Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (and Don't Come Back!!)

Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (and Don't Come Back!!)
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Bill Melendez
Written by	Charles M. Schulz
Based on	Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz
Produced by	Bill Melendez Lee Mendelson
Starring	Arrin Skelley Daniel Anderson Patricia Patts Casey Carlson Annalisa Bortolin Laura Planting Bill Melendez
Edited by	Roger Donley Chuck McCann
Music by	Ed Bogas Judy Munsen
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date	May 30, 1980 (1980-05-30)
Running time	76 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$2 million

Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (and Don't Come Back!!) is a 1980 American animated comedy-drama film produced by United Feature Syndicate and distributed by Paramount Pictures, directed by Bill Melendez and Phil Roman. It was the fourth full-length feature film to be based on the Peanuts comic strip, and was followed three years later by a 1983 television special, What Have We Learned, Charlie Brown?, in which the gang sees memorials and places related to World Wars I and II. It also use the same voice cast that worked on the 1979 Peanuts television special You're the Greatest, Charlie Brown. This film contains a rare occurrence where the adults appear on screen, including having their faces entirely visible, as well as speaking comprehensible lines.

Paramount Home Entertainment released this film on VHS in 1995, and released it to DVD on October 6, 2015.

This film came three years after Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown. The fifth Peanuts film, simply titled The Peanuts Movie came 35 years later, in 2015.

Plot

At Charlie Brown's school, Linus Van Pelt introduces to his class two French students, Babette and Jacques, who will be spending two weeks there in order to get accustomed the United States. In exchange, Charlie Brown, Linus, Peppermint Patty, Marcie, Snoopy, and Woodstock head to Europe on a student exchange plan for part of their school year. Charlie Brown is not very positive about the trip because of a letter from France that arrived before he left, inviting him to stay at a French chateau, the Château du Mal Voisin (Chateau of the Bad Neighbor). The letter is written in French, but Marcie, who has been studying French, translates it.

They arrive first in London, where Snoopy leaves the group temporarily to play tennis at Wimbledon, where the beagle gets banned from the grounds when he loses his temper after losing three points. When they arrive across the English Channel in France, they pick up a troublesome rental car, which must be driven by Snoopy as none of the others have a drivers' licence.

Upon their arrival, the four go to their respective homes. Patty and Marcie go to stay at a farm, where they meet a boy named Pierre, who immediately attracts their attention. It is obvious that Marcie and Pierre have a spark between them - obvious to everyone except Patty, who manages to convince herself that Pierre likes her. Charlie Brown, Linus, and Snoopy go to the chateau, which they find is apparently abandoned, though somebody keeps leaving food for them and making their beds after they leave for school. In reality, the chateau is occupied by an unfriendly baron, and the person leaving Charlie Brown and Linus food is the baron's kindly niece, Violette.

Eventually Linus manages to track her down and demand what is going on. Violette says that although her uncle is irritable, she must remember what a US Army soldier had done for her family by helping them out in the Second World War. Violette shows Linus a picture of the soldier, and he comments that the soldier looks like Charlie Brown and it's revealed that the soldier is Charlie Brown's grandfather. They continue to investigate further, the mystery culminating in an accidental fire in the attic of the chateau, doused before too much damage occurs.

Thankful for the chateau's rescue, the baron has a change of heart and allows the gang inside, and Charlie Brown learns the truth behind the mysterious letter he received, and he, Snoopy, Linus, Patty and Marcie leave their new friends to see more of the French countryside, and eventually return home to the US.

Plot Inconsistency

At the beginning, when Charlie Brown and Linus are cheered for being accepted as delegates from his school to go to France, Peppermint Patty is shown as one of his friends who congratulates him. Later, she calls Chuck and tells him that she and Marcie were selected from their school to go.

Cast

• Arrin Skelley as Charlie Brown
• Daniel Anderson as Linus van Pelt
• Patricia Patts as Peppermint Patty
• Casey Carlson as Marcie
• Annalisa Bortolin as Sally Brown
• Laura Planting as Lucy van Pelt
• Bill Melendez as Snoopy, Woodstock
• Pascale De Barolet as Pierre
• Roseline Rubens as Violette Honfleur
• Scott Beach as Waiter, Baron, Driver, Tennis Announcer, English Voice, American Male
• Schroeder, Pig-Pen, Frieda, Violet, Patty, Babette, and Jacques appear but had no lines.

Reception

The film had a mostly positive reception.

See also

• Peanuts filmography

External links

• Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (And Don't Come Back!!) at IMDb
• Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (And Don't Come Back!!) at the TCM Movie Database
• Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (And Don't Come Back!!) at Box Office Mojo
• Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (And Don't Come Back!!) at Rotten Tomatoes