential Peanuts comic strips with fresh historical and cultural context. The book also features an introduction by Patrick McDonnell, a foreword by Jean Schulz, and contributions from 15 notable commentators. The book is designed by Chip Kidd, and includes a portfolio of collectible Peanuts ephemera: postcards, prints, an embroidered patch, stickers and a facsimile of a classic Peanuts comic book.

“Having loved Peanuts since I was about Charlie Brown's age (and no more successful at kite-flying), I was thrilled when Abrams Comic Arts asked me to spend weeks reading and writing about the comic strip that was so much more than just a comic strip,” Evanier said. “The only drawback was that I tried writing the book sitting on the roof of a doghouse, but I kept falling off.”

Evanier is the award-winning author of Kirby: King of Comics and MAD Art. A respected writer, historian and editor, he has worked extensively in the worlds of comic books and television, earning a reputation as one of the foremost authorities on comics and animation. Evanier has earned three Emmy Award nominations, and he received the Lifetime Achievement Award for animation from the Writers Guild of America.

“As we mark 75 years of Peanuts, this partnership with Abrams ComicArts is a testament to the lasting impact of Schulz’s beloved characters,” noted Craig Herman, vice-president of Global Brand Experiences, and Publishing, at Peanuts Worldwide. “Since being introduced to the world on October 2, 1950, Peanuts has been at the forefront of pop culture, and we can’t wait for fans to discover this extraordinary anniversary edition.”

The Essential Peanuts underscores how and why the comic strip transcends cultural, generational and linguistic barriers to remain relevant and beloved. By exploring Schulz's creative ambition, his wry commentary on childhood struggles and triumphs, and his enduring influence on art, literature and everyday life, Evanier not only celebrates an incomparable legacy, but also reveals the universal appeal at the heart of Peanuts.

The 15 commentators:

• Robb Armstrong

• Rob Boutilier 

• Paige Braddock

• Alberto Brambilla 

• Benjamin L. Clark 

• Ben Folds

• Sarah Gillespie 

• Chip Kidd

• Amy Lago

• Mike Massimino

• Akio Matsunaga

• Jeff Morrow

• Hilary Price

• Shuntaro Tanikawa ...

...and 5CP co-blogger Derrick Bang, who supplies the Guaraldi connection. His essay discusses how Dr. Funk became involved with Schulz's characters, via "Cast Your Fate to the Wind" being heard on the radio of Lee Mendelson's car, at an opportune moment.

Save coffee table space for this one, because you won't want to miss it. The Essential Peanuts will hit bookstores just in time for the actual 75th anniversary, on October 2, 2025. 

Expanded edition of Guaraldi's Jazz Impressions of A Boy Named Charlie Brown coming April 11, 2025 on CD and digital

Following the Record Store Day LP announcement from a few weeks ago, Craft Recordings has announced a new, expanded edition of Vince Guaraldi's first album of Peanuts music, Jazz Impressions of A Boy Named Charlie Brown, will be coming to CD and digital as well.

The new release is set to arrive on April 11, 2025.  (While the press release says April 4, April 11 is the date listed for pre-orders at all major vendors.)

Celebrating the 75th anniversary of Peanuts, the 2-CD edition will have the original 9-track album program on disc 1, and 11 never-heard-before alternate takes plus 5 previously released alternates and bonus tracks on disc 2.

Vince Guaraldi wrote the music on Jazz Impressions of A Boy Named Charlie Brown  for a documentary by producer Lee Mendelson about Charles Schulz and Peanuts. But Mendelson was unable to sell the documentary (titled A Boy Named Charlie Brown) to a network and it was never seen on television... although it did lead to Mendelson getting the job to produce the holiday classic A Charlie Brown Christmas and many more Peanuts specials. (The original, unbroadcast documentary can be ordered on DVD from the Charles Schulz Museum's online store.)

Even though the documentary never aired, Fantasy Records and Vince Guaraldi released an album of the music 1964, introducing the world to "Linus and Lucy," now instantly recognized as "the Peanuts theme." Several other themes on the album, such as "Charlie Brown Theme" and "Baseball Theme," also appeared regularly in the early Peanuts animated specials.

The album has been available on CD and digital for years, and in 2014 there was a 50th anniversary release that included a single alternate take of "Baseball Theme."

But now this new, expanded 2025 edition of Jazz Impressions of a Boy Named Charlie Brown features many more alternate versions of the tracks, all taken from the original recording sessions. According to the press release, they include two alternate versions of "Linus and Lucy," including an early studio test; outtakes of "Oh, Good Grief" and the ode to fellow (albeit animated) pianist "Schroeder;" the sweepingly carefree "Baseball Theme," and more.

