It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown
Encyclopedia
It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown is the 12th prime-time animated
TV special based upon the popular comic strip
Peanuts
, by Charles M. Schulz
. It was originally aired on the CBS network on April 9, 1974.
, certain it is all a waste of time, tries convincing everyone the Easter Beagle
will take care of everything, but his pleas fall on deaf ears. Only Sally
believes him, though she still has some suspicions after the Halloween fiasco
.
Peppermint Patty
and Marcie attempt to color eggs, but as it is Marcie's first time, she does not know how to prepare the eggs properly. Marcie's first attempt fails as she fries the eggs on a griddle and flips them with a spatula. In their second attempt, Marcie tries cooking four eggs on a waffle iron, then she unsuccessfully tries to put one in a toaster, then she takes that egg and the others and tries roasting the remaining eight eggs in the oven. In their third and final attempt, Peppermint Patty points out to Marcie the eggs have to be boiled. But Marcie breaks the eggs into a pot of boiling water, inadvertently cooking egg soup. At the end of that attempt, Peppermint Patty is out of money, so they can't buy any more eggs and thus can't make any more attempts.
Woodstock
, waking up shivering from a chilly spring rain in his open-air bird's nest, goes to Snoopy
for help, so Snoopy goes to the department store to buy Woodstock a birdhouse. At first Woodstock hates it, but he soon renovates the interior into a quintessential 1970s bachelor pad
, complete with a television, contemporary artwork, a sunken bed, carpeting and a quadrophonic stereo system. Curious to see more of the inside, Snoopy accidentally smashes the house to pieces when his snout gets stuck in the entry hole. So he goes back to the department store
to buy another house for Woodstock.
Lucy
, unwaveringly believing that Easter is the "gift-getting season" much to Schroeder
's chagrin, decides to have her own Easter egg hunt
, hiding each egg she paints to find them all on Easter morning. Unknown to her, Snoopy follows behind her and takes the eggs.
Easter morning arrives, and so does the Easter Beagle (Snoopy), tossing eggs to everyone, even tossing one into Woodstock's new bird house. Unfortunately he runs out of eggs by the time he gets to Charlie Brown
, and responds with an embarrassed smile as he gives his friend the now empty basket. Peppermint Patty and Marcie's whole situation ends with the delivery of their eggs, upon which Marcie asks Peppermint Patty what to do with the eggs at this point, and she tells her that you put salt on them and eat them. Marcie follows this order, but gets it all wrong by eating it shell and all, after which she tells Peppermint Patty "Tastes terrible, sir," driving Peppermint Patty to slap her forehead in exasperation.
It does not take long for Lucy to realize that the Snoopy gave her one of her own eggs, and 10 weeks later, Lucy is still brooding about it, so Linus suggests she go and talk about it with Snoopy. She goes out to Snoopy's doghouse to pick a fight, but Snoopy takes the fight out of her with a disarming kiss on the cheek.
Television, where it runs annually. It ran annually on ABC from 2000 up to April 11, 2006. In 2007, the network, without any explanation, did not air the program, but it returned on March 18, 2008, as filler programming against American Idol
. The TV special was watched by 6.32 million viewers and received a 3.8/6 household rating & a 1.9/5 in the 18-49 rating, in fourth place behind Idol, NCIS
and The Biggest Loser, and fifth place if Spanish-language Univision
is counted. In 2009, the show improved in ratings with a similar time slot, but still remained in fourth. The special was again absent in 2011.
twice, first on March 4, 2003 by Paramount Home Entertainment
and again on February 15, 2008 on a Remastered Deluxe Edition DVD from Warner Home Video
. It was also released in the UK by Firefly Entertainment in 2004, with Life Is a Circus, Charlie Brown
.
VHS
releases of It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown have, in the past, been available in the 1980s from Media Home Entertainment
and subsidiary Hi-Tops Video
and in the 1990s by Paramount.
's "Menuet
from the Anna Magdalena
Notebook (BWV Anh. 116.)." Snoopy arrives as the Easter Beagle to the sound of the first movement of Beethoven
's Seventh Symphony
, a rare occasion in a Peanuts specials in which Beethoven's music is heard but Schroeder is not playing it. The music played in the scene immediately before the Easter Beagle arrives, in which Sally accuses Linus of ruining her Easter, is the funeral march from the second movement of the same Beethoven symphony.
