MeTV celebrates Charles Schulz's 100th birthday with the first two Peanuts feature films on November 20 & 27, 2022

MeTV, an over-the-air broadcast channel specializing in classic television, is honoring the 100th birthday of Charles Schulz by showing the first two Peanuts feature films, A Boy Named Charlie Brown (1969) and Snoopy Come Home (1972), on Sunday, November 20 and Sunday, November 27, 2022 respectively, at 8 PM Eastern/Pacific time each day.

It's been some years since the two movies were last shown on broadcast television, plus it's nice to see some Peanuts animation available over-the-air, given that the usual Peanuts holiday specials are only available via streaming this year.

You can read MeTV's full announcement here, and watch their trailer for the films here.

To find out if MeTV is available in your area, and how to watch, visit their website. (The channel is available over-the-air in most major markets, although it isn't carried by all cable companies.)

In addition to showing the two Peanuts movies, MeTV is also marking the Schulz centennial on their website with a variety of amusing and interesting trivia articles and quizzes about Charles Schulz, Peanuts, and the two films.

Quiz yourself on How well do you actually remember A Boy Named Charlie Brown? or Who said it: A Boy Named Charlie Brown edition; and learn 8 interesting and surprising facts about Charles M. Schulz or Charles Schulz thought his appearance was forgettable, so he gave Charlie Brown a blank face - plus there are several more related quizzes and articles, all of which you can find here.

Kudos to MeTV for making a big deal about the 100th anniversary of Charles Schulz!

Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown and Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown come to Blu-ray on May 18, 2021 in The Snoopy 4-Movie Collection

Paramount Home Media has announced that on May 18, 2021 they will release The Snoopy 4-Movie Collection on Blu-ray, containing all four classic Peanuts theatrical movies:

A Boy Named Charlie Brown (1969)

Snoopy, Come Home (1972)

Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown (1977)

Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (1980)

This will be the first time Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown and Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown have been released in high definition on Blu-ray discs. (A Boy Named Charlie Brown and Snoopy Come Home were released as individual Blu-rays a few years ago.)

Digital copies of all four movies will also be included.

No separate releases of Race for Your Life or Bon Voyage have been announced - so unfortunately if you want them on Blu-ray (and there are quite a few folks that do), you'll have to get this set and get duplicates of the first two films.

Even more unfortunately, the list price for this set is $44.99 - rather steep, especially considering most fans probably already own the previous two Blu-ray releases.

The set can be pre-ordered from some online retailers already, and no doubt will be listed at all retailers shortly.

The set will consist of four discs, one for each movie.

According to a picture of the back cover found in the Amazon listing for the set, the aspect ratios of the films will be 4:3 for A Boy Named Charlie Brown and Snoopy Come Home, and 16:9 widescreen for Race for Your Life and Bon Voyage.

A Boy Named Charlie Brown and Snoopy Come Home were previously released on Blu-ray in the 4:3 aspect ratio, so it's not surprising they will still be in that format for this new set (Paramount is simply reusing the previous discs). And Race for Your Life and Bon Voyage were released in 16:9 for their DVD releases, and most digital versions of them are also widescreen, so it's not a surprise that widescreen is what we'll get for them.

While you might expect all the movies to be in the widescreen 16:9 aspect ratio, the animation for all four Peanuts films was originally drawn in 4:3 and widescreen versions of these movies cut off the top and bottom of the image. At least for the first two films, this cropping makes them look quite cramped, so it's good that they will continue to be offered as 4:3 in this new set. While it would be nice to have 4:3 options for the 3rd and 4th films as well, widescreen isn't a bad choice for them and it's probably how most people saw them in the theater.

No bonus features were mentioned in the initial announcemtn, but the image of the back cover lists "Travels with Charlie: The Making of Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown" (a featurette that first appeared on the Bon Voyage DVD) and "theatrical trailers."

(Finally, we could gripe about the title Paramount has chosen for this collection... surely they should have included "Peanuts" or "Charlie Brown" in the title - it's not just Snoopy in these movies, after all!)

Snoopy goes to space on Apple TV+ and in a new graphic novel & catch the original Peanuts films in the theater!

