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!)

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.

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.)

Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown on HDNet Movies during April 2012

The cable channel HDNet Movies is showing the movie Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown several times during April 2012, starting April 4. Visit the HDNet schedule page and search for Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown for a complete list of showtimes.  (Thanks to Gerry Dorman for the tip.)