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.

Peanuts by Schulz: Happy Holidays DVD

Warner Home Video has released a seventh DVD in the "Peanuts By Schulz" series, titled Peanuts By Schulz: Happy Holidays, featuring 26 shorts taken from the library of 104 shorts that aired on the Boomering channel in 2016.

This volume dispenses with the bogus "all new shorts" claim that Volumes 4-6 had, and instead simply says it has "26 shorts" on the cover.

Which is appropriate, since 22 of those shorts are repeats from previous volumes. 4 shorts are new, and this means across all 7 Peanuts By Schulz volumes, all but one of the Boomerang shorts has now been released on DVD. However, you'd have to buy an awful lot of repeats to get them all (and you'd still be missing that one).

As I've said before, it's difficult to recommend purchasing this or the previous few releases due to all the repeated content. Warner's failure to just provide a striaghtforward way to get all the shorts without extra repeats (and extra cost to the consumer) is inexcusable.

Another reason it's hard to recommend is that this is a single disc release, yet contains 26 shorts (totaling 3 hours and change) on just the one disc. This means the video quality of the shorts is likely to suffer due to over-compression (animation, in particular, fares poorly when too much is crammed on a DVD).

Peanuts By Schulz: Happy Holidays was released on September 10, 2019 and has a list price of $14.97, but should typically have a sale price of around $10-12.

For reference, the 4 new shorts on this DVD are:

The Winter Games
Do Not Watch Until Christmas
Kind of Spooky
That Day

Peanuts Holiday Collection Limited Edition Blu-ray set coming October 1 + A Boy Named Charlie Brown in theaters reminder

Do we need another yet another release of the Peanuts Holiday Collection video set? Warner Home Entertainment thinks so. On October 1, 2019, they'll be offering what they're calling the Peanuts 70th Anniversary Holiday Collection Limited Edition Blu-Ray set.

This new iteration of the set will feature 9 classic Peanuts specials on Blu-ray, three of which have not been released widely on Blu-ray before. (More on that in a bit.)

The specials included are:

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
It's Magic, Charlie Brown
Charlie Brown's All-Stars
A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving
The Mayflower Voyagers
Play It Again, Charlie Brown
A Charlie Brown Christmas
It's Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown
It's Flashbeagle, Charlie Brown

The supposed lures of the set are that it will feature "brand-new bonus content" and comes in a "limited edition Snoopy doghouse giftset."

The new special features will be a new featurette titled It's Not the Holidays Without Charlie Brown, Charlie Brown! and "new audio commentary" for It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown; A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving; and A Charlie Brown Christmas.

No information about who is doing the audio commentary, or the content of the featurette, has been revealed so far. It's also unclear if the behind-the-scenes featurettes from the previous Warner DVD and Blu-ray releases of these shows will be included - a question sent to the studio's media contacts about that was not unanswered. (But don't be surprised if they don't include the old bonus content.)

In addition to the doghouse packaging, inside the you set will also find an "exclusive Snoopy figurine" and a "Charlie Brown holiday book," and it will be "a numbered, limited edition set with only 25,000 total sets available." Digital copies of the shows will also be included.

All this for $99.99 suggested retail.

The three mostly new to Blu-Ray shows are Charlie Brown's All-Stars; Play It Again, Charlie Brown; and It's Flashbeagle, Charlie Brown. But wait, I hear you say, weren't those released on the Peanuts Holiday Collection Deluxe Edition 4K UltraHD set in 2017? Well, sort of. They were on the 4K Ultra HD discs in that set... and It's Flashbeagle, Charlie Brown was on the Blu-rays in that set... but the other two shows weren't. So, if you don't have the means or desire to play Ultra HD discs, you can now get those three shows on Blu-ray in this set. Assuming you don't mind getting an expensive gift set that duplicates the other 6 shows you likely already have on Blu-ray.

(Also, it turns out those three specials were released on Blu-ray on Target exclusive versions of the Blu-rays in 2018... something I didn't learn until this year. Unfortunately, those Target exclusives are no longer available.)