Last week, timed to coincide with the 50th anniversary commemoration of Apollo 11, Apple and Peanuts Worldwide announced Snoopy in Space, a new animated show coming fall 2019 exclusively on the Apple TV+ streaming subscription service. You can watch the trailer on YouTube.

According to Deadline, “Snoopy in Space follows Snoopy as his dreams of being an astronaut become a reality when he and Woodstock tag along with the Peanuts gang on a field trip to NASA and are chosen for an elite mission into space. As Snoopy and Woodstock fulfill their dreams of astronaut training and space travel, Charlie Brown and the gang assist their friends from mission control.”

It's not clear if this will be a one-off show or a series (Deadline says "series," but other sources do not)... but exciting news regardless!

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Staying with the space theme, BOOM! Studios and Peanuts Worldwide announced a new Peanuts graphic novel coming in December 2019, titled Snoopy: A Beagle of Mars, in which (you guessed it) Snoopy the world-famous astronaut goes to Mars. According to the press release, "Snoopy heads to the stars in his most out-of-this-world adventure yet! What mysteries does the red planet hold? Will he find water? Will he find life? Will he find the time to get in a quick nine holes?"

The graphic novel can be pre-ordered from Amazon and other online stores, or you can support your local comic book shop by buying it there in December.

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Finally, 2019 is also the 50th anniversary of the first Peanuts theatrical film, A Boy Named Charlie Brown. To mark the occasion, CineLife Entertainment and CBS are partnering to bring "digitally remastered" presentations of both A Boy Named Charlie Brown and Snoopy Come Home (the second Peanuts movie) to actual movie theaters this August and October, respectively.

Each film will be shown on only a select few dates and times (not for an entire week or two, like current movies). The dates for A Boy Named Charlie Brown are Sunday August 18, Wednesday August 21, and Saturday August 24, 2019. The dates for Snoopy Come Home are Sunday September 29, Thursday October 3, and Saturday October 5, 2019.

To find out if they'll be showing in a movie theater near you, visit the CineLife Entertainment website's pages for each movie: A Boy Named Charlie Brown and Snoopy Come Home. If a local theater isn't listed, be sure to check back closer to the screening dates, as additional locations may be added. In some cases, you can also purchase tickets online via those links. I checked and it looks like they'll be showing near me - hopefully you'll be equally lucky!

A Charlie Brown Celebration now on DVD + movie double-feature Blu-ray coming November 1

On October 4, Warner Home Video released a DVD titled Charlie Brown's All Stars 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition.  It turns out the titular baseball-themed 1966 special is not the interesting part of this release (since it has been released on DVD before; see the previous blog post).

The real reason for Peanuts fans to pick up this disc - even if you have Charlie Brown's All Stars on DVD already - is that the "bonus episode" included on the disc is the 1982 special A Charlie Brown Celebration, which has never been released on DVD in the US before.

This 48-minute show consists of skits based on storylines from the Peanuts comic strip (similar to "The Charlie Brown & Snoopy Show" episodes). The special is introduced by Charles Schulz himself, and some of the skits are: Peppermint Patty accidentally enrolls in dog-training classes; Charlie Brown goes to the hospital, and Lucy promises not to pull away the football if he gets better; and while on a field trip, Linus meets a new paramour "Truffles," gets trapped on top of a barn and must be rescued by helicopter (aka Snoopy).

Unfortunately, A Charlie Brown Celebration has not been restored or remastered for this release, looking particularly rough at the beginning, and suffers from scratches, dust spots, and occasional washed out colors throughout.  (Which is ironic considering how the press release touts that All Stars has been given "completely remastered in beautiful high definition.")  It's probably still better than the special not being released on DVD at all, but it's disappointing that Warner made no effort to clean A Charlie Brown Celebration up.  It may be the poorest quality I've seen on a Peanuts DVD release.

The Charlie Brown All Stars 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition DVD featuring A Charlie Brown Celebration is out now, and and has a suggested retail price of $19.98.