The tracks are accompanied by new liner notes by Derrick Bang, author of Vince Guaraldi at the Piano (McFarland & Company), plus the original album's essays from producer Lee Mendelson and music journalist Ralph J. Gleason. The music has received a fresh remastering by Grammy Award-winning engineer, Paul Blakemore.

You can read the full Craft press release here, and place pre-orders using the links here.

And if you prefer vinyl, look for the Record Store Day release containing just the alternate tracks on April 12, 2025. (There will not be a CD with just the alternate tracks; only the 2-CD version with both the original album and the new alternate takes be available.)

The full track listing for the 2-CD and digital release:

Disc 1
1. Oh, Good Grief
2. Pebble Beach
3. Happiness Theme (Happiness Is)
4. Schroeder
5. Charlie Brown Theme
6. Linus and Lucy
7. Blue Charlie Brown
8. Baseball Theme
9. Frieda (with the Naturally Curly Hair)

Disc 2
1. Linus and Lucy (Studio Test)
2. Linus and Lucy (Take 3)
3. Happiness Theme (Happiness Is) (Take 4)
4. Pebble Beach (Take 7)
5. Baseball Theme (Take 1)
6. Oh, Good Grief (Take 1)
7. Schroeder (Take 3)
8. Baseball Theme (Take 2)
9. Oh, Good Grief (Take 1/Later Session)
10. Schroeder (Take 2)
11. Blues for Peanuts
12. Charlie Brown Theme (Take 4)
13. Blue Charlie Brown (Take 1)
14. Frieda (with the Naturally Curly Hair) (Take 1)
15. Fly Me to the Moon
16. Autumn Leaves

Easter Beagle egg-shaped vinyl, A Boy Named Charlie Brown alternate takes, and more Peanuts podcast episodes

Three news items for your ears!

Record Store Day 2025 is coming Saturday, April 12 and there will be not one, but two, Vince Guaraldi exclusive vinyls available that day.

As mentioned in an earlier blog post, the complete soundtrack to It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown will be released on March 21, 2025.

Then on April 12, Record Store Day, Lee Mendelson Film Productions is releasing a special egg-shaped - yes, egg-shaped! - 10" vinyl, titled Selections from It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown. It features the "eight best tracks" from the full soundtrack album.

The limited edition, individually numbered, egg-shaped vinyl will be available in five different colors - but like a true Easter egg hunt, which color you get will be a surprise; the color isn't revealed on the packaging.. so you won't know which color you've got until you open the album. 

You can read the official press release for the egg-shaped exclusive here, and details about both the full 20-track album and the exclusives here.

The track list for the egg-shaped exclusive is:

SIDE A

1. Peppermint Patty

2. Snoopy and Woodstock

3. Woodstock's Dream

SIDE B

1. Marcie's Song (Kitchen Music)

2. Linus and Lucy (Reprise)

3. Woodstock's Pad

4. Easter Egg Soup (Kitchen Music 2)

5. Salting Eggs / Linus and Lucy (4th Reprise)

This exclusive will be available only at participating record stores on April 12, 2025 - see the Record Store Day website for a list, or call your local store to see if they'll be carrying it. 

***

Second, the folks at Craft Recordings will release a Record Store Day exclusive they're calling Jazz Impressions of A Boy Named Charlie Brown (Alternate Takes)... because the entire LP consists of never-before-released alternate versions of the tracks on that 1964 album, taken from the original recording sessions.

The album's music was composed for a 1964 documentary that never aired, but Guaraldi would use the themes he created for it in his work for the Peanuts animated specials.

According to the press release, Jazz Impressions of a Boy Named Charlie Brown (Alternate Takes) features two alternate versions of "Linus and Lucy," including an early studio test; outtakes of "Oh, Good Grief" and the ode to fellow (albeit animated) pianist "Schroeder;" the sweepingly carefree "Baseball Theme" and more.

This Record Store Day edition will be pressed on sky-blue vinyl and limited to 3,400 copies. It also includes new notes from Guaraldi historian Derrick Bang. You can read the official press release here.

The full track list for the album:

SIDE A

1. Linus and Lucy (Studio Test)

2. Linus and Lucy (Take 3)

3. Happiness Theme (Happiness Is) (Take 4)

4. Pebble Beach (Take 7)

5. Baseball Theme (Take 1)

6. Oh, Good Grief (Take 1)

7. Schroeder (Take 3)

8. Baseball Theme (Take 2)

9. Oh, Good Grief (Take 1 / Later Session)

 

SIDE B

1. Schroeder (Take 2)

2. Blues for Peanuts

3. Charlie Brown Theme (Take 4)

4. Blue Charlie Brown (Take 1)

5. Frieda (With the Naturally Curly Hair) (Take 1)

A new, expanded CD and digital release of the album containing all these alternate versions will be released one week earlier, on April 4, 2025 - see this blog post for details.