The rest of the music score features funk-inspired guitar riffs, a departure from the usual Vince Guaraldi
jazz compositions used in previous Peanuts specials.
Animation
Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...
TV special based upon the popular comic strip
Comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
Peanuts
Peanuts
Peanuts is a syndicated daily and Sunday American comic strip written and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz, which ran from October 2, 1950, to February 13, 2000, continuing in reruns afterward...
, by Charles M. Schulz
Charles M. Schulz
Charles Monroe "Sparky" Schulz was an American cartoonist, whose comic strip Peanuts proved one of the most popular and influential in the history of the medium, and is still widely reprinted on a daily basis.-Early life and education:Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Schulz grew up in Saint Paul...
. It was originally aired on the CBS network on April 9, 1974.
Summary
While most of the Peanuts Gang is getting ready for Easter, LinusLinus van Pelt
Linus van Pelt is a character in Charles M. Schulz's comic strip Peanuts. The best friend of Charlie Brown, Linus is also the younger brother of Lucy van Pelt and older brother of Rerun van Pelt. He first appeared on September 19, 1952; however, he was not mentioned by name until three days later....
, certain it is all a waste of time, tries convincing everyone the Easter Beagle
Snoopy
Snoopy is an fictional character in the long-running comic strip Peanuts, by Charles M. Schulz. He is Charlie Brown's pet beagle. Snoopy began his life in the strip as a fairly conventional dog, but eventually evolved into perhaps the strip's most dynamic character—and among the most recognizable...
will take care of everything, but his pleas fall on deaf ears. Only Sally
Sally Brown
Sally Brown is the younger sister of Charlie Brown in the comic strip Peanuts by Charles Schulz. She was first mentioned in early 1959 and throughout a long series of strips before her first appearance in August 1959.-Appearance:...
believes him, though she still has some suspicions after the Halloween fiasco
It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown is a 1966 American prime time animated television special based on the comic strip Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz....
.
Peppermint Patty
Peppermint Patty
Patricia "Peppermint Patty" Reichardt is a fictional character featured in Charles M. Schulz's comic strip Peanuts. A freckle-faced auburn/brunette, she is one of a small group in the strip who lives across town from Charlie Brown and his school friends...
and Marcie attempt to color eggs, but as it is Marcie's first time, she does not know how to prepare the eggs properly. Marcie's first attempt fails as she fries the eggs on a griddle and flips them with a spatula. In their second attempt, Marcie tries cooking four eggs on a waffle iron, then she unsuccessfully tries to put one in a toaster, then she takes that egg and the others and tries roasting the remaining eight eggs in the oven. In their third and final attempt, Peppermint Patty points out to Marcie the eggs have to be boiled. But Marcie breaks the eggs into a pot of boiling water, inadvertently cooking egg soup. At the end of that attempt, Peppermint Patty is out of money, so they can't buy any more eggs and thus can't make any more attempts.
Woodstock
Woodstock (Peanuts)
Woodstock is a fictional character in Charles M. Schulz's comic strip Peanuts. He is Snoopy's closest friend and, after Snoopy, the most recognized non-human in the strip.-History:...
, waking up shivering from a chilly spring rain in his open-air bird's nest, goes to Snoopy
Snoopy
Snoopy is an fictional character in the long-running comic strip Peanuts, by Charles M. Schulz. He is Charlie Brown's pet beagle. Snoopy began his life in the strip as a fairly conventional dog, but eventually evolved into perhaps the strip's most dynamic character—and among the most recognizable...
for help, so Snoopy goes to the department store to buy Woodstock a birdhouse. At first Woodstock hates it, but he soon renovates the interior into a quintessential 1970s bachelor pad
Bachelor pad
A bachelor pad is a slang term for a house in which a bachelor or bachelors live. It should not be confused for the formal term "bachelor apartment", which is used in real estate to refer to an apartment with no bedrooms, in which the main room serves as a bedroom, living room and dining room...