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In other home video news, CBS/Paramount has announced they will be releasing the A Boy Named Charlie Brown and Snoopy Come Home Blu-ray discs in a double-feature set on November 1.  The set contains both films on two discs in one case, and at $29.99 list price, is significantly cheaper than buying the two films separately (which have a list price of $24.99 each).

Releasing a cheaper double-feature set less than two months after the first releases is rather insulting to those of us who supported CBS/Paramount by buying the films in September.  If you haven't picked up the films yet, definitely wait for the double-feature set.

A Boy Named Charlie Brown and Snoopy Come Home Blu-ray discs out now

The US Blu-ray releases of the first two Peanuts theatrical films, A Boy Named Charlie Brown (1969) and Snoopy Come Home (1972), are now in stores and shipping from online retailers.

A double-feature set, with both films on two discs in one case, will be released on November 1. This release is much cheaper than buying the two films separately, so if you haven't picked the films up yet, wait for the double-feature set. (Releasing a cheaper, double-feature set less than two months after the first release is quite the insult to those of us who supported CBS/Paramount by buying the films in September.)

It turns out that the advance information about these high-definition releases was incorrect - unlike the DVD releases of these movies, on the Blu-rays the films are presented in the 4:3 (1.33:1) aspect ratio. This is how the movies were originally animated; the widescreen aspect ratio used on the DVDs cut off the top and bottom of the picture, and resulted in a very cramped look. So this is a welcome change.  Audio options on each disc are 5.1 surround (DTS-HD Master Audio) and 2.0 stereo mixes. Alas, no bonus features are included.

Even though the back covers of the discs say that the "music has been changed for home video," there is no evidence of any music changes - probably this was just boilerplate text that someone forgot to remove.

Also worth noting is that the A Boy Named Charlie Brown Blu-ray includes the full 86-minute version of the film (as was the case with the DVD). A shortened 79-minute version had been released on VHS, Laserdisc, and was used for TV broadcasts for many years. It's good to know that when CBS/Paramount went back to master the film in high definition and 4:3, they also used the unedited version of the movie.

(And while the Australian Blu-ray release of A Boy Named Charlie Brown was incorrectly stretched out and distorted, fortunately this is not the case with the US release.)

The list price for each disc separately is $24.99; the double feature disc lists for just $29.99. For reviews of the Blu-rays, visit The Aisle Seat, written by entertainment critic and fellow Peanuts fan Andre Dursin.  (Spoiler: he says they look good and recommends them.)

A Boy Named Charlie Brown and Snoopy Come Home Blu-rays coming September 6, 2016 & other DVD news

Want to enjoy "I Before E Except After C" and "Fundamental-Friend-Dependability" in high definition? Soon you'll be able to, because the first two Peanuts theatrical films, A Boy Named Charlie Brown and Snoopy Come Home, will both be released by Paramount on Blu-ray disc on September 6, 2016.

A double-feature set, with both films on two discs in one case, will be released on November 1.  This release is much cheaper than buying the two films separately.

Unlike the DVD releases, on the Blu-rays the films are presented in the 4:3 (1.33:1) aspect ratio. This is how the movies were originally animated; the widescreen aspect ratio used on the DVDs cut off the top and bottom of the picture, and resulted in a very cramped look. Audio options on each disc are 5.1 surround and 2.0 stereo mixes (in DTS MA). No bonus features are included. The list price for each disc separately is $24.99; the double feature disc lists for just $29.99.

Even though the back covers of the discs say that the "music has been changed for home video," there is no evidence of any music changes - probably this was just boilerplate text that someone forgot to remove.

Also worth noting is that the A Boy Named Charlie Brown Blu-ray includes the full 86-minute version of the film (as was the case with the DVD). A shortened 79-minute version had been released on VHS, Laserdisc, and was used for TV broadcasts. It's good to know that when CBS went back to master the film in high definition and 4:3, they also used the unedited version of the movie.

Both films were released on Blu-ray disc in Australia last year; the Australian A Boy Named Charlie Brown was incorrectly stretched out and distorted. Fortunately this is not the case with the US release.

