This Is America, Charlie Brown

This is America, Charlie Brown was an eight-part animated TV mini-series, depicting events in American history with characters from the Charles M. Schulz comic strip Peanuts. It aired from 1988 to 1989 on CBS. These eight episodes, originally released singly on videocassette, were released in a two-DVD collector's set on June 13, 2006 by Paramount Pictures. However, the DVD set went out of print once Warner Bros. bought all rights to the Peanuts TV specials. No announcement as to if and when the DVD set will be reissued has been made.

Due to the nature of the events portrayed and the historical figures included - such as The Wright Brothers and George Washington - many adults were shown in full view along with the Peanuts gang, something that happened rarely in the animated films and specials (Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (and Don't Come Back!!) being another exception) and not at all in the comic strip. These adults were drawn in a style similar to other productions by Bill Melendez.

Traditionally, these episodes have not been rerun on television, but one episode, "The Mayflower Voyagers," was paired with A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (with which it was released on DVD) in 2008 by ABC, in order to fill the remaining half-hour once filled by He's a Bully, Charlie Brown. However, the special was edited to make room for Dancing with the Stars. It was again paired with the Thanksgiving special when it was broadcast on Thanksgiving Day 2010 and 2011.

Music

The series included music by many composers and performers including Peanuts regular Ed Bogas, Dave Brubeck, David Benoit, George Winston, Wynton Marsalis and Dave Grusin. This continued a tradition of using jazz musicians for the musical score; original composer Vince Guaraldi had died in 1976. This miniseries featured The Winans, Desirée Goyette, and Lou Rawls as the singing vocals (Goyette and Rawls had previously worked with Melendez on the Garfield TV specials).

Voice actors and their characters

Note: Voice actors sometimes vary in each episode. The exceptions to that are Bill Meléndez who voiced Snoopy and Woodstock for all episodes, Curtis Andersen who voiced Schroeder, and Jason Mendelson who voiced Peppermint Patty.

Regular voice actors and their characters

• Erin Chase: Charlie Brown (1st girl to voice Charlie Brown)
• Erica Gayle: Lucy van Pelt
• Brittany M. Thornton: Sally Brown
• Brandon Stewart: Linus van Pelt
• Jason Mendelson: Peppermint Patty
• Marie Cole: Marcie
• Curtis Andersen: Schroeder
• Bill Melendez: Snoopy and Woodstock

Occasional voice actors and their characters

• Jason Riffle: Charlie Brown
• Hakim Abdulsamad (of The Boys fame): Franklin
• Ami Foster (of Punky Brewster fame): Lucy van Pelt
• Jeremy Miller (of Growing Pains fame): Linus van Pelt
• Cristina Lange: (of The Smurfs and A Pup Named Scooby-Doo fame): Sally Brown
• Keri Houlihan and Tani Taylor Powers: Marcie

Episodes

1. "The Mayflower Voyagers" (aired October 21, 1988)
2. "The Birth of the Constitution" (aired October 28, 1988)
3. "The Wright Brothers at Kitty Hawk" (aired November 4, 1988)
4. "The NASA Space Station" (aired November 11, 1988)
5. "The Building of the Transcontinental Railroad" (aired February 10, 1989)
6. "The Great Inventors" (aired March 10, 1989)
7. "The Smithsonian and the Presidency" (aired April 19, 1989)
8. "The Music and Heroes of America" (aired May 23, 1989)

External links

• This is America, Charlie Brown at the Internet Movie Database