Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown

Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown
Promotional poster
Directed by	Bill Melendez Phil Roman
Produced by	Bill Melendez Lee Mendelson
Written by	Charles M. Schulz
Music by	Ed Bogas
Editing by	Roger Donley Chuck McCann
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date(s)	July 16, 1977 (Japan) August 3, 1977 (New York Premiere) August 24, 1977 (United States & Canada)
Running time	76 min.
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$3,223,888

Race For Your Life, Charlie Brown is a 1977 animated film produced by United Feature Syndicate for Paramount Pictures, directed by Bill Meléndez, and the third in a series of movies based on the Peanuts comic strip. It was the first Peanuts feature-length film produced after the death of composer Vince Guaraldi and used the same voice cast from the 1975 TV special, You're a Good Sport, Charlie Brown.

Plot

The Peanuts gang heads off to Camp Remote somewhere in the mountains where they ultimately compete in a river rafting race; Charlie Brown, true to form, is accidentally left behind by the bus while at a desolate rest stop. He is then forced to hitch a harrowing ride on Snoopy's motorcycle in order to make the rest of the journey to the camp, accompanied by rock guitar type riffs while Charlie Brown is shouting in fear at Snoopy's wild driving.

Upon their arrival, the kids are immediately exposed to the regimentation and squalor of camp life which is a stark contrast to their comfortable residences back home. The children are unfamiliar with the concept that the camp schedule is in military time (Franklin asks if "oh-five-hundred" is noon, and Sally thought "eighteen-hundred" was a year). Although the kids do their best to adjust to the rigors of camp life, Snoopy, in a tent of his own, enjoys a banana split while watching TV on his portable set.

The gang must contend with a trio of ruthless bullies (and their cat, Brutus, vicious enough to intimidate even Snoopy) who openly boast of their having won the race every year they have competed. The only thing that keeps the bullies at bay is Linus using his security blanket like a whip (which also gets him unwanted attention from Sally due to her praising the courage of her "Sweet Babboo"). It is revealed that their success has always been through outright cheating, using a raft equipped with an outboard motor, direction finder, radar and sonar, and even resorting to every trick they could think of to hamper or destroy everyone else's chance to even make it to the finish line, much less win the race.

The kids are broken into three groups: the boys' group (consisting of Charlie Brown, Linus, Schroeder, and Franklin), the girls' group (led by Peppermint Patty who appoints herself the leader, Marcie, Lucy, and Sally), and Snoopy and Woodstock. Charlie Brown is the very reluctant leader of the boys' group, well-meaning but struggling with his insecurities. His foil is Patty, the leader of the girls' group, who is very confident despite her incompetence as a leader (much of it due to her insistence on every decision, no matter how minor, being confirmed by a group vote).

The groups run into different obstacles: getting lost, stranded, storms, blizzards, and sabotage from the bullies. Snoopy abandons the race to search tirelessly for Woodstock when a storm separates them; after a long search, they manage to find each other and are joyfully reunited. Charlie Brown starts to grow more into his leadership role, becoming leader of both the boys' and girls' groups when the bullies sabotage both of their rafts, forcing them to work together.

Thanks to Charlie Brown's growing self-confidence and leadership, the gang is about to win the race at the climax after overcoming considerable odds. Unfortunately, Patty incites the girls to celebrate too soon and they accidentally knock the boys overboard in their excitement; when they attempt to rescue them, the bullies seize the opportunity to pull ahead.

The bullies gloat about their apparently imminent victory, only for their craft to sink right before the finish line, leaving Snoopy and Woodstock as the only contenders left. Brutus sinks Snoopy's inner tube with a claw, but Woodstock promptly builds a raft of twigs and continues toward victory. When Brutus tries to attack Woodstock, Snoopy decks him, and Woodstock wins the race. Conceding defeat, the bullies begin to vow vengeance next year, but their threats are humiliatingly cut short when Snoopy hands Brutus a rough beating after he threatens Woodstock again.

As the gang boards the bus to depart for home, Charlie Brown decides aloud to use the experience as a lesson to be more confident and assertive, and to believe in himself. Unfortunately, right after he finishes speaking, the bus leaves without Charlie Brown for the second time, and as before, he is forced to hitch a ride with Snoopy.

Voice cast

• Duncan Watson as Charlie Brown
• Kirk Jue as a bully
• Greg Felton as Schroeder and the camp announcer
• Jordan Warren as a bully
• Stuart Brotman as Peppermint Patty
• Jimmy Ahrens as Marcie
• Gail M. Davis as Sally Brown
• Melanie Kohn as Lucy van Pelt
• Liam Martin as Linus van Pelt
• Tom Muller as Franklin and a bully
• Jackson Beck as Brutus
• Bill Meléndez as Snoopy and Woodstock

Home video releases

The film was released on VHS in 1995 and was the first release on RCA's defunct Capacitance Electronic Disc, also known as videodisc. It has not yet been released on DVD.

External links

• Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown at the Internet Movie Database