This exclusive will be available only at participating record stores on April 12, 2025 - see the Record Store Day website for a list or call your local store to see if they'll be carrying it.

***

Finally, after a couple months' break, the official Peanuts podcast "You Don't Know Peanuts" has returned with a second series of five more weekly episodes.

Episode 6, released earlier this week, features an interview with Jeanne Schulz, the woman behind the man behind Peanuts. Other episodes in the second season will cover the making of The Snoopy Show and other 21st Century Peanuts television series; how Snoopy has influenced fashion from New York to Paris; and a look at NASA’s relationship with Peanuts over the last 60 years.

You can learn more about the podcast and listen to it at https://www.youdontknowpeanuts.com , or you can get it from your favorite podcast source, including (but not limited to) Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown soundtrack to be released March 21, 2025

It's the depths of winter now, but an exciting sign of the forthcoming spring has arrived - the complete original Vince Guaraldi soundtrack for the 1974 television special It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown will be hatching on March 21, 2025.

The album is available for pre-order on CD and black vinyl at Amazon and the MVD Shop, as well as other online retailers and your local record store.  It will also be released digitally.

An "Easter Purple" colored vinyl variant of the full LP, limited to 2000 individually numbered BioVinyl copies, will be available only at independent record stores - check with your local store to reserve or buy a copy.  (You can see a list of select stores at the Record Store Day website, but not all stores are listed, so give your preferred store a call even if they aren't on that list.)

As with previous Guaraldi soundtrack releases from Lee Mendelson Film Productions, the Easter Beagle tracks have been mastered from the original 2-inch session tapes, and the booklet will include liner notes from producers Sean and Jason Mendelson, and Guaraldi historian Derrick Bang.

This latest album has a special bonus track: a medley of "Woodstock" tunes performed nearly 50 years later by David Benoit (piano) with original Guaraldi sidemen Seward McCain (Bass) and Mike Clark (drums), recorded at the same Hyde Street studio where the Easter Beagle soundtrack was originally recorded in San Francisco. (David Benoit composed the soundtracks to several Peanuts specials in the 1990's and 2000's.)

More information:

• The full It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown soundtrack press release
• The Lee Mendelson Film Productions webpage for the album
• Short preview samples for several tracks on Soundcloud
• Listen to the full "Woodstock's Dream" track by following one of the links here.

A few Easter Beagle tracks have appeared previously on compilation albums, but this is the first time the entire score will be available; most of it has never been released before.

In addition to the full album, on Record Store Day (April 12, 2025), there will be a special egg-shaped 10" vinyl, titled Selections from It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown. It features the "eight best tracks" from the full soundtrack album.  The limited edition, individually numbered, egg-shaped vinyl will be available in five different colors - but like a true Easter egg hunt, which color you get will be a surprise; the color isn't revealed on the packaging... so you won't know which color you've got until you open it. You can read the official press release for the egg-shaped exclusive here.

Here's the full track list for the upcoming It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown album:

1. Peppermint Patty
2. Easter Theme / Easter Theme (Reprise)
3. Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 3 in C Major, Op. 2 No. 3 - I. Allegro con brio
4. Snoopy and Woodstock
5. Linus and Lucy
6. Woodstock's Dream
7. Snoopy's Gumballs / Sally and Linus
8. Woodstock's Dream (Reprise)
9. Marcie's Song (Kitchen Music)
10. Linus and Lucy (Reprise)
11. Woodstock's Pad
12. Woodstock's Dream (2nd Reprise)
13. Music Box Dance (Minuet in G Major, BWV Anh. 116)
14. Woodstock's Dream (3rd Reprise)
15. Easter Egg Soup (Kitchen Music 2)
16. Linus and Lucy (2nd Reprise) / Linus and Lucy (3rd Reprise)
17. Beethoven: Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op. 92 - II. Allegreto
18. Beethoven: Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op. 92 - I. Poco sostenuto - Vivace
19. Salting Eggs / Linus and Lucy (4th Reprise)
20. Bonus Track: Woodstock Medley (Woodstock's Wake-Up / Little Birdie / Woodstock's Dream / Thanksgiving Theme / Little Birdie (Reprise))

And the track list for the egg-shaped exclusive vinyl is:

SIDE A

1. Peppermint Patty

2. Snoopy and Woodstock

3. Woodstock's Dream

SIDE B

1. Marcie's Song (Kitchen Music)

2. Linus and Lucy (Reprise)

3. Woodstock's Pad

4. Easter Egg Soup (Kitchen Music 2)

5. Salting Eggs / Linus and Lucy (4th Reprise)

The Peanuts Christmas Countdown Panels redux ... redux!

