You're in the Super Bowl, Charlie Brown

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You're In the Super Bowl, Charlie Brown is an animated television special based on the Peanuts comic strip. It first aired on January 18, 1994.

Contents

[edit] Story

[edit] Main plot

The main plot of the special revolves around a punt-and-pass contest that the characters are participating in; the prize is a new bike and a trip to the Super Bowl. While practicing for the contest, Charlie Brown and Linus van Pelt catch sight of a new girl in town named Melody-Melody, and become intent on impressing her at the contest. Much to their shock and dismay, Melody enters the contest herself and wins. In the subplot, Snoopy coaches a team of football-playing birds in the Animal Football League. They are shown playing against similar-looking teams of cats, dogs, and bison.

[edit] Last names

Marcie and Franklin are given last names in this special - Johnson and Armstrong, respectively; however, these cannot be considered canon, as Charles Schulz never gave them last names in the strip. These names are not used in any other special either.

[edit] Television airing

The special first aired on January 18, 1994. Unlike all the animated Peanuts specials before it, which originally aired on CBS, this one premiered on NBC, which had the rights to air the Super Bowl in 1994. It is also the only Peanuts animated special to premiere on NBC - later Peanuts specials were either released directly to video or premiered on ABC.

[edit] Video release

This is also the only Peanuts special that Paramount Home Entertainment does not have the video distribution rights to. Its lone video release, like It's Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown before it, was available at participating Shell stations.

[edit] Music score

As with the preceding It's Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown, Vince Guaraldi's classic music scores were recylced and remixed into soft-rock versions. Guaraldi's associaion with Peanuts ended abruptly upon his death from a heart attack in early 1976. Many fans welcomed the return of Guaraldi's memorable melodies that many associate with the Peanuts, particularly the comic strip's signature tune, "Linus and Lucy". Producer Bill Melendez commented that the usage of Guaraldi's songs were done at a tribute to the late jazz composer, 18 years after his death.

[edit] Cast

  • Molly Dunham: Lucy Van Pelt
  • John Graas: Linus Van Pelt
  • Jim Guardino: Charlie Brown
  • Haley Peel: Peppermint Patty
  • Nicole Fisher: Marcie Johnson
  • Bill Melendez: Snoopy and Woodstock

[edit] Peanuts Gang & NFL Teams Sponsored

[edit] Trivia

  • Melody-Melody wins the Punt, Pass & Kick contest wearing a Dallas Cowboys uniform. Less than two weeks later, the Cowboys won Super Bowl XXVIII, which happened to air on NBC.
  • Every member of the Birds team in the Animal Football League is named after a famous football player (Unitas, Csonka, etc...).
  • At the Punt, Pass, & Kick contest, each of the two Van Pelt siblings wore the uniform of one of the two teams which at the time were based in Los Angeles; Lucy wore a Raiders uniform, while Linus wore a Rams one.
  • Pig-Pen's uniform is the only one which was never worn by an NFL team; his Green Bay Packers uniform consisted of a dark-gold helmet & pants and a dark blue jersey (this design was proposed by Packers management in the early 1990's, but due to overall fan dislike, it was rejected)


Preceded by
“It's Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown”		 Peanuts television specials Followed by
“It Was My Best Birthday Ever, Charlie Brown”
v • d • e
Peanuts television specials
1960s
1970s
1980s
1990s
2000s