, complete with a television, contemporary artwork, a sunken bed, carpeting and a quadrophonic stereo system. Curious to see more of the inside, Snoopy accidentally smashes the house to pieces when his snout gets stuck in the entry hole. So he goes back to the department store
Department store
A department store is a retail establishment which satisfies a wide range of the consumer's personal and residential durable goods product needs; and at the same time offering the consumer a choice of multiple merchandise lines, at variable price points, in all product categories...
to buy another house for Woodstock.
Lucy
Lucy van Pelt
Lucille "Lucy" van Pelt is a fictional character in the syndicated comic strip :Peanuts, written and drawn by Charles Schulz. She is the main bully and the older sister of Linus and Rerun. Lucy is a crabby and cynical eight-year old girl, and often bullies the other characters in the strip,...
, unwaveringly believing that Easter is the "gift-getting season" much to Schroeder
Schroeder (Peanuts)
Schroeder is a fictional character in the long-running comic strip Peanuts, created by Charles M. Schulz. He is distinguished by his precocious skill at playing the toy piano, as well as by his love of classical music and the composer Ludwig van Beethoven in particular...
's chagrin, decides to have her own Easter egg hunt
Egg hunt
Egg hunt is a game during which decorated eggs, real hard-boiled ones or artificial, filled with or made of chocolate candies, of various sizes, are hidden in various places for children to find. The game may be both indoors and outdoors...
, hiding each egg she paints to find them all on Easter morning. Unknown to her, Snoopy follows behind her and takes the eggs.
Easter morning arrives, and so does the Easter Beagle (Snoopy), tossing eggs to everyone, even tossing one into Woodstock's new bird house. Unfortunately he runs out of eggs by the time he gets to Charlie Brown
Charlie Brown
Charles "Charlie" Brown is the protagonist in the comic strip Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz.Charlie Brown and his creator have a common connection in that they are both the sons of barbers, but whereas Schulz's work is described as the "most shining example of the American success story", Charlie...
, and responds with an embarrassed smile as he gives his friend the now empty basket. Peppermint Patty and Marcie's whole situation ends with the delivery of their eggs, upon which Marcie asks Peppermint Patty what to do with the eggs at this point, and she tells her that you put salt on them and eat them. Marcie follows this order, but gets it all wrong by eating it shell and all, after which she tells Peppermint Patty "Tastes terrible, sir," driving Peppermint Patty to slap her forehead in exasperation.
It does not take long for Lucy to realize that the Snoopy gave her one of her own eggs, and 10 weeks later, Lucy is still brooding about it, so Linus suggests she go and talk about it with Snoopy. She goes out to Snoopy's doghouse to pick a fight, but Snoopy takes the fight out of her with a disarming kiss on the cheek.
Television
The program's rights are held by ABCAmerican Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
Television, where it runs annually. It ran annually on ABC from 2000 up to April 11, 2006. In 2007, the network, without any explanation, did not air the program, but it returned on March 18, 2008, as filler programming against American Idol
American Idol
American Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...
. The TV special was watched by 6.32 million viewers and received a 3.8/6 household rating & a 1.9/5 in the 18-49 rating, in fourth place behind Idol, NCIS
NCIS (TV series)
NCIS, formerly known as NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service, is an American police procedural drama television series revolving around a fictional team of special agents from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, which conducts criminal investigations involving the U.S...
and The Biggest Loser, and fifth place if Spanish-language Univision
Univision
Univision is a Spanish-language television network in the United States. It has the largest audience of Spanish language television viewers according to Nielsen ratings. Randy Falco, COO, has been in charge of the company since the departure of Univision Communications president and CEO Joe Uva...
is counted. In 2009, the show improved in ratings with a similar time slot, but still remained in fourth. The special was again absent in 2011.
ABC Telecast
To make room for more commercial advertisements, ABC cuts off the following scenes in this special:- The part where Lucy had a talk with Schroeder
- The escalator scene in the department store was cut, as well as the parting of the friends when they are done shopping.
- The part where Linus explains to Peppermint Patty and Marcie about the Easter Beagle was cut.
- The last minute of the scene (a fight between Lucy and Snoopy) was cut.
- The credits for this special was shown for a short time until ABC's own credits took over.