One final note: the name of the set is a mouthful to begin with, but is made more ridiculous by the fact that it's being released one day before what is actually only the 69th anniversary of Peanuts. The 70th anniversary isn't until October 2, 2020. The marketing department at Warner seems quite overeager to get there...

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Meanwhile, don't forget that you still have a chance to celebrate a Peanuts anniversary in a much more appropriately timed way, by going to see the "50th anniversary" showings of 1969 theatrical film A Boy Named Charlie Brown in select movie theaters this week, on Wednesday August 21 and Saturday August 24.

To find out if and when it'll be showing in a theater near you, visit the CineLife Entertainment website's page for A Boy Named Charlie Brown . (Apologies that this reminder is not as timely as it should have been.)

Peanuts by Schulz: Springtime DVD - Very little is "all new"

As mentioned in the previous blog post, on February 26, 2019, Warner Home Video released another "Peanuts by Schulz" DVD containing a selection of 6-7 minute-long shorts based directly on the Peanuts comics strips. These shorts originally aired on the Boomerang Channel here in the United States.

After the previous four releases, 14 of those shorts remain unreleased on DVD. The last DVD release, Peanuts by Schulz: It's Only Love, claimed "18 all-new shorts," but really only had 10 new shorts.

This new DVD, Peanuts by Schulz: Springtime, says "15 all-new shorts" on its cover... which is an even more egregious falsehood, since in reality only 3 of the 15 shorts are new to DVD. The other 12 are repeats from previous DVD volumes. That's an abysmal value for the price of $9.99.

When the It's Only Love DVD was released with only half of the shorts being new, I was willing to consider that it perhaps it was just sloppiness. But with the release of the Springtime DVD, having only 3 new shorts while claiming they are all new, it's difficult to accept sloppiness on Warner Home Video's part as an excuse, and instead one has to consider if there are less charitable explanations as to why the cover misleads potential purchasers.

If Warner Home Video's goal is to provide themed collections of these shorts, that would be fine, if they didn't say "all new" on the cover. While we would be disappointed that they didn't include the last of the unreleased shorts, at least the cover would be honest. But instead the repeated use of "all new" when neither DVD has been all new is... suspect.

My recommendation is to avoid buying the Peanuts by Schulz: Springtime DVD, or cancel or return your order if you've already placed one. And refuse to buy any future releases in this series unless it can be proved they truly include all-new shorts.

For reference, the 3 new-to-DVD shorts on Peanuts by Schulz: Springtime are:

Being Nice
Birds of a Feather
Philosophy

Two new Peanuts by Schulz DVDs with some (but not all) new-to-DVD Boomerang shorts

Readers will recall that back in 2016, the Boomerang channel aired 104 shorts based directly on Peanuts comic strips, each about 6-7 minutes long.

In 2017, Warner Home Video released three Peanuts by Schulz DVDs that compiled those shorts. Between them, the DVDs contained 80 of the 104 shorts. The last DVD went on sale in October 2017... and for 15 months, there have been no further releases, leaving 24 shorts unreleased on DVD.

The good news: Warner has released a fourth Peanuts by Schulz DVD, and a fifth is on the horizon.

The bad news: We may still not get the shorts on DVD, even so.

The first new DVD, Peanuts by Schulz: It's Only Love, came out on January 8, 2019, and proclaims "18 all-new shorts" on its cover. (Unlike previous volumes, this one is a single disc.)

The problem is... that's false. Only 10 of the shorts on the disc are new. Eight are repeats, already released on the previous DVDs.

That makes Peanuts by Schulz: It's Only Love a pretty poor value, even at the normal sale price of $9.99, and it leaves 14 Boomerang shorts unreleased.

(Note that Amazon lists this DVD's title incorrectly... they call it Peanuts by Schulz: The Complete Series, which is most certainly isn't.)

