Thehibikiew Not even bad in a good way

Tedfoldol everything you have heard about this movie is true.

SincereFinest disgusting, overrated, pointless

Marva-nova Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

Scott LeBrun The beloved Peanuts characters created by Charles M. Schulz make a very endearing feature film debut here. The story has Charlie Brown feeling more despondent than ever due to the fact that his destiny seems to be failing at everything. This isn't helped by the fact that Lucy has actually created a slide show detailing every one of his supposed faults! However, hope is generated when Charlie Brown decides to try out competitive spelling, and has success right off the bat. (In an appropriate touch, this is because some of the first words that he gets are tailored to his personality, like "insecure".) He even goes to compete in the National Spelling Bee.There's some material here that could be seen as padding, but overall it's an effective means of stretching out a Peanuts story to a feature length of approximately an hour and a half. The animation is slick and there is a wealth of interesting visuals. Rod McKuens' handful of songs are admittedly pretty silly, but they're not long enough or frequent enough to become a true detriment.The verbal jokes and visual gags are just as funny as they've ever been, and the characters are all well defined in their classic way. Snoopy, as usual, is the biggest cut-up. One example of this: Linus handed over his precious security blanket to Charlie Brown to serve as a good luck charm, and suffers enough withdrawals to seek out Charlie Brown and demand the blanket back. Then, every time Linus keels over, Snoopy fills a glass of water, and you think it's for Linus, but he ends up drinking it himself.As a bonus, "A Boy Named Charlie Brown" features a catchy way of listing various spelling rules; watching this wouldn't be a bad way for kids to learn some of them! Poor Charlie Brown ends up so stressed out and weary that he automatically spells words that he speaks or are spoken to him.You do feel bad for Charlie, but in the end, you can always leave it to Linus to put everything into perspective for him and the audience.Many genuine laughs, a solid story, some real heart, and a typically excellent jazz soundtrack by Vince Guaraldi (including some variations on the standard "Linus and Lucy") help to make this a winner.Eight out of 10.

Rindiana You don't need first-class Disney animation to produce a charmer. The Peanuts' comics' philosophical underpinnings and intelligent and witty humour is brought to the silver screen full and intact. Never before or after has a bunch of kids proved to be that thought-provoking.Yes, the pace may be a tad too slow and the animation rough around the edges, but Schulz' lovable little grown-ups with their all too well-known characteristics are sufficient compensation. And if the pic threatens to become too talky, there's always Snoopy's shenanigans to save the day.7 out of 10 security blanket cold turkeys

Syl As a child, I couldn't get enough of the holiday Charlie Brown specials or movies which were occasionally shown on television. Until today, I caught the full film version of the first film and I liked it but it could have been better. The music scenes were a bit off the track of the film about Charlie Brown competing in the national spelling bee. Of course, the rest of Peanuts gang are there to support or criticize him. He wins the school spelling bee and goes on to the national championships with Linus' blanket. When Linus can't live without his blanket, he and Snoopy go to the championships to retrieve it. By then, Charlie is exhausted and overwhelmed by the spelling bee. Despite the technology of the time, Charlie Brown and the Peanuts gang always entertain and never come up short. This film is really for those who love the Peanuts gang especially Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Linus, Peppermint Patty, and others.

rebeljenn This isn't my personal favourite Charlie Brown episode. I liked the Christmas special the best. It's been years since I have seen this. I probably first saw it when I was six and last saw it when I was about ten. I think that ideally one needs to be older to enjoy Charlie Brown. I never did understand some of the dialoge because they use a lot of large words that adults would understand but not children. Despite it being a cartoon, I don't think it was made with children in mind. You have to feel sorry for poor old Charlie Brown though...but then he has that cool dog Snoopy. I think a lot of the humor of Charlie Brown goes over the heads of young people, with the expection of the holiday specials.