Peanuts hour-long specials and decades collections (1 Viewer)

The Peanuts 1970s Vol. 2 collection was just released, and I presume that a 1980s collection should start soon, but it gets me wondering something. The 1980s brought us several hour-long Peanuts specials (A Charlie Brown Celebration, It's an Adventure, Charlie Brown, the two musicals). Does anybody have any idea if these hour-long specials will be included if the 1980s gets it's own set? Or if the sets will have more discs or just less specials to accomodate the hour-long specials (I also wonder if It's the Girl in the Red Truck, Charlie Brown will be included when the time comes)?

I think it's clear we'll get all the purely animated specials, including both musicals.


They've already did a standalone release of "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown" and cleared the music, so no doubt "Snoopy!!! The Musical" is in the works. And since they've already cleared the rights and paid the necessary licensing fees, why not include them in a decades release after earning money off the standalone releases of them?


What I don't known is if "It's the Girl in the Red Truck, Charlie Brown" will be included. I suspect Warner has control over it though so I wouldn't worry too much. They appear to have all of the animated tv specials and I don't see why this one would be different just because there's a mix of live action and animation.. But that's the only animated tv special here that I think is in any sort of doubt.


What I wouldn't count on seeing the anniversary documentry ("It's Your 20th Television Anniversary, Charlie Brown") since we haven't gotten any of the earlier ones in the previous decade collections. Perhaps Warner will eventually release a collection of just those if the Peanuts releases are still going strong when they approach finishing everything if they control them.


I also wouldn't count on the "The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show" since I'm sure Warner (Who does control it) would do a standalone release of it like CBS/Paramount did a few years ago rather then filling up a decades release with them. The same goes for "This is America, Charlie Brown". I suspect we'll be seeing Warner role out two standalone collections of those two series one of these days rather then including them on a decades volume.


And of course we won't be seeing "Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown" included. We just have to hope CBS/Paramount decide to cash in on Warner's success with Peanuts releases and brings the last two movies to market. I wonder though if they can. They obviously control the movies, but I wonder if they lack a license to use the Peanuts brand now that things have migrated to Warner. Hopefully there's some behind the scenes work that will see these brought to market eventually (With rereleases done right for the first two). And even better would be seeing all 4 being released on combination Blu-Ray/DVD packs.


What I wonder though is if we'll see the 1980s tv specials get spread across two volumes with a bit more content then we've seen in any of the previous decades releases, or if they'll split it across three volumes with a bit less in each then we've seen so far. Not only is there more specials this in this decade, but several are longer then the usual 25 minutes that the 60s and 70s specials were.


I don't think we'll see disc count increased. They've only been putting about 1:15 minutes on disc 1 of these releases (Off hand it seems as if we usually see about three 25 minute specials per disc) and a bit more on disc 2 thanks to the short bonus features each recieves. So I imagine there's plenty of space to be had if necessary without adding in a third disc.


What I really wonder though is if we'll get that Super Bowl special when the 90s releases start. Beyond just the licensing that would have to go on, it's Wikipedia entry claims that CBS/Paramount and now Warner don't even have control over it (Although it's an unsourced claim and there's been no shortage of myths and inaccurate statements in the Wikipedia entries for Peanuts specials over the years). Will be interesting to see what happens.


I also wonder why my post always end up so long here. I need to learn to be a bit more to the point I suspect.

Originally Posted by LeoAmes
They've already did a standalone release of "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown" and cleared the music, so no doubt "Snoopy!!! The Musical" is in the works. And since they've already cleared the rights and paid the necessary licensing fees, why not include them in a decades release after earning money off the standalone releases of them?

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I didn't think there were any music rights issues with those specials, since the songs were written for the musicals and the specials have been released on VHS in the past. I did know about the "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown" release (though I didn't know it was on DVD until after it was released... I saw announcements for all the other DVD releases).


I figure the movies are not part of the deal, but I wonder if there are any issues with releasing What Have We Learned, Charlie Brown, which reuses footage from Bon Voyage Charlie Brown at the beginning of the special.

What I really wonder though is if we'll get that Super Bowl special when the 90s releases start. Beyond just the licensing that would have to go on, it's Wikipedia entry claims that CBS/Paramount and now Warner don't even have control over it (Although it's an unsourced claim and there's been no shortage of myths and inaccurate statements in the Wikipedia entries for Peanuts specials over the years). Will be interesting to see what happens.

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If Warner still distributes the NFL catalogue on DVD, that might help alleviate things as far as logos go.

I just realised last night that if we get a 1990s and 2000s set, they'll only be one volume. Both of those decades had the same number of specials as the 1960s did (assuming You're in the Superbowl, Charlie Brown will be included).


For the 1980s sets, I wouldn't mind if they just didn't include any new bonus features. The featurettes included don't appeal to me much. I would have much rather had A Boy Named Charlie Brown (the unaired documentary that started the specials) or Charlie Brown and Charlie Schultz included instead (or maybe, and only maybe, the featurettes that were include don all of the single-disc releases of the included specials).


I don't know why the Peanuts blu-ray releases have to be the exact same as the regular DVDs. I would prefer they just release the decades collections on Blu-Ray, and maybe include those extra featurettes wherever appropriate (or release both volumes of the 1970s collection on one blu-ray release).

Originally Posted by Cartoon1984

I didn't think there were any music rights issues with those specials, since the songs were written for the musicals and the specials have been released on VHS in the past...


I figure the movies are not part of the deal, but I wonder if there are any issues with releasing What Have We Learned, Charlie Brown, which reuses footage from Bon Voyage Charlie Brown at the beginning of the special.

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Snoopy!!! The Musical and You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown are animated adaptations of real life musicals from years before and weren't an original production. They both had music rights issues from the beginning in adapting it in animated form for network television and the subsequent home video releases, including this latest one.


Warner doesn't own the musicals or the music in them. The two specials are theirs, but since the content and music is based off things that aren't theirs, it requires licensing. It's one reason why we think "You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown" wasn't accompanied with another special like the deluxe DVD releases typically see (Along with the fact that it's an hour special and not the typical half hour length).


Excellent point about "What Have We Learned, Charlie Brown?" that never crossed my mind. Hope it's not a problem.


I wonder if licensing is what caused the movie itself to never be released. Watching it the other day reminded me that there are various things like company logos (They went all out and things like Victoria Station and the passenger train have British Rail logos on them, the cross channel hovercraft are accurately painted with the right logos, the double decker bus is right, and several other instances) that would require licensing or modification to eliminate. And then there are the real life 1940s era songs that Snoopy is playing on the jukebox in the local pub.