Play It Again, Charlie Brown Review

Play It Again, Charlie Brown is a 1971 animated television special and the seventh entry in the Peanuts series. It is unfortunately one of the weakest Peanuts specials of the time.

Lucy is infatuated with Schroeder and this time she goes to greater lengths to finally win his affection. The problem with this special is that it relies on the supporting characters too much. Charlie Brown is barely in it and Schroeder is the character that can’t support an entire special, no matter what they do with him. But the film is still solid as it has a great first half with a couple of genuinely funny moments.

Lucy’s indifferent attitude towards classic music is funny as it leads to a great deal of frustration from Schroeder. But Snoopy is terrific here and hilarious in the scene with Lucy as those two are always funny together. I liked that first half a lot as it explored the character of Lucy brilliantly, but I strongly disliked the use of a new actor for her as that new voice is just weird and I will need time to adjust to it. Also, the second half is so weaker than the first one with a typical conclusion and overall lack of laughs all leading to a special that has its moments, but is still the weakest up to this point.

Play It Again, Charlie Brown has its moments with a couple of hilarious lines, but it has too many problems with the inferior second half and a lack of more characters being troublesome.

My Rating – 3.3