Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown (1977)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Directors:

Bill Melendez
Phil Roman (co-director)

Writers:

Charles M. Schulz (comic strip "Peanuts")
Charles M. Schulz (screenplay)

Release Date:

24 August 1977 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Adventure | Family

Tagline:

It's my new wilderness adventure! The entire "Peanuts" gang faces everything from bullies to rampaging rapids. "Good grief", will you have fun!

Plot:

The Peanuts gang goes to summer camp, and they participate in a river-raft race against some cheating bullies.

Plot Keywords:

Summer Camp | Bully | Peanuts | Race | Cheating

Cast

Duncan Watson	...	Charlie Brown (voice)
Greg Felton	...	Schroeder (voice)
Stuart Brotman	...	Patricia "Peppermint Patty" Reichardt (voice)
Gail Davis	...	Sally Brown (voice)
Liam Martin	...	Linus Van Pelt (voice)
Kirk Jue	...	Bully (voice)
Jordan Warren	...	Another Bully (voice)
Jimmy Ahrens	...	Marcie (voice)
Melanie Kohn	...	Lucy Van Pelt (voice)
Tom Muller	...	Another Bully (voice)
Bill Melendez	...	Snoopy / Woodstock / Additional Voices (voice)
Fred Van Amburg	...	Additional Voices (voice)

Runtime:

76 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:L | South Korea:All | Argentina:Atp | Finland:K-8 | UK:U | USA:G

Company:

Lee Mendelson/Bill Melendez Production

Trivia:

Was the first movie to be released on the CED Videodisc format, in 1981.

Goofs:

Continuity: In some shots of the bus, the front wheel is in front of the door. In other shots, it's behind the door.

Quotes:

Linus Van Pelt: Are we dead?
Lucy Van Pelt: Thanks to old Charlie Brown.
Sally Brown: I'm not dead.
Patricia "Peppermint Patty" Reichardt: Of course you're not dead!
Lucy Van Pelt: No thanks to old Charlie Brown!

Movie Connections:

References Easy Rider (1969)

The Brightest of the Peanuts Movies

If there were common themes uniting the four Peanuts movies, I would most readily point out two of them: a going-against-the-odds theme and an adventurous spirit. For the other three movies, those themes were accompanied by a theme of darkness. In fact, one couldn't help but feel lonely as Charlie Brown spent the night studying in a big city in "A Boy Named Charlie Brown"; as Snoopy got kicked out of place after place in "Snoopy Come Home"; or as Charlie Brown and Linus encountered a dark, daunting chateau in "Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown."

And so it was great to see that for this movie, they decided to lighten it up. The result is bright and delightful! Part of the way the mood is set in the other movies is the use night and isolation; that can create the scene for adventure, but there is always a scary side there. Although there is a little of that in this movie, one remembers it more for the scenes of the Peanuts gang interacting and encountering fun/peril on the rapids or making the best of a bad situation while lost in the woods. This one has more comedy and action than any of the other Peanuts movies, and it all makes for an enjoyable ride.

Perhaps the best part of the movie is that fact that you finally get to see all the major members of the Peanuts gang play off of each other (the other movies each concentrated on a few of the characters). They antagonize a lot, and then learn to stick it out together in the spirit of teamwork. Few things are as fun as taking a group of extreme and different personalities, forcing them together, and watching them go. Some of the funniest scenes are when the girls' team wrangle over the strategies involved in the raft race. It's hilarious!

This is easily my favorite of the Peanuts movies, and, for me, one of the great examples of what kinds of great comedic/dramatic situations one can draw from a diverse cast of characters. Not nearly as dark in mood as the others, Race For Your Life is punctuated with gags and back-dropped against the sun and nature. Perhaps one of the only major drawbacks of the movie is the evident proof of Schulz's own claim that he can't draw cats!