You're a Good Sport, Charlie Brown
| You're a Good Sport, Charlie Brown | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Animated TV Special |
| Created by | Charles M. Schulz |
| Directed by | Phil Roman |
| Voices of | Duncan Watson Gail M. Davis Liam Martin Melanie Kohn Bill Melendez James Ahrens Stuart Brotman |
| Theme music composer | Vince Guaraldi |
| Country of origin | U.S. |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Lee Mendelson |
| Producer | Bill Melendez |
| Editors | Chuck McCann Roger Donley |
| Running time | 24 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | CBS |
You're a Good Sport, Charlie Brown is the 14th 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 28, 1975.
Plot
The cartoon begins with Snoopy playing tennis against Woodstock while Linus and Sally are unable to play due to the courts being occupied. (Sally tries to intimidate those playing by stating "her boyfriend" was going to clobber them, causing Linus to high-tail it out of there.) After failing to beat Woodstock, Snoopy destroys his racket in frustration.
Peppermint Patty arrives on a small motorcycle and alerts the kids about an upcoming motocross race, and suggests that Charlie Brown and Snoopy enter. Linus volunteers to be the pit crew and the two pool their limited financial resources to purchase a shabby old bike. Snoopy enters the race under the pseudonym of The Masked Marvel and Marcie is on hand as the announcer. Charlie Brown and Snoopy crash within minutes of the start of the race, and an ambulance shuttles them off for immediate medical care.
In the confusion, Snoopy is admitted to a regular hospital while Charlie Brown ends up at the vet. After regaining consciousness, Charlie Brown escapes and retrieves Snoopy from the hospital. Upon return, Linus informs Charlie Brown that motocross rules dictate that all drivers must be fitted with a helmet, which was lost during in the crash. Linus proceeds to outfit Charlie Brown with a hollowed-out pumpkin as a helmet and Charlie Brown, demoralized with such ridiculous headgear, returns to the race.
As the race continues, all the other competitors have fallen out of the race due to various mishaps in a variety of mud traps, reducing Charlie Brown as the only remaining entry as his old bike proves to have remarkable reliability and power despite its poor speed. He then comes in first and is cheered, only to learn that the organizers were unable to afford the original grand prize of Pro Bowl tickets. As a consolation prize, Charlie Brown is given a certificate for five free haircuts — much to his dismay, as his dad is a barber and he has little hair of his own to cut, thus rendering the vouchers useless. Linus consoles Charlie Brown by telling him that the fact that he won against overwhelming odds is more important than receiving a prize.
The next day, a confident Charlie Brown is ready to pitch another baseball game, saying to the team that in spite of his 980 straight defeats, has come to understand what winning is, and is certain that he will win this game. Instead, a line drive plows past him, causing his clothes to go flying in all directions.
Voice cast
- Duncan Watson as Charlie Brown
- Liam Martin as Linus van Pelt
- Gail M. Davis as Sally Brown
- Melanie Kohn as Lucy van Pelt/Loretta
- Stuart Brotman as Peppermint Patty
- Jimmy Ahrens as Marcie
- Bill Melendez as Snoopy/Woodstock
Production notes
You're a Good Sport, Charlie Brown was the last Peanuts television special to air during Vince Guaraldi's lifetime. Guaraldi died of a sudden heart attack on February 6, 1976, several hours after he had finished recording music cues for the teleivsion special It's Arbor Day, Charlie Brown. The music composed for "Good Sport" is a slight departure from Guaraldi's other scores as the music here tends to fuse Guaraldi's Jazz style with the funk, disco and pop music of the 1970s that was popular at time coupled with the use of the ARP String Ensemble synthesizer that was also in use of many 1970's pop hits. The special aired posthumously on March 16, 1976. It was also Duncan Watson's second time voicing Charlie Brown — his first was the previous special, Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown, as he would return for the feature film, Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown in 1977.
You're a Good Sport, Charlie Brown won Schulz his third Emmy Award for Outstanding Children Special. He previously earned the award for A Charlie Brown Christmas and A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving.