It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown

It's The Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown
Original 1974 title card
Also known as	A Charlie Brown Easter
Genre	Animated TV Special
Created by	Charles M. Schulz
Developed by	Carey Kins
Directed by	Phil Roman
Creative director(s)	Robert Munsch
Presented by	Sarah Tancing
Starring	Robert Munsch
Voices of	Todd Barbee (Charlie Brown) Melanie Kohn (Lucy) Greg Felton(Schroeder) Stephen Shea (Linus) Linda Ercoli (Peppermint Patty) Lynn Mortensen (Sally) James Ahrens (Marcie) Bill Melendez (Snoopy & Woodstock)
Theme music composer	Vince Guaraldi
Opening theme	Vince Guaraldi
Ending theme	Vince Guaraldi
Composer(s)	Vince Guaraldi
Country of origin	UNITED STATES
Language(s)	English
Production
Executive producer(s)	Lee Mendelson
Producer(s)	Bill Melendez
Editor(s)	Chuck McCann Roger Donley
Location(s)	Wellington, Florida
Camera setup	3
Running time	30 min.
Broadcast
Original channel	CBS (1974–2000) ABC (2001–present)
Picture format	3
Audio format	3
Original airing	April 9, 1974
Chronology
Preceded by	It's a Mystery, Charlie Brown
Followed by	Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown
Related shows	It's Arbor Day, Charlie Brown
External links
www.snoopy.com Website

It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown is the 12th prime-time animated TV special based upon the popular comic strip Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz. It was originally debuted on the CBS network on April 9, 1974. CBS aired it annually from 1974 to 2000, and it continues to air annually on ABC and has since 2001.

Summary

While most of the Peanuts Gang is getting ready for Easter, Linus, certain it is all a waste of time, tries convincing everyone the Easter Beagle will take care of everything, but his pleas fall on deaf ears. Only Sally believes him, though she still has some suspicions after the Halloween fiasco.

Peppermint Patty and Marcie attempt to color eggs, but as it is Marcie's first time, she does not know how to prepare the eggs properly. Marcie's first attempt fails as she fries the eggs on a griddle and flips them with a spatula. In their second attempt, Marcie tries cooking four eggs on a waffle iron, then she unsuccessfully tries to put one in a toaster, then she takes that egg and the others and tries roasting the remaining eight eggs in the oven. In their third and final attempt, Peppermint Patty points out to Marcie the eggs have to be boiled. But Marcie breaks the eggs into a pot of boiling water, inadvertently cooking egg soup. At the end of that attempt, Peppermint Patty is out of money, so they can't buy any more eggs and thus can't make any more attempts.

Woodstock, waking up shivering from a chilly spring rain in his open-air bird's nest, goes to Snoopy for help, so Snoopy goes to the department store to buy Woodstock a birdhouse. At first Woodstock hates it, but he soon renovates the interior into a quintessential 1970s bachelor pad, complete with a television, contemporary artwork, a sunken bed, carpeting and a quadrophonic stereo system. Curious to see more of the inside, Snoopy accidentally smashes the house to pieces when his snout gets stuck in the entry hole. So he goes back to the department store to buy another house for Woodstock.

Lucy, unwaveringly believing that Easter is the "gift-getting season" much to Schroeder's chagrin, decides to have her own Easter egg hunt, hiding each egg she paints to find them all on Easter morning. Unknown to her, Snoopy follows behind her and takes the eggs.

Easter morning arrives, and so does the Easter Beagle (Snoopy), tossing eggs to everyone, even tossing one into Woodstock's new bird house. Unfortunately he runs out of eggs by the time he gets to Charlie Brown, and responds with an embarrassed smile as he gives his friend the now empty basket. Peppermint Patty and Marcie's whole situation ends with the delivery of their eggs, upon which Marcie asks Peppermint Patty what to do with the eggs at this point, and she tells her that you put salt on them and eat them. Marcie follows this order, but gets it all wrong by eating it shell and all, after which she tells Peppermint Patty "Tastes terrible, sir," driving Peppermint Patty to slap her forehead in exasperation.

It does not take long for Lucy to realize that the Snoopy gave her one of her own eggs, and 10 weeks later, Lucy is still brooding about it, so Linus suggests she go and talk about it with Snoopy. She goes out to Snoopy's doghouse to pick a fight, but Snoopy takes the fight out of her with a disarming kiss on the cheek.

Television

The program's rights are held by ABC Television, where it runs annually. It ran annually on ABC from 2000 up to April 11, 2006. In 2007, the network, without any explanation, did not air the program, but it returned on March 18, 2008, as filler programming against American Idol. The TV special was watched by 6.32 million viewers and received a 3.8/6 household rating & a 1.9/5 in the 18-49 rating, in fourth place behind Idol, NCIS and The Biggest Loser, and fifth place if Spanish-language Univision is counted. In 2009, the show improved in ratings with a similar time slot, but still remained in fourth. The special was again absent in 2011.

ABC Telecast

To make room for more commercial advertisements, ABC cuts off the following scenes in this special:

• The part where Lucy had a talk with Schroeder
• The escalator scene in the department store was cut, as well as the parting of the friends when they are done shopping.
• The part where Linus explains to Peppermint Patty and Marcie about the Easter Beagle was cut.
• The last minute of the scene (a fight between Lucy and Snoopy) was cut.
• The credits for this special was shown for a short time until ABC's own credits took over.

Video and DVD releases

It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown was released to DVD twice, first on March 4, 2003 by Paramount Home Entertainment and again on February 15, 2008 on a Remastered Deluxe Edition DVD from Warner Home Video. It was also released in the UK by Firefly Entertainment in 2004, with Life Is a Circus, Charlie Brown.

VHS releases of It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown have, in the past, been available in the 1980s from Media Home Entertainment and subsidiary Hi-Tops Video and in the 1990s by Paramount.

Music

In the second scene in the mall Peppermint Patty, Marcie and Snoopy dance to music boxes which play Johann Sebastian Bach's "Menuet from the Anna Magdalena Notebook (BWV Anh. 116.)." Snoopy arrives as the Easter Beagle to the sound of the first movement of Beethoven's Seventh Symphony, a rare occasion in a Peanuts specials in which Beethoven's music is heard but Schroeder is not playing it. The music played in the scene immediately before the Easter Beagle arrives, in which Sally accuses Linus of ruining her Easter, is the funeral march from the second movement of the same Beethoven symphony.

The rest of the music score features funk-inspired guitar riffs, a departure from the usual Vince Guaraldi jazz compositions used in previous Peanuts specials.

Production credits

IT'S THE EASTER BEAGLE, CHARLIE BROWN

• The "Peanuts" Comic Strip Written and Created by

Charles M. Schulz

• Directed by

Phil Roman

• Produced by

Bill Melendez

• Executive Producer

Lee Mendelson

• Music Composed and Performed by

Vince Guaraldi

• Music Supervision

John Scott Trotter

• Graphic Blandishment:

Bernard Gruver

Dean Spille

Evert Brown

Frank Smith

Sam Jaimes

Al Pabian

Don Lusk

Joe Roman

Bill Littlejohn

Patricia Joy

Bob Carlson

Rod Scribner

Bob Matz

Jack Schnerk

Carole Barnes

Joanne Lansing

Marie Ardell

Patricia Capozzi

Sheri Lonsdale

Brigitte Strother

Cheri Weber

Chandra Poweris

Adele Lenart

• Voices by

Cam Clarke

Todd Barbee

Melanie Kohn

Stephen Shea

Linda Ercoli

Lynn Mortensen

James Ahrens

Allen Swift

Billy West

John Kricfalusi

Bob Holt

Michael Bell

Bill Melendez

• Editing

Chuck McCann

Roger Donley

• Recording:

Voices: Coast Recorders

Music: Wally Heider Recording

Mix: Producers' Sound Service

Camera: Dickson/Vasu

Titles: Jim Pabian

• Production Manager: Carole Barnes

• Production Assistants

Carolyn Klein

Sandy Claxton

Lora Sacket

A Lee Mendelson

Bill Melendez

Production

in cooperation with

United Feature Syndicate, Inc.

and

Charles M. Schulz

Creative Associates

• The End

"It's The Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown"

©1974 United Feature Syndicate, Inc.

External links

• It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown at the Internet Movie Database