Video and DVD releases
It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown was released to DVDDVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
twice, first on March 4, 2003 by Paramount Home Entertainment
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
and again on February 15, 2008 on a Remastered Deluxe Edition DVD from Warner Home Video
Warner Home Video
Warner Home Video is the home video unit of Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., itself part of Time Warner. It was founded in 1978 as WCI Home Video . The company launched in the United States with twenty films on VHS and Betamax videocassettes in late 1979...
. It was also released in the UK by Firefly Entertainment in 2004, with Life Is a Circus, Charlie Brown
Life Is a Circus, Charlie Brown
Life is a Circus, Charlie Brown is the 20th prime-time animated TV specials based upon the popular comic strip Peanuts, by Charles M. Schulz. It was originally aired on the CBS network on October 24, 1980.-Synopsis:...
.
VHS
VHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
releases of It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown have, in the past, been available in the 1980s from Media Home Entertainment
Media Home Entertainment
Media Home Entertainment Inc. was a home video company headquartered in Culver City, California, originally established in 1978 by filmmaker Charles Band....
and subsidiary Hi-Tops Video
Hi-Tops Video
Hi-Tops Video was a children's home video sublabel of Media Home Entertainment and Kartes Video Communications , active from 1985 until 1992...
and in the 1990s by Paramount.
Music
In the second scene in the mall Peppermint Patty, Marcie and Snoopy dance to music boxes which play Johann Sebastian BachJohann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
's "Menuet
Minuet
A minuet, also spelled menuet, is a social dance of French origin for two people, usually in 3/4 time. The word was adapted from Italian minuetto and French menuet, and may have been from French menu meaning slender, small, referring to the very small steps, or from the early 17th-century popular...
from the Anna Magdalena
Anna Magdalena Bach
Anna Magdalena Bach was the second wife of Johann Sebastian Bach.-Biography:...
Notebook (BWV Anh. 116.)." Snoopy arrives as the Easter Beagle to the sound of the first movement of Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
's Seventh Symphony
Symphony No. 7 (Beethoven)
Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92, in 1811, was the seventh of his nine symphonies. He worked on it while staying in the Bohemian spa town of Teplice in the hope of improving his health. It was completed in 1812, and was dedicated to Count Moritz von Fries.At its debut,...
, a rare occasion in a Peanuts specials in which Beethoven's music is heard but Schroeder is not playing it. The music played in the scene immediately before the Easter Beagle arrives, in which Sally accuses Linus of ruining her Easter, is the funeral march from the second movement of the same Beethoven symphony.
The rest of the music score features funk-inspired guitar riffs, a departure from the usual Vince Guaraldi
Vince Guaraldi
Vincent Anthony "Vince" Guaraldi was an Italian American jazz musician and pianist noted for his innovative compositions and arrangements and for composing music for animated adaptations of the Peanuts comic strip...
jazz compositions used in previous Peanuts specials.
Production credits
IT'S THE EASTER BEAGLE, CHARLIE BROWN- The "Peanuts" Comic Strip Written and Created by
- Charles M. SchulzCharles M. SchulzCharles Monroe "Sparky" Schulz was an American cartoonist, whose comic strip Peanuts proved one of the most popular and influential in the history of the medium, and is still widely reprinted on a daily basis.-Early life and education:Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Schulz grew up in Saint Paul...
- Directed by
- Phil RomanPhil RomanPhilip Roman , is an animator. He is the founder of animation studios Film Roman and Phil Roman Entertainment. Roman is of Mexican American descent....
- Produced by
- Bill MelendezBill MelendezJosé Cuauhtémoc "Bill" Meléndez was a Mexican-American character animator, film director, voice artist and producer, known for his cartoons for Warner Brothers, UPA and the Peanuts series...
- Executive Producer
- Lee MendelsonLee MendelsonLee Mendelson is an American television producer. He is best known as the executive producer of the many Peanuts animated specials....
- Music Composed and Performed by
- Vince GuaraldiVince GuaraldiVincent Anthony "Vince" Guaraldi was an Italian American jazz musician and pianist noted for his innovative compositions and arrangements and for composing music for animated adaptations of the Peanuts comic strip...
- Music Supervision
- John Scott Trotter
- Graphic Blandishment:
- Bernard GruverBernard GruverBernard Gruver was best known as one of the original animators of the Peanuts cartoon series. He also was an animation professor at the University of Southern California School of Cinema. He was killed in a car crash in Los Angeles in 1985.-External links:*...
