ofpsmith Review of It's Your First Kiss, Charlie Brown

It's Your First Kiss, Charlie Brown (1977 TV Short)

I like it, but I felt it was a bit too mean.

[7/10 · 15 July 2019]

It's no surprise that Charlie Brown (Arrin Skelley) is usually the kid at the short end of the stick but it rarely does it go this far. Charlie Brown has been selected for the school's football kicker at the Homecoming Game. Lucy Van Pelt (Michelle Muller) has the job of holding the ball in place. Even though you'd think that Lucy would make an exception to the rule of her pulling the ball away every time Charlie Brown tries to kick it, she doesn't and Charlie Brown is left humiliated in front of the entire stadium (with an audience way bigger than what an elementary school sports event would have.) In spite of this, Charlie Brown still shows up to the homecoming dance where he is the queen's escort (the queen in question being none other than Heather AKA The Little Red Haired Girl.) Charlie Brown attempts to put the unflattering episode behind him but Lucy and Peppermint Patty (Laura Planting) are there to tease him as much as possible (in spite of Lucy clearly being the one to blame.) Which is a big part of why I'm weary of this film. I remember seeing this for the first time when I was about 11 and thinking about how messed up Lucy is to Charlie Brown. Lucy being the bully is obviously not uncharacteristic of her in any way but in this one it's not really even that funny. She not only pulls the same old prank once again which results in his humiliation but (because apparently nobody saw her do this) she successfully shifts the blame to him. I really have to hand it to Charlie Brown for not loosing his temper and berating her. You might think that I don't like this one based on how mean I find it. But actually it's not that bad. The animation is classic Peanuts and the voice acting is still good as always. In general, this special is all right but just a tad more mean spirited than I'd like.