The 10 new shorts on Peanuts by Schulz: It's Only Love are:

The Little Red Haired Girl
The Mysteries of Love
Nobody Likes Me
Not Your Day
Love is in the Air
It's Only Love
Go for It, Charlie Brown
A Fascinating Friend
Misunderstanding
Just for Love

(For a complete list of all 104 broadcast episodes, and a few additional details about the shorts and other DVDs, visit the Peanuts Animation & Video Page.)

The next DVD, Peanuts by Schulz: Springtime, is due out on February 26, 2019. Its cover claims "15 all-new shorts"... which can't actually be true, since there are only 14 new ones left to release. Will all 14 of those really be on this DVD? We don't know, since a list of the shorts that will be on the disc hasn't been announced yet. But given that It's Only Love didn't really contain 18 new shorts, and we already know that a claim of "15 new" for the February disc can't be correct, it would be wise to be skeptical.  [And indeed, it turns out this DVD is even worse: only 3 of the 15 are new.  See this blog post for more details and commentary.]

Memo to Warner Brothers: it's not that hard to keep track of which shorts you've already released, and you shouldn't be making fans buy repeats just to get some new ones.


Meanwhile, all 104 of the Boomerang shorts are available from iTunes and Amazon as digital streams/downloads, in four separate Peanuts by Schulz collections (or one big complete one). However, the shorts not released on DVD yet are spread out across each of the four digital collections, so you'd have to re-buy everything to get the rest of the shorts; and of course, you can't put the digital downloads on DVD. (For what it's worth, the digital downloads are available in high definition as well as standard definition.)

In fact, in another apparent attempt to confuse or mislead consumers, Warner has now added a fifth digital collection, matching the It's Only Love DVD, even though it just repeats shorts that are already in the other digital collections. Sheesh!

Warner releases 4K Ultra HD version of the Peanuts Holiday Collection video box set

On Tuesday, October 17, 2017, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment is releasing a new version of the Peanuts Holiday Collection video box set, titled Peanuts Holiday Collection Deluxe Edition 4K Ultra HD.

This latest incarnation of the set includes 9 animated Peanuts TV specials, supposedly on regular Blu-ray discs, Ultra HD Blu-ray discs, and digital copies. However, not all 9 specials are on all formats - see more below.  (DVDs are not included, but a DVD version of the set - albeit with fewer specials - has been previously released and remains available.)

If you're wondering what the heck 4K Ultra HD discs are and whether you need them, also see further below.

The 9 specials advertised as being in the set are as follows (each group appears together on one disc):

A Charlie Brown Christmas
It's Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown
It's Flashbeagle, Charlie Brown

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
It's Magic, Charlie Brown
Charlie Brown's All-Stars

A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving
This is America, Charlie Brown: The Mayflower Voyagers
Play It Again, Charlie Brown

This would be the first time 3 of these specials have been released in high definition (although, again, see important warning below). The new-to-HD specials are It's Flashbeagle, Charlie Brown; Charlie Brown's All-Stars; and Play It Again, Charlie Brown.

Warning: despite the PR and the back box cover implying that all 9 shows - including the 3 that are new to high definition - are on both the Ultra HD and Blu-ray discs in the set, that is not the case. Only the A Charlie Brown Christmas Blu-ray disc includes 3 shows; the Great Pumpkin and Thanksgiving Blu-ray discs are copies of the old Blu-ray discs, with only 2 shows each.  Which means that the only way to see 2 of the 3 new-to-HD shows is if you have an Ultra HD disc player.  This apparently is the case will all sets currently shipping; I do not know if this is intended, or a mistake.  If I find out more, I will update this blog post.

The discs also include the "behind-the-scenes" featurettes that were created when Warner Bros. first released the specials on DVD in 2008.  (They have appeared previously on all other Warner DVD and Blu-ray releases as well.)  There are no new behind-the-scenes features.

The box set retails for $44.98 SRP.

Given the fact that the new-to-HD specials do not appear on the Blu-ray discs of this set, you should buy it only if you want the Ultra HD discs.