The very first countdown panel: December 2, 1963

[Authors’ note: 5CP posts generally are informal, like newspaper press releases. But as was the case with the original post on this subject, and because of the way this particular saga unfolded, a first-person approach seemed best. As a result, Derrick once again is stepping out from behind the curtain.]

To paraphrase Al Pacino, in The Godfather, Part 3:

 

Every time I thought I was out, they pull me back in!

 

The previous post on this topic had been live for barely a day, when I was contacted by two similarly dogged researchers  — Sean and Joseph, take a bow! — with incontrovertible evidence that the Peanuts countdown panels had begun significantly earlier than 1967, which I thought was the debut year.

 

(After originally having thought, back in the day, that 1982 was the debut year. Yeesh!)

 

Drum roll, please: This annual tradition began all the way back in 1963!

 

Those four earliest years — 1963 through ’66 — didn’t attract nearly as many client newspapers; my now very carefully researched tally rarely found more than two dozen hits ... and the total often was less than one dozen.

 

As was the case from 1967 through ’70, these panels did not run on Sundays, which were not regarded as “shopping days,” due to the “blue laws” described in the aforementioned previous post. The “XX shopping days” countdowns for 1963 through ’66 also did not include Sundays, for the same reason.

 

And here’s a fun fact:

 

December 19, 1963

All countdown panels are lifted from individual panels within various Peanuts newspaper strips. I’ve never attempted to source any of the later panels — 1982 through 2011 — because the search would have been prohibitive, given the massive volume of options. But that wasn’t the case back in 1963, when the strip was only 13 years old. It seemed logical to assume that at least some — if not all — of 1963’s countdown panels were lifted from strips that had appeared earlier that year ... and, indeed, that proved to be true. Two countdown panels are taken from the October 20 Sunday strip, when a nervous Sally sneaks her curious big brother through the house, until they hide behind the couch and she confesses, “We prayed in school today.” The rarely seen character 5 appears in another countdown panel, taken from the September 30 strip in which he debuted. 

I’m not curious enough (or obsessed enough) to ID all of them; I’ll leave that to folks with more time on their hands.

 

So, the final tally for these four recently discovered years:

 

• 1963 produced 20 panels, which began on Monday, December 2 (in newspapers that paid proper attention to the math involved) and concluded on Tuesday, December 24.

 

• 1964 produced 21 panels, which began on Tuesday, December 1, and concluded on Thursday, December 24.

 

One of 1965's new panels: December 11

• 1965 was ... bizarre. 21 panels ran from Wednesday, December 1, through Friday, December 24 ... but most of them were reruns from 1964! Right, I said most ... because four panels were new: those appearing on December 11, 15, 20 and 22 (although they also had 1964 copyright dates). Why reruns? Why four new panels within the reruns? Who knows? (I’d give a lot to find somebody who does know!) The fact that most were reruns may account for the noticeably smaller number of client newspapers that published any of them.

• 1966 produced only 18 panels, which began on Monday, December 5, and concluded on Saturday, December 24 (similar to the way the feature was handled in 1967 and ’68).

 

And yes, I’m emphatically certain that Peanuts countdown panels did not exist prior to 1963. Dennis the Menace starred in 1962’s panels, which ran December 1-24; panels appearing in 1961 and earlier were generic, usually with an image of Santa Claus. Panels for 1971, and the subsequent decade, also were generic.

 

So: United Feature Syndicate — later United Media — ran two sets of panels: from 1963 through 1970, and then 1982 through 2011. Why the 11-year gap? Another question unlikely to be answered.

The good news, of course, is that 5CP now has oodles of unseen-since-original-publication sets of panels to share, moving forward. It’s a shame they’ll debut only one year at a time! 

A Charlie Brown Christmas streams free on Apple TV+ this weekend (Dec 14-15, 2024)

Memorize your pageant lines - A Charlie Brown Christmas streams for free on Apple TV+ this weekend only, Saturday, December 14 and Sunday, December 15, 2024.

The classic Peanuts holiday show won't be broadcast on over-the-air television this year.

To stream the special for free, you don't need an Apple device. The Apple TV+ app is available for a variety of streaming devices such as Roku and Amazon Fire TV, and on several different smart TV brands. You can also watch using a web browser on any computer by going to tv.apple.com . See this Apple support page for a more detailed list of supported devices and how to watch.

You won't need to subscribe to Apple TV+, but you will need to either have or create an Apple ID to sign in and watch. After you sign in, search for the name of the special if you don't see it right away.

If you're an Apple TV+ subscriber, you can watch the show at any time, on any day.  The other classic Peanuts winter specials - It's Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown; I Want a Dog For Christmas, Charlie Brown; Charlie Brown's Christmas Tales and Happy New Year, Charlie Brown - are all also available to Apple TV+ subscribers.

Or if you're old-school, A Charlie Brown Christmas remains available to purchase on DVD or Blu-ray.