Charlie Brown/Schroeder: Todd Barbee
Snoopy/Woodstock: Bill Melendez
Peppermint Patty: Linda Ercoli
Lucy van Pelt: Melanie Kohn
Marcie: Jimmy Ahrens
Sally Brown/Violet/Frieda: Lynn Mortensen
Linus Van Pelt: Stephen Shea
Peanuts:
I still don't know why it refers to Snoopy and the gang (right), but it defines a timeless
series of cartoons about pre-teen life at a time when innocence reigned and all that
could bother you were the basics about trying to get to grips with understanding
who you are, whether it's trying to live without your security blanket or the
complexities of being in love with the little red-haired girl - and all with the
most memorable of underlying piano-based music, which I wouldn't call theme music as
it goes all the way through, but you'll know the infectious tunes when you hear them.
For the first ever Peanuts DVD, there's only two episodes, to coincide with the Easter
holidays, hence the first is It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown!.
Hang on... Easter Beagle? Surely it should be the Easter Bunny? Read on.
Easter is coming and Marcie tells Peppermint Patty that she has the eggs she asked for,
"Sir", so they can paint them. Alas, Marcie - clueless as ever - doesn't leave them be,
but fries them(!) As things go from bad to worse and Marcie scrambles and boils the yolks,
along with any other egg combination, Lucy tries her best to crack on to Schroeder that
she fancies him but his only interest lies in tinkling his ivories... on the piano.
Put-upon Charlie Brown can do little but look on and stare as Linus extols the virtues
of the Easter Beagle, a concept that no-one buys into however sure he seems of himself.
Even Lucy thinks she knows best when it comes to the eggs, and colours them herself,
leaving them all around outside so that when it comes to finding them only she will know
where they are because she put them there(!)
Life is a Circus, Charlie Brown, but what to do when your own pet becomes the
centre of attention and falls in love with Fifi the fancy French poodle? Snoopy knows what he
has to do and that's to become the circus clown in a bid for true love, but his trainer has
other ideas for him when he's renamed Hugo The Great and forced to make an impression on the
unicycle, the high wire and then the trapeze.
Whatever you say about Peanuts, it really is the sweetest cartoon ever, especially when
Snoopy has his own little adventures such as buying Woodstock a new birdhouse, or pretending
he's dancing with the bunnies. Does that make me monumentally soft? And, anyway, how does a
beagle carry cash about to purchase a home for his birdy best friend?
The cartoons are in 4:3 fullscreen and the print is surpsingly good looking, clean and clear
for footage that's 30 years old. No problems on the sound but it doesn't set the speakers alight.
Still, it's the subtlety of the soundtrack that holds its own virtue.
Sadly, with just a few chapters to each episode and a silent/static menu, there are no extras
to accompany this release. This is probably because it's a cheapie, but what we deserve -
and what I'd love to see - is a 'Complete Series' boxset. Please!!!
DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TXW32R4 32" widescreen TV
connected to either a Creative Dxr2 DVD-ROM player or Microsoft Xbox and
played through a Sony STR-DB930 amplifier.
PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
Since Nov 2005: Intel Pentium D 830 3.0Ghz, 1Gb RAM, 128Mb nVidia GeForce 6700XL, Windows XP
Since Aug 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.66Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb GeForce4 MX440 graphics, Windows XP
Since May 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.6Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb ATI Radeon 9600TX graphics, Windows XP
Since Jun 2002: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, 64Mb ATI Radeon 8500LE
Since May 2000: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, Voodoo 3 3000 AGP
Peanuts:
I still don't know why it refers to Snoopy and the gang (right), but it defines a timeless
series of cartoons about pre-teen life at a time when innocence reigned and all that
could bother you were the basics about trying to get to grips with understanding
who you are, whether it's trying to live without your security blanket or the
complexities of being in love with the little red-haired girl - and all with the
most memorable of underlying piano-based music, which I wouldn't call theme music as
it goes all the way through, but you'll know the infectious tunes when you hear them.