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The three Ultra HD Blu-ray discs mark the first time that the Peanuts specials have been released in 4K Ultra HD with HDR, which theoretically has four times the resolution and better colors than regular HD and Blu-ray.

However, you need a 4K-enabled Ultra HD Blu-ray player and a 4K TV to take advantage of this. The Ultra HD discs will not play in regular, older Blu-ray players.

If you don't have a 4K Blu-ray player and/or TV, you could still use the three Blu-ray discs that are also included - but you will not get to enjoy the 3 new-to-HD specials this way (see warning above).

You might be wondering, can the Peanuts specials actually look better when viewed in 4K Ultra HD than in just regular high definition? It seems doubtful - the regular 1080p high definition picture on the Blu-rays already reveal pretty much all the details available in the source material.  Most of these shows were created on a budget in the 1960's and 1970's... so it is unlikely that, beloved as they are, they will be the best material to showcase the extra details of 4K resolution.

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Each holiday special will also be released individually as separate releases containing an Ultra HD Blu-ray disc, a regular Blu-ray disc, and digital copy. Although again, likely only the Ultra HD disc includes both bonus shows; the Blu-ray discs may only include 1 bonus show.  The individual 4K releases have a retail price of $29.98, so getting the set with all 9 shows is a much better deal. The individual releases dates are September 26 for It's the Great Pumpkin, October 24 for A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, and October 31 for A Charlie Brown Christmas.

Peanuts by Schulz: School Days DVD, with 29 more Boomerang Peanuts shorts, released Aug 29

Warner Home Video has now released a third DVD containing Peanuts shorts that aired on the cable channel Boomerang last year. Titled Peanuts by Schulz: School Days, the 2-disc set includes 29 more of the shorts, with a total runtime of 3 hours 27 minutes.

(The initial press release for this DVD incorrectly said it only included 19 shorts.  However, the front and back cover confirm that the actual number included is 29 shorts.)

The shorts were created by French animation studio Normaal Animation and first aired in France in 2014, and then in the United States in 2016; there are 104 in all. Each short is 6-7 minutes long, and is based directly on the comic strips by Charles Schulz. Drawn in a traditional 2D animation style, they were designed to be reminiscent of the printed comic page. The shorts were newly dubbed into English for the United States broadcast and DVD releases.

The 29 shorts included on the DVD set are as follows (note that the order of the shorts on the DVD is not the same as the Boomerang broadcast order):

Miss Othmar
Novel Idea
Have a Nice Day, Linus
Technical Difficulties
The Eye of the Beholder
A Friend Indeed
It's Raining, It's Pouring
Frieda
The School of Hard Knocks
A Little Nap
On the Campaign Trail
Leave Me in Peace
The Last of the Bunch
True or False
Beauty Contest
Best Friend
School Chums
Back to School
Sally
Go to School!
Marcie
It's Just No Good
Get Lucky
School Anxiety
Keep Your Chin Up, Charlie Brown
Too Cute
Colors
School Tomorrow
Problems

(For a complete list of all 104 broadcast episodes, and a few additional details about the shorts, visit the Peanuts Animation & Video Page.)

Between this and the previous two DVD sets (Peanuts by Schulz: Snoopy Tales and Peanuts By Schulz: Go Team Go), 80 of the 104 Boomerang shorts are now available on DVD. 

Peanuts By Schulz: School Days was released on August 29, 2017, has a suggested retail price of $18.94, and can be ordered now from on-line retailers such as Amazon.com, Walmart.com, or Target.com.

Looking further ahead, on October 10, Warner will be releasing a 4K Ultra HD version of the Peanuts Holiday Collection with 9 specials on 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray discs. It will be the first high-definition home video release for three of those specials. Look for more details in future blog post.

Peanuts By Schulz: Go Team Go! DVD, with 19 more Boomerang Peanuts shorts, now available

Peanuts By Schulz: Go Team Go!, a 2-disc DVD set containing 19 more of the new Peanuts shorts that aired on the cable channel Boomerang, is now available from Warner Home Video. This is the second DVD set of the shorts Warner has released.

