A BOY NAMED CHARLIE BROWN
1969,
CineLife Entertainment,
86 min,
USA,
Dir: Bill Melendez
The Peanuts gang makes its big-screen debut in this gentle comedy about success, failure and resilience. After a Little League baseball loss, Charlie Brown fears he’ll never win at anything - until Linus encourages him to enter the school spelling bee, putting him on the path to the national championship in New York City. The creative team of Bill Melendez and Lee Mendelson gives this animated hit a similar feel to their classic TV specials (though a late-1960s visual style crops up occasionally), and jazz pianist Vince Guaraldi earned an Oscar nomination for the score.