- Dean Spille
- Evert Brown
- Frank SmithFrank Smith (animator)Frank A. Smith was an American cartoon animator and film director. He was the father of actor Charles Martin Smith, and the brother of animator/director Paul J. Smith and animator Hank Smith....
- Sam Jaimes
- Al Pabian
- Don Lusk
- Joe Roman
- Bill LittlejohnBill LittlejohnWilliam Charles Littlejohn was an American animator and union organizer. Littlejohn worked on both animated shorts and features from the 1930s through to the 1990s...
- Patricia Joy
- Bob Carlson
- Rod ScribnerRod ScribnerRoderick H. "Rod" Scribner was an American animator best known for his work on the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons from Warner Bros.. His animation was one of the wildest things ever seen on screen during The Golden Age of American animation. He started as an animator for Ben...
- Bob MatzBob MatzRobert "Bob" Matz was an American animator. He worked on various animated shorts, films, and television projects, such as Looney Tunes, Merrie Melodies, The Pink Panther, and The Transformers: The Movie.-1960-1961:...
- Jack Schnerk
- Carole Barnes
- Joanne Lansing
- Marie Ardell
- Patricia Capozzi
- Sheri Lonsdale
- Brigitte Strother
- Cheri Weber
- Chandra Poweris
- Adele Lenart
- Voices by
- Cam ClarkeCam ClarkeCameron Arthur "Cam" Clarke is a prolific American voice actor and singer, well known for his work in animation and video games. Clarke is well known for providing the voices of Leonardo in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Shotaro Kaneda in the 1989 original English-dub of Akira. He often voices...
- Todd Barbee
- Melanie Kohn
- Stephen SheaStephen SheaStephen Shea is a former child actor most noted for voicing the character of Linus van Pelt in several animated Peanuts television specials, as well as in the feature-length animated film Snoopy Come Home. Shea was born on December 21, 1961, in Los Angeles, California...
- Linda ErcoliLinda ErcoliLinda M. Ercoli is an American actress. As a child she was regularly featured as one of the voice actors in the Peanuts cartoons, playing various parts in the films and television specials.-Acting Roles:...
- Lynn Mortensen
- James Ahrens
- Allen SwiftAllen SwiftIra Stadlen , known professionally as Allen Swift, was an American voice actor, known for playing characters including Simon Bar Sinister and Riff-Raff on the Underdog cartoon show...
- Billy WestBilly WestWilliam Richard "Billy" West is an American voice actor. Born in Detroit but raised in the Roslindale neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, Billy launched his career in the early 1980s performing daily comedic routines on Boston's WBCN. He left the radio station to work on the short-lived revival...
- John KricfalusiJohn KricfalusiMichael John Kricfalusi , better known as John K., is a Canadian animator. He is creator of The Ren & Stimpy Show, its adults-only spin-off Ren & Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon", The Ripping Friends animated series, and Weekend Pussy Hunt, which was billed as "the world's first interactive web-based...
- Bob Holt
- Michael Bell
- Bill MelendezBill MelendezJosé Cuauhtémoc "Bill" Meléndez was a Mexican-American character animator, film director, voice artist and producer, known for his cartoons for Warner Brothers, UPA and the Peanuts series...
- Editing
- Chuck McCannChuck McCannChuck McCann is a film actor, television actor, stage actor, and a voice actor from Brooklyn, New York.-Early career:...
- Roger Donley
- Recording:
- Voices: Coast Recorders
- Music: Wally Heider Recording
- Mix: Producers' Sound Service
- Camera: Dickson/Vasu
- Titles: Jim PabianJim PabianJames 'Jim' Pabian was an American screenwriter and director of short films. He co-wrote and directed the Tom and Jerry short The Brothers Carry-Mouse-Off. He also co-wrote another Tom and Jerry short, Haunted Mouse...
- Production Manager: Carole Barnes
- Production Assistants
- Carolyn Klein
- Sandy Claxton
- Lora Sacket
- A Lee Mendelson
- Bill Melendez
- Production
- in cooperation with
- United Feature Syndicate, Inc.
- and
- Charles M. Schulz
- Creative Associates
- The End
- "It's The Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown"
- ©1974 United Feature Syndicate, Inc.