“ | Happiness is a warm puppy. | ” |
— Rerun quoting a line originally said by Lucy in the comic strip |
I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown is the fourth and most recent Christmas television special based on the newspaper comic strip Peanuts. It originally aired on ABC on December 9, 2003, and aired annually on that network through 2019. The teleplay consists of Peanuts' creator Charles M. Schultz's old comic strips.
Synopsis
Having seen the relationship between Snoopy and Charlie Brown, Rerun van Pelt is desperate for a dog of his own for Christmas. He asks Santa Claus for on. Unfortunately, his mother and older sister, Lucy, do not believe that he is old enough to care for one. Frustrated, he asks Charlie Brown if he can play with Snoopy. While initially cooperative, Snoopy quickly tires of Rerun's idea of fun and games, and after a while he begins to snub Rerun.
At Rerun's request, Snoopy asks his brother, Spike, to leave his home in the desert near Needles, California and come to visit. When he arrives, Lucy is appalled at his skinny figure and takes him in to fatten him up. After a short stay, he gains significant weight, which he then loses from fear while riding with Rerun on his mother's bike. Because Rerun's mother still will not allow Rerun to have his own dog, Charlie Brown tries to find another home for Spike but to no avail, prompting him to return to his desert home.
Rerun asks Charlie Brown if Snoopy can come out and pull him on his sled. He finds himself pulling Snoopy on it instead, which makes him come to the conclusion that dogs can be troublesome.
Charlie Brown breaks the fourth wall at the end of the special by saying, "I always lie awake wondering, when will it ever end? Then a voice tells me, "Right after the credits."
Availability
The special was first released to VHS and DVD by Paramount Home Entertainment on October 26, 2004. Paramount's DVD release also contained Charlie Brown's Christmas Tales and a documentary about the making of A Charlie Brown Christmas as bonus features.
After the Peanuts specials' video rights were moved to Warner Home Video, they released it as a "Remastered Deluxe Edition" DVD on October 6, 2009. Instead of the bonus specials from the previous DVD, this one also included Happy New Year, Charlie Brown. The DVD was later included in the Snoopy's Holiday Collection box set with Warner's Charlie Brown's Christmas Tales and Happiness is... Peanuts: Snow Days DVDs.
Cast
Voice actor/actress | Character(s) |
---|---|
Jimmy Bennett | Rerun van Pelt |
Ashley Rose Orr | Lucy van Pelt |
Corey Padnos | Linus van Pelt |
Adam Taylor Gordon | Charlie Brown |
Hannah Leigh Dworkin | Sally Brown |
Nick Price | Schroeder |
Jake Miner | Franklin Pig-Pen |
Kaitlyn Maggio | Violet Gray Little girl |
Bill Melendez | Snoopy Woodstock Spike |
Note: Patty appears in the pageant at the end, and Marbles, Andy, and Olaf appear in flashbacks, but they do not have speaking parts.
Gallery
See also
External links
- Peanuts Wiki: I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown
- I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown at the Internet Movie Database
- I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown at RetroJunk.com