And no, there's no word on when or if the other two classic animated Peanuts movies will be released on Blu-ray - they were only recently finally released on DVD! - but we'll keep our fingers crossed, and in the meantime, we'll be able to enjoy seeing every little detail of the first two.

(Updated September 3, 2016 with corrected info about the aspect ratios used on the Blu-rays.)

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Meanwhile, Warner Home Video has also announced a "new" Peanuts DVD - the so-called Charlie Brown's All Stars 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition. However, the baseball-themed 1966 special - the Peanuts gang's second television outing - is not the interesting part of this relese, as it has already been released on DVD in the US before, as part of Warner's Peanuts 1960's Collection box set (and even before than, on Paramount's now out of print Lucy Must Be Traded, Charlie Brown disc).  This is Warner's first release of Charlie Brown's All Stars on a stand-alone disc.

The real reason for Peanuts fans to pick up this disc is that the "bonus episode" is the 1982 special A Charlie Brown Celebration, a 45-minute show consisting of skits based on storylines from the Peanuts comic strip (similar to "The Charlie Brown & Snoopy Show" episodes). This is the first US DVD release of this show. The special is introduced by Charles Schulz himself, and some of the skits are: Peppermint Patty accidentally enrolls in dog-training classes; Charlie Brown goes to the hospital, and Lucy promises not to pull away the football if he gets better; and while on a field trip, Linus meets a new paramour "Truffles," gets trapped on top of a barn and must be rescued by helicopter (aka Snoopy).  Unfortunately, this special has not been remastered or restored for the DVD release, and looks fairly poor.

The disc does not contain any other bonus material.

The Charlie Brown All Stars 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition DVD will be released on October 4, 2016, and will have a suggested retail price of $19.98 .

If you're just interested in Charlie Brown's All Stars, you would probably be better off getting the similarly priced Peanuts 1960's Collection box set instead, which also includes several other fine 1960's Peanuts specials; however, if you want to own all the Peanuts specials on DVD, you'll want to pick this one up in order to get the new-to-DVD A Charlie Brown Celebration. 

The Peanuts Movie coming out on DVD, Blu-ray, and 3D Blu-ray on March 8, 2016

The Peanuts Movie, 2015's CGI feature film starring the Peanuts gang, will be released on home video on March 8, 2016 by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.

The film will be available in several formats and packaging:

• A DVD "combo pack" - includes DVD disc and HD digital download (list price $29.98)
• A Blu-ray "combo pack" - includes 2D Blu-ray disc, DVD disc, and HD digital download (list price $39.99)
• A 3D Blu-ray "combo pack" - includes 3D Blu-ray disc, 2D Blu-ray disc, DVD disc, and HD digital download (list price $49.99)
• A "limited edition gift set" - includes a Blu-ray disc, DVD disc, HD digital download, and a Snoopy dressed as the WWI Flying Ace plush toy (list price $39.99)

Actual sale prices will almost certainly be cheaper than the list prices. Note that you need a 3D television and 3D Blu-ray player to play and watch the 3D Blu-ray.

The Fox press release lists a variety of bonus features that will accompany the film; note that a couple of them are only available on the Blu-ray discs. Sadly, it doesn't sound like the film's amusing trailers will be included at all. Descriptions are from the press release:

• Snoopy Snippets – Can’t get enough of your favorite Peanuts characters? These six all-new Snoopy Snippets will brighten your day!
• You Never Grow Up, Charlie Brown (Blu-ray only) – In this fascinating documentary, you’ll learn about Charles Schulz, the history of the Peanuts gang, and their journey to the big screen!
• Snoopy’s Sibling Salute (Blu-ray only) – It’s a Snoopy family reunion as The Peanuts Movie filmmakers introduce viewers to Snoopy’s siblings: Andy, Olaf, Spike, Belle and Marbles.
• Learn To Draw Snoopy, Woodstock and Charlie Brown – Director Steve Martino provides fun, step-by-step tutorials on how to draw Snoopy, Woodstock and Charlie Brown.
• Get Down With Snoopy and Woodstock Music Video – Clap, dance and sing along with Snoopy, Woodstock and Charlie Brown to an all-new version of everyone’s favorite Peanuts song!
• “Better When I’m Dancin’” Meghan Trainor Music Video – Escape to a wonderful, whimsical world with Meghan Trainor’s music video for her hit song “Better When I’m Dancin’.”
• “Better When I’m Dancin’” Meghan Trainor Lyric Video – The Peanuts gang is dancing up a storm with moves like you've never seen before—and on-screen lyrics so you can sing along.
• Behind The Scenes of “Better When I’m Dancin’” – Meghan Trainor takes you on an exclusive tour behind the scenes and on the set of her “Better When I’m Dancin’” music video!
• Snoopy’s Playlist – Now the music from the movie is at your fingertips—use Snoopy’s Playlist to jump directly to your favorite songs.

