WHV Announcement: Peanuts 1970s Collection Vol, 2

Now that the Peanuts 1970's part II collection has been announced (featuring the remaining six 1970's TV specials), I'm curious how the 1980's releases will be handled (assuming the Peanuts Collections continue on DVD). 
 

By my count, there were 14 specials that aired during the 1980's - if you don't include the live-action anniversary retrospectives.  There were six episodes that aired in the 1990's and another six that aired in the 2000's.  I'm assuming the 1990's and 2000's collections will be relatively straightforward and would be six episodes each, which is consistent with how the 1960's and 1970's collections were handled.
 

What to do about the 1980's collection, though?  Would there be two sets with seven episodes each?  What about the Charlie Brown and Snoopy show that aired from 1983 to 1985 and lasted 18 episodes?  Would that get a seperate release? 
 

The eight-part "This is America, Charlie Brown" series that aired in 1988/89 has already been released on DVD by Paramount in 2006 but that is now out of print and is fetching pretty high sums on Amazon and eBay as a result.  Does Warner have the rights to re-release that series as part of the "80's collection"?
 

So many unanswered Peanuts questions!  It's fun to speculate to try and figure out how Warner Home Video will approach this.

Some of those anniversary programs included a significant amount of animated content, I believe that It's Your 20th Television Anniversary, Charlie Brown from 1985 is one such example. So I hope we see a collection of those down the road.

I'm kind of disappointed we're only getting 1 new program in this collection that we haven't already saw on previous Warner releases. I hope that trend doesn't continue and we keep getting at least 2-3 new programs like we had been in each volume release that either have never seen DVD releases or haven't gotten the Deluxe standalone release treatment from Warner.

I too count 14 animated specials during the 1980s and wondered about this myself. I suspect the "Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show" and "This is America, Charlie Brown" would both see standalone collections. Warner must have rights to that series since we've already saw one episode of the program, "The Mayflower Voyagers", included as a bonus episode on a previous deluxe edition release from them.

I fear they might split up this decade into three releases with 5/5/4 programs, especially since 2 of the final 3 animated specials from the 80s are the musicals and securing the necessary rights for both are (Have in the case of the first one that just was released) an additional expense (And I also believe they're hour long programs versus the more typical 30 minute length). But I'm pulling for a even 7 in two volumes.

I hope they try to secure the rights to the 4 movies. Will be a shame if we see "What Have We Learned, Charlie Brown?" be released on DVD without the movie "Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (and Don't Come Back!!)" also being out on DVD. Even the first two movies could use a better restoration. And I remain convinced today that the job CBS/Paramount did in framing each scene to try to recreate the original aspect ratio was often flawed in the first two movies (And I think the fact that they had to change aspect ratios in areas like the credits just shows that they weren't handling things correctly). So I'd rather just see Warner get the rights and rerelease both as full screen releases with a new restoration so they look even better and there's no doubt that everything that should be  on screen is there

I'm curious if we'll get "Snoopy!!! The Musical". It's one of those 14 animated specials, but we also all know how the expense of securing the necessary rights can affect a home video release. At least with the release of "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown", it's safe to assume they will be trying to get the next one released as well.
Edited by LeoAmes - 2/12/10 at 6:05pm

Warner was the ones who put The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show on iTunes, IIRC. They should have the rights.

The number of new-to-DVD shorts on this set would be greater if You're a Good Sport and You're the Greatest hadn't been squeezed out on their own DVD last year. The others are holiday specials or are paired with them.

I'm assuming Snoopy! The Musical will also get a standalone release sometime this year. Assuming the music clearances will roll over to the 80's sets, a 7-7 makes the most sense.

I'm a bit more concerned about You're In the Super Bowl, Charlie Brown. Apparently there are a bunch of NFL logos that need clearance.

Glad to see this one on the way although it may be my last volume. Never cared for the episodes past 1983 much. Now when are we going to get "Race for your Life Charlie Brown" and "Bon Voyage Charlie Brown" ?

You would think with the success Warner has been having with the television content that CBS/Paramount would finish up and release the last two movies to try to cash in on it. 

I think even the first two could be strong sellers again despite their previous DVD release, especially if they go back and do a fresh restoration of them and put them out on Blu-Ray.

I for one would like to see widescreen copies of both "Race for Your Life..." and "Bon Voyage.."

Out of curiousity, were the latter two Peanuts movies true widescreen? Or did they matte down the image to create a widescreen picture like A Boy Named Charlie Brown and Snoopy Come Home were done?