Not even bad in a good way

Best movie ever!

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

A product of it's time, "A Boy Named Charlie Brown" isn't REALLY that politically correct nowadays if you think about it, a boy who is constantly bullied in school and teased by everyone, and has no one to turn to. (his parents are absent). I mean, is that what we want to teach kids? Anyways, he tries to find acceptance by entering a spelling bee, (again, he goes by himself without any parent) only to find failure, and no moral support when he comes home. Gee, really uplifting lol. This cartoon does have a great 70's feel to it though, with it's animation and soundtrack. Maybe not necessarily for the kids, but it could be interesting for other ages.

There's a little Charlie Brown in all of us. He's in our thoughts when we are pessimistic and in our thoughts when we reflect on the early days. Charlie Brown and Snoopy pretty much embody and represent the innocence, simplicity, and charm of childhood. Peanuts may not have the powerhouse reputation it used to have, but to this day remains one of the best comic strip creations in the history of newsprint. Their specials are amazing as well, from the classic Christmas special to the highly underrated "You're a Good Sport, Charlie Brown." In spite of all their success, most forget that Charlie Brown actually starred in a series of feature-length films. A Boy Named Charlie Brown is the first attempt by Shultz and company to bring the beloved character to the big screen.A Boy Named Charlie Brown is known for its musical interludes, amazing score, pop art style, and first display of how Snoopy and his friends would fare quality-wise when extended to past 80 minutes. The movie isn't amazing, but it wasn't a horrific disappointment either. It was Bill Melendez getting his cinematic start with the franchise. There are some lovable moments, excellent one-liners, and heartwarming moments to keep the family entertained. While the movie's choppy animation remains intact (They must never ever get enough money for budget) this is saved because of the multiple ways the story is being presented.In the film, we follow Charlie Brown as he tries to win a national spelling bee after surprisingly winning the competition in his school. But there's more to the tale, as all the cast of the comic strip (besides Marcie and Pepperment Patty) have their own moment to shine; from Snoopy's dreams about being a hockey player and airline pilot to Schroeder's piano solo. Some of these moments are good (Beethoven, Snoopy in World War 1) while some miss the mark (Linus and the blanket, Snoopy ice skating).The animation is very basic, bland, and unforgivably sloppy. While this was forgivable in the Christmas special thanks to its low budget, one would wonder why a phenomenon like Peanuts had such little help in the budgeting while transferring to the big screen. Thankfully, Melendez crafted several ways to visually tell the story, which includes multiple screens, rotoscoping, and sometimes even borrowing styles of Andy Warhol. All these techniques help make up for the shoestring budget and quality of the animation, and also provide defining evidence that this was a 60s film. The pop art undertones are much heavier here than in the next three Peanuts films combined.Charlie Brown would evolve into better-organized movies later in the 70s (Most notable Bon Voyage and Race for Your Life), but this was the writing staff getting their feet wet. The evolution from comic strip to film is an extremely tough one, much harder than television show to the big screen. This is among the first, if not the first, successful experiment of the type; even if it wasn't perfect. There were multiple story lines woven together under one major plot line, and it's not a style of storytelling that would sit well with everyone. With Snoopy Come Home and Race For Your Life, it was one big story with multiple jokes that managed to stretch to past an hour. The spelling bee tale could not have lasted a full length, so Shultz added many more (if, mostly unrelated) tales and scenes as filler. But there are some wonderful moments, and superb one-liners sprinkled throughout ("I'm dying, and all I hear are insults!") Bottom Line: This isn't the best of the Charlie Brown movies, but it's the first and still stands well after all these years. Serving as more a look at the art and styles of animation in the 60s rather than an amusing Charlie Brown picture, this film was proof that the comic strip medium can come to life in bigger ways than television. To this day there are very few decent comic book films, because they don't successfully flesh out their characters or reduce themselves to a quick buck. While you don't see the quality, you certain see the effort Charles M. Schulz delivered on his work. A Boy Named Charlie Brown is the big-screen version of a Charlie Brown Christmas: delightful but not the best; but also the beginning of something very special.

I'm an adult seeing this for the first time, and I have an adult viewpoint. Simply not good. Animation is primitive, music is bad and tedious, not funny at all, and the weak climax does not make up for two hours of painful situations. Charlie, Snoopy, Lucy, Linus, and Schroeder are decently colorful characters. The rest don't even make it to cartoon quality. I did grow up reading Charlie Brown comic strips in paperback form, and I liked it. But it loses its charm in this format.2 hours is way too long, forcing time killing extended sequences. Overuse of the "Linus and Lucy" theme gets tedious and shows a lack of diligence. Overuse of the minor key "Linus and Lucy" theme got annoying. It's not funny at all. There is one funny opening joke, and then Snoopy gets just a few funny bits, and that's it. You're in severe pain for 90+% of the movie. That's not entertainment.Way too mean with name calling and ridicule. Personally I find name calling and ridicule very offensive in any situation, even more so when it's this extensive. I just don't see the payoff in this movie. CB is a loser, a dumb, dull, unliked, untalented kid that ends up losing and "the world doesn't end." I don't see how that's a worthwhile lesson to anyone. The lesson is: no matter how much people call you names, ridicule you, no matter how much you lose in life or no matter that you can't seem to do anything right, somehow it's OK. There may be a nugget of truth in there, but basically having the movie makers essentially preach to me for two hours that I share those qualities - that's a little condescending, isn't it? But anyway, even if the message were worthwhile, the ending message is so weak and watered down that it doesn't give me a good feeling and erase all the misery I've experienced in the last two hours.It always felt like they were killing time with extended animation exercises. Extended segments: spelling rules, Linus looks for blanket, Snoopy ice-skating, and the Beethoven segment. Except for the spelling rules segment, the other extended segments did not move the story along, with Snoopy and Beethoven completely superfluous. These segments also came across like animation experiments, "Let's see how realistically we can make Snoopy appear to glide over the ice." "Let's make an extended high art collage set to Beethoven's music." That said: The Beethoven segment was very good and was the highlight of the movie. In fact, it's the only portion I saved for repeated viewing. As a short animation segment it's great, but as far as moving the story of a 2 hour movie along, especially for kids, no.I can't see anyone learning spelling rules from this movie - so educational value is not much. Show this movie to any kid and then see if he can recite even the I before E rule, I don't think so. Music was no good - the spelling bee song was not good.I know it's apples to oranges, but this 1969 movie compared to the work and storytelling that Disney was doing as far back as 1937 (Snow White)? Like Rembrandt vs. kids with crayons.Climax did not even come close to paying off, or making up for all the setup. The climax is two lines: "The World didn't end," and "Welcome home Charlie Brown." That simply doesn't cut it.

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.