The Peanuts Movie is already available as a digital-only download from Amazon and iTunes and similar services; however, considering those downloads cost $14.99 and the discs will only cost around $18-22 and include an HD digital download, you probably want to wait and get the physical discs too!

After I first wrote this blog post, two more home video versions were announced - a Target exclusive with "25 minutes of extra content," and an Ultra HD Blu-ray combo pack.  See this follow up blog post for further details about them.

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In other home video news, now that all four classic Peanuts movies have been released on DVD, Paramount has put them together in one box set, titled Peanuts: 4-Movie Collection. Released on February 16, 2016, the set contains:

A Boy Named Charlie Brown (1969)
Snoopy Come Home (1972)
Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown (1977)
Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (1980)

The movies are on 4 separate discs. No new bonus material is included with this set (although presumably it includes the few bonus features that are on the individual DVD releases), so if you have the previous DVD releases of the movies, you don't need this set. But if you don't, the set's a good deal - list price is $26.99, but you can get it for around $20.

Limited edition Snoopy Come Home prints from Dark Hall Mansion

Our best of buddies Dark Hall Mansion are getting it together to show they have fundamental-print-dependability with their first Peanuts print of 2016, an outstanding rendering for Snoopy Come Home, the gang's second theatrical outing in 1972.

Returning artist Tom Whalen has created an image full of scenes from the movie using an appealing symmetrical composition, as he did in his A Boy Named Charlie Brown print from last year, to cover Snoopy's journey from home, to Lila's hospital, back home again.

The print will be available in four editions: a standard edition; a variant edition with a different color scheme; and very limited foil editions of each color scheme.  They go on sale very soon - Friday, January 15, 2016 - so be ready to samba over to Dark Hall Mansion's store.

Standard edition (click to enlarge)

Variant edition (click to enlarge)

These officially licensed editions will measure 18" x 24", are screen printed, and hand-numbered.

The standard edition will be limited to 280 prints, the variant edition will be limited to 50 prints, and the foil editions limited to just 10 prints of each color palette.

The prices will be as follows:

Standard: $65
Variant: $100
Foil (Standard): $150
Foil (Variant): $150

The Snoopy Come Home prints go on sale Friday, January 15, 2016 at 9:30 AM Pacific time at Dark Hall Mansion's webstore.

Visit Dark Hall Mansion's Facebook page and their blog for more information, larger pictures of the artwork, and behind-the-scenes photos.

Race For Your Life, Charlie Brown and Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown Finally Come to DVD in 2015

Fans have been asking about DVD releases of the third and fourth Peanuts theatrical movies for years, and at last Paramount will release the films on DVD next year, according to news reports on TVShowsOnDVD.com (here and here).

Race For Your Life, Charlie Brown (1977) is set to be released on February 10, 2015; there will apparently be no bonus features. The Amazon pre-order listing claims the DVD will be widescreen.

The fourth movie, Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (1980) doesn't have a firm release date yet, but is planned for October 2015. (TVShowsOnDVD.com reports that Paramount says they're delaying until that time in order to tie the release in with the 35th anniversary of the film... which is kind of odd since the film first hit theaters in June 1980.)

The first two Peanuts movies, A Boy Named Charlie Brown (1969) and Snoopy Come Home (1972), have been available on DVD for some time, and will be re-released on February 10, 2015 as well - most likely those will just be re-packagings with no new features.