The shorts were created by French animation studio Normaal Animation and first aired in France in 2014, and then in the United States in 2016; there are 104 in all. Each short is 6-7 minutes long, and is based directly on the comic strips by Charles Schulz. Drawn in a traditional 2D animation style, they were designed to be reminiscent of the printed comic page. The shorts were newly dubbed into English for the United States broadcast and DVD releases.

The 19 shorts included on the DVD set are as follows (note that the order of the shorts on the DVD is not the same as the Boomerang broadcast order):

No Strings Attached
Snoopy the Superstar
Don't Worry, Charlie Brown
Show Dog
Good Sports
Doing It Right
Like Skates on Ice
Tennis
Even-ing the Score
School Is Out
Black and White
The Great Outdoors
Strike Out
Autumn Is Here
A Bad Mood
Amateurs
Team Spirit
Trust Me
Creepy Crawlies

(For a complete list of all 104 broadcast episodes, and a few additional details about the shorts, visit the Peanuts Animation & Video Page.)

Peanuts By Schulz: Go Team Go! was released on April 25, 2017, has a suggested retail price of $18.99, and can be ordered from Amazon.com or any other online retailer (barnesandnoble.com, target.com, walmart.com, bullmoose.com, etc.).

Peanuts By Schulz: Snoopy Tales DVD, featuring 32 Boomerang Peanuts shorts, released January 24

Peanuts By Schulz: Snoopy Tales, a new 2-disc DVD set containing 32 of the new Peanuts shorts that aired on the cable channel Boomerang, is now available from Warner Home Video.

The shorts were created by French animation studio Normaal Animation and first aired in France in 2014, and then aired in the United States in 2016; there are 104 in all.  Each episode is 6-7 minutes long, and is based directly on the comic strips by Charles Schulz. Drawn in a traditional 2D animation style, they are designed to be reminiscent of the printed comic page. The shorts were newly dubbed into English for the United States broadcast. They are well done and fun to watch, although perhaps best enjoyed in small doses (your kids may disagree!)

The 32 shorts included on the DVD set are as follows (note that the order of the shorts on the DVD is not the same as the Boomerang broadcast order):

Come on Snoopy!
A Day with Snoopy
My Blanket
Crazy Mutt
Good Dog
Sound & Sensibility
Train Your Dog
Going My Way
The Call of the Wild
A Pretty Picture
Beware of the Dog
Winter Wonderland
A Hard Winter
Word of Mouth
Too Cold
Woodstock
Christmas is Coming
Telling Stories
Man's Best Friend
Off Key
Not My Day
A Little Love
Good for Nothing
Let It Snow
Security
Nice Doggy
Company
Reach for the Stars
Fly
Feeling Insecure
Always Right
Even the Score

(For a complete list of all 104 broadcast episodes, and a few additional details about the shorts, visit the Peanuts Animation & Video Page.)

Peanuts By Schulz: Snoopy Tales is released on January 24, 2017, and has a suggested retail price of $18.94.

A second DVD set titled Peanuts by Schulz: Go Team Go!, featuring 19 more of the shorts, is due out April 25.

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-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. 

Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown is coming to DVD at last

On October 6, 2015, fans will finally be able to complete their collection of Peanuts theatrical movies on DVD, when Paramount Home Video will release the fourth and final classic Peanuts animated movie, Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown. In this 1980 film, Charlie Brown, Linus, Peppermint Patty, Marcie, and Snoopy travel to France as exchange students, and encounter mystery, history, and humor (of course).  The film's main setting is based on the chateau that Charles Schulz was billeted at for six weeks in World War II.

This release was promised last year when Paramount announced the Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown DVD, but it didn't have a firm release date or details until now.

Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown will be presented in 16:9 widescreen on the DVD, which will also include the movie's theatrical trailer and a new making-of featurette with new interviews with Jean Schulz, Lee Mendelson, and Steve Melendez (son of animator Bill Melendez). It's nice to see Paramount actually including a bonus feature!

