Snoopy, Come Home (1972)

Truly Dreadful Film

It is not only a funny movie, but it allows a great amount of joy for anyone who watches it.

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

I love Snoopy, and I love all things Peanuts. After watching this movie for the first time in many years, I'm left wondering what happened to all the magic this time around. I have to assume that Schulz, Melendez, and everyone else involved were just going through a really rough time, because there's just no other way to account for the bad taste this movie leaves in my mouth.This being Peanuts, of course there's some good stuff. The beach and library scenes (especially Snoopy's reaction to 'The Bunnies') are small masterpieces. Snoopy and Woodstock's road trip is full of wonder, especially their adventures in sneaking into the hospital; the bit with the gurney and the elevator is great fun. Snoopy's farewell party and Charlie Brown's sad lamentation are truly heart-wrenching. And nobody proclaims "No Dogs Allowed" better than Thurl Ravenscroft (he of "You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch" fame).But Snoopy's mean-spirited encounters with Linus and Lucy early on, and his bitter feuding with Charlie Brown, are all really out of place. Sure, Snoopy is always independent and even a bit snotty sometimes, but he's never cruel. Neither are Linus or Charlie Brown, for that matter (Lucy's another story, but that's why we love her). Throw in Lila's shameless manipulation of Snoopy's feelings, and the ultimate lack of joy in Snoopy's return at the end, and you've got one cold movie.

"Snoopy Come Home" is the 2nd of the 4 Peanuts specials. In many ways, it's a unique Peanuts story (particularly for being a musical, dramatic and emotional motion picture). At the same time, its simplicity is extreme. This is an improvement over the previous "A Boy Named Charlie Brown" in some ways.There is some nice score, such as the hilarious song "No dogs allowed" and the beautiful but sad songs "Do you remember me?" and "It changes".Unlike the first movie, here both Peppermint Patty and Woodstock appear, although Marcie is still missing. There is, however, a crazy girl named Clara who looks almost equal to Marcie, except without glasses. And her voice sounds very Peppermint Patty-like. She's the one who names Snoopy "Rex" and she is a real nutcase. I call her "the terrorist".Pepermint Patty's role is small here and, as usual, she's a tomboy. But she is surprisingly kind here. Really doesn't sound like her. Considering she's very quick-tempered and often unfair and obnoxious, she manages to surprise us here.Lila's role in the movie is minor. She is everything that Lucy and "the terrorist" aren't: friendly, sweet, kind and lovable. Lila was the original owner of the world's most famous Beagle. I think they should have found a way to make she and Charlie Brown meet sometimes, so that she and Snoopy had the chance to visit each other occasionally. Charlie Brown and Lila could even be friends...During good part of the movie there is a sad atmosphere: Lila's illness and loneliness, the Peanuts gang missing Snoopy a lot (mostly Charlie Brown, who is most sensitive about this). Like Charlie Brown, I hate goodbyes and I'd rather more hellos.The journey of America's favorite Beagle and Woodstock to visit Lila at the hospital is admirable, as well as everything they go through because of all those "No dogs allowed" signs (including one that forbids both dogs and birds, which is discrimination against animals).The worst aspects concerning this film are the following ones: the sequence when Linus and Snoopy hurt each other, which is a bit disturbing considering this is a kid's movie; the boxing match sequence with Lucy and Snoopy; any sequence with "the terrorist" (there is something creepy about that girl, plus these sequences are traumatic for Snoopy and Woodstock); and, of course, most parts with Lucy. I just don't like Lucy, she's obnoxious, unfair and mean to Snoopy, Charlie Brown and even Linus.On the other hand, some things don't fit very well. For example, when Snoopy finally arrives to the apartment where Lila lives, he is unbelievably happy when he sees the sign that forbids dogs. That just doesn't seem right of him and actually shows a certain disrespect on both Lila and Charlie Brown. The ending is also questionable: Snoopy demands all his stuff back, causing everyone to get angry at Charlie Brown (as usual, he gets blamed for everything bad that happens).The artwork remains extremely simplistic, definitely not an improvement over "A Boy Named Charlie Brown" and certainly not in the level of "Race for your life, Charlie Brown" and even less of "Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown".

I first saw Snoopy, Come Home in a theater in its original release and several other times on TV. It was great to see the Peanuts gang in their first film after A Boy Named Charlie Brown but i thought it was an emotional kids movie since the mood swung from happy to sad and back to happy again. It started happy when Snoopy went to the beach to meet Peppermint Patty than went to sad when we first saw Lila, Snoopy's original owner in the hospital, lonely and sad while we heard the song "Do You Remember Me?" one of several songs in the movie written by The Sherman Brothers. Also memorable were several scenes where Snoopy got kicked out of various places with a bass voice (Thurl Ravenscroft) bellowing "NO DOGS ALLOWED!" I thought the scenes where everybody was in tears at Snoopy's going-away party and Charlie Brown choking up were so sad. Same with his song "It Changes" with his spoken interlude about hating goodbyes. I have also thought that Charlie Brown's least favorite words were "Goodbye" and the song got to the point. But it turned out to be a happy ending when Snoopy returned. Woodstock, making his debut as Snoopy's bird buddy was delighted to see him. For those of you who saw Snoopy, Come Home and plan to watch it with your kids, I suggest you bring a box of tissues.

This melancholy entry in the Peanuts quadrilogy stands out among the four, simply because of the difference in tone from the other entries. "Race for Your Life" is much lighter in tone, while "Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown" is more shallow. "Snoopy, Come Home" is the most memorable because of its unusual depth, as well as the bittersweet themes that it touches on: friendship; loyalty; and partings of the way.The plot, in a nutshell: Snoopy's former owner is sick, and calls him to her side. Snoopy makes a cross-country journey, and is then torn between staying with his former owner, who needs him, and returning to the place he considers home.Though the animation is still fairly simple here, it's a notch above the usual Peanuts movies and specials - check out the beautiful backgrounds of the beach scenes, or the wonderful palettes displayed as Snoopy and Woodstock travel at sunset. Really striking, and different from what we usually see in the Peanuts stories.The real mixed bag here is the music. This was the first Peanuts project that did not features a score by the brilliant Vince Guaraldi. Instead, the Sherman brothers of Disney fame provide the songs, several of which are sung by the characters (in contrast to Guaraldi's usual instrumentals). Some of these songs are quite good, like Fundamentalfriendependability, the song sung by a girl who captures Snoopy when he is en route. Others, like Snoopy and Woodstock's "Me and You" theme, are pure early 70s (think The Association) and unfortunately date the movie.The voice work is generally good, unlike the more recent Peanuts entries where sounding somewhat like the original voices doesn't seem to be a prerequisite. Stephen Shea as Linus sounds almost exactly like older brother Chris, the original, definitive Linus who grew out of the role. The one weak voice is Charlie himself, whose voice is different enough from his predecessors to be distracting.But these are nitpicks. The strength and depth of the story itself is more than enough to make up for the few weaknesses. For whatever reason, this is rerun less than the later two Peanuts movies, so seek it out on DVD - you won't be disappointed. And if you're softhearted, be sure to have a handkerchief handy.