Peanuts Movie Marathon on ABC Family, Wednesday, November 27, 2013

ABC Family has traditionally shown the first two Peanuts films during the week of Thanksgiving. This year, the cable channel's bringing something new to the tradition - they'll be broadcasting all four Peanuts theatrical films in a seven-hour long movie marathon starting at 4 PM (Eastern/Pacific) on Wednesday, November 27, 2013. The broadcast times are (all Eastern/Pacific):

Race For Your Life, Charlie Brown 4:00 - 5:30 PM
Snoopy Come Home 5:30 - 7:30 PM
Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown 7:30 - 9:00 PM
A Boy Named Charlie Brown 9:00 - 11:00 PM

I believe this is the first time all four movies have been shown back-to-back on television in at least twenty years, and possibly longer.  (It's slightly puzzling why they aren't showing them in chronological order, but nifty nevertheless.)

Peanuts TV specials broadcast schedule for Thanksgiving 2012 and the following week

The Peanuts gang is going to be showing up on television quite a few times this week and next; here's a complete list. All times below are for the Eastern and Pacific time zones.

A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving will be broadcast both Wednesday, November 21 (the day before Thanksgiving) and Thursday, November 22 (Thanksgiving day itself). The special will air from 8 - 9 PM on ABC both evenings. A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving will be shown uncut, together with an abbreviated version of "This is America, Charlie Brown: The Mayflower Voyagers."

The "Charlie Brown and the Elusive Football" balloon will be making a return appearance in the Macy's Parade on Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 22. The parade will be shown on NBC from 9 AM - Noon.  (The Snoopy balloon is not being retired, as some news reports might have you believe - Snoopy's just letting Charlie Brown have a turn this year, as he has in some previous years.)

On Friday, November 23 (the day after Thanksgiving), FOX will broadcast Happiness is a Warm Blanket, Charlie Brown, the most recent Peanuts animated special, from 8 - 9 PM .

Then the cable channel ABC Family will be showing A Boy Named Charlie Brown and Snoopy Come Home, the first two Peanuts theatrical movies, on Monday, November 26. Snoopy Come Home airs from 5 - 7 PM, and A Boy Named Charlie Brown airs from 7 - 9 PM (all times Eastern/Pacific).

Finally, A Charlie Brown Christmas will receive its first broadcast of the year on Wednesday, November 28. It will air from 8 - 9 PM on ABC. The special will be unedited, and accompanied by a shortened version of Charlie Brown's Christmas Tales and the non-Peanuts short Prep & Landing: Operation Secret Santa.

(Don't worry, if you prefer to see A Charlie Brown Christmas closer to the actual holiday, it will air again on December 18.)

Happy viewing!

Two Peanuts movies on ABC Family, Monday, November 26

The cable channel ABC Family will be showing A Boy Named Charlie Brown and Snoopy Come Home, the first two Peanuts theatrical movies, on Monday, November 26.

Snoopy Come Home airs from 5 - 7 PM, and A Boy Named Charlie Brown airs from 7 - 9 PM (all times Eastern/Pacific).

This is slight change of schedule from the past few years, when ABC Family has broadcast the two movies on the weekend following Thanksgiving.

A Boy Named Charlie Brown and Snoopy Come Home on ABC Family, Sunday, June 24

The cable channel ABC Family will be showing the movies A Boy Named Charlie Brown and Snoopy Come Home at 7:30 AM and 9:30 AM (Eastern/Pacific) respectively on Sunday, June 24, 2012.

A Boy Named Charlie Brown and Snoopy Come Home on ABC Family, Friday, November 25 & Saturday November 26, 2011

The cable channel ABC Family's annual broadcast of the first two Peanuts theatrical movies will be on Friday, November 25, 2011. A Boy Named Charlie Brown will air from 7-9 PM, and Snoopy Come Home will air from 9-11 PM.

Update: The two movies will also be shown on ABC Family on Saturday, November 26.  A Boy Named Charlie Brown will air from 2-4 PM, and Snoopy Come Home will air from 4-6 PM.

(All broadcast times Eastern/Pacific.)