While Paramount's press release touts that the film has been "digitally remastered in 4K," there will only be a DVD release - no Blu-ray release is planned. (A high-definition download is available from iTunes. Still, that's not the same as a real disc.)

The Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown DVD has a suggested retail price of $14.99, and can be pre-ordered now from Amazon and other retailers.

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Warner Home Video has also announced a "new" Peanuts DVD for October, although it's less exciting, since all the shows have been released previously (see below for details). The DVD is titled He's a Bully, Charlie Brown, and features that 2006 television special as its main feature, together with It Was a Short Summer, Charlie Brown and The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show Episode 2: Snoopy - Team Manager as "bonus" episodes. There are no bonus features. The DVD is due out October 6, 2015, has a suggested retail price of $19.97 and is available for pre-order now.

Be warned that the copy of It Was a Short Summer, Charlie Brown on this DVD is edited and missing three minutes of the show, for reasons unknown.  If you want to own that show on DVD, you should get the Peanuts 1960's Collection box set instead, where the show is presented in its full length.

He's a Bully, Charlie Brown is also available on the You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown Deluxe Edition DVD; It's a Short Summer, Charlie Brown is available on the Peanuts 1960's Collection box set; and the Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show episode is available on the complete Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show DVD set. So if you have all those, you don't need this repackaging; and if you don't have them, they're better choices than this DVD - especially given that It Was a Short Summer is unnecessarily edited.

Peanuts Emmy Honored Collection DVD set, featuring DVD debut of two specials, announced

Coming this September from Warner Home Video is the Peanuts: Emmy Honored Collection, a two-disc DVD collection of 11 Peanuts specials that were either Emmy Award winners or nominees.

The set features two specials that are being released on DVD for the first time in the U.S.: What Have We Learned, Charlie Brown? and Why, Charlie Brown, Why? Somewhat inconveniently, however, you'll also get nine other previously released specials that may already be in your Peanuts DVD collection.

The full list of specials included in the collection are:

You're a Good Sport, Charlie Brown (1975) (Emmy winner)
You're the Greatest, Charlie Brown (1979) (Emmy nominee)
She's a Good Skate, Charlie Brown (1980) (Emmy nominee)
Life is a Circus, Charlie Brown (1980) (Emmy winner)
It's Magic, Charlie Brown (1981) (Emmy nominee)
Someday You'll Find Her, Charlie Brown (1981) (Emmy nominee)
Is This Goodbye, Charlie Brown? (1983) (Emmy nominee)
What Have We Learned, Charlie Brown? (1983) (Emmy nominee) (new to DVD)
It's Flashbeagle, Charlie Brown (1984) (Emmy nominee)
Snoopy's Getting Married, Charlie Brown (1985) (Emmy nominee)
Why, Charlie Brown, Why? (1990) (Emmy nominee) (new to DVD)

Note that this set is neither a complete collection of Emmy Award winning Peanuts specials, nor of the Emmy nominated specials. The better known specials A Charlie Brown Christmas and A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving also won Emmy Awards, and 13 other animated specials not on this collection received nominations. You can see a complete list of all the winning and nominated Peanuts shows at the Peanuts Animation and Video Page.

Warner touts that the shows have been "brilliantly remastered in all-new 4K Ultra HD transfers," and while that is true, the difference in quality between this release and earlier Warner DVD versions of the shows is likely to be small. All the previously released shows had already been remastered and looked quite good for their initial appearances on Warner Home Video DVDs, and more to the point, since DVD is a standard-definition format, it cannot take advantage of the high resolution of the remasters. Sadly, no high definition Blu-ray version of this set, which would have shown the remasters to much better effect, has been announced.

There are no bonus or special features on the set.

The Peanuts: Emmy Honored Collection DVD set will be release on September 15, 2015 has a suggested retail price of $26.99, and can be pre-ordered from Amazon and other stores now.