This Is America, Charlie Brown

This Is America, Charlie Brown

This Is America, Charlie Brown is an eight-episode animated television miniseries depicting a series of events in American history featuring cartoon characters from Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz. It aired from 1988 to 1989 on CBS. The first four episodes aired as a weekly series in October and November 1988; the last four episodes aired monthly from February to May 1989.

Due to the nature of the events depicted and the historical characters included - such as the Wright brothers and George Washington - the opposite of most Charlie Brown cartoons, many adults were entirely shown alongside the Peanuts gang, which did happen. rarely in animated films and specials and only in one of the first sequences of the comic. These adults were drawn in a similar style to It's Only a Game, another Schulz comic that featured adults, as well as other productions overseen by Peanuts regular Bill Melendez.

Although all eight episodes were later replayed by CBS in the summer of 1990, the series as a whole hasn't aired since. However, the episode "The Mayflower Voyagers"Returned to television in 2008 (and aired annually until 2019, after which Peanuts TV specials migrated to the Apple TV + streaming platform) as accompanying material to fill the 1973 special A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving to a full time slot of one hour. To accommodate the slot, parts of the episode have been cut down.

Characters

Charlie Brown
Linus van Pelt and Lucy van Pelt
Sally Brown
Schroeder
Peppermint Patty
Franklin
Wilbur Wright
Orville wright
George Washington
John Cooper
Mission control
Captain John Smith
Governor Morris
James wilson
Samoseth
Abraham Lincoln

Music

The series included music by many composers and artists including Ed Bogas, Dave Brubeck, David Benoit (who would later replace the music from specials starting with It's Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown), George Winston, Wynton Marsalis and Dave Grusin . This continued the tradition of using jazz musicians for the musical score; the original composer Vince Guaraldi had died in 1976, although many of his musical scores had been reused, most notably his signature melody, "Linus and Lucy". This miniseries featured The Winans, Desirée Goyette and Lou Rawls as singing voices (Goyette and Rawls had previously worked with Melendez on Garfield's TV specials).

Episodes

1 The Mayflower Journey October 21, 1988 In 1620, the Peanuts gang was among 30 children aboard the Mayflower who founded the Plymouth colony. As hardships plague the new colony and claim the lives of many of its members, all the children survive and the Pilgrims' faith in God allows them to persevere. In the spring of 1621, with the future of the colony uncertain, the Pilgrims meet the Native Americans Samoset and Squanto, who miraculously speak English. The natives teach Pilgrims how to live on the land, leading to First Thanksgiving and a 50-year peace treaty.

2 The birth of the Constitution October 28, 1988 The story takes place in 1787 in Philadelphia. The Founding Fathers are trying to compose the Constitution. They work hard to decide which ideas to include. Charlie Brown and his friends also work hard. Snoopy serves as a watchdog, Peppermint Patty provides drinking water. Charlie Brown oversees the "valet parking" and Linus is the usher.

3 The Wright Brothers to Kitty Hawk November 4, 1988 In 1903, Charlie Brown and Linus visit Linus' cousin Dolly in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, and watch the Wright brothers send up their prototype airplane. In addition, Woodstock demonstrates the principles of flight, Peppermint Patty and Marcie are the mechanics for the Wright brothers' plane, and Snoopy becomes the best dog and oversees the events that led to the flight that changed the world.

4 The NASA space station November 11, 1988 Linus dreams of himself, Charlie Brown, Sally Brown, Lucy van Pelt, “Pig-Pen”, Franklin, Piperita Patty, Snoopy and Woodstock traveling in space.

5 The construction of the transcontinental railroad February 10, 1989 Charlie Brown tells the story of how two companies, namely the Union Pacific Railroad and the Central Pacific Railroad, built the first transcontinental railroad across plains and towering mountains. The episode ends when the gang witnesses the completion of the railroad in Promontory, Utah, in 1869.

6 The Great Inventors March 10, 1989 Each member of the Peanuts gang reports on various American inventions. Linus discusses Alexander Graham Bell while Piperita Patty and Marcie talk about Thomas Edison and Charlie Brown writes a report on the invention of the automobile.

7 The Smithsonian and the Presidency April 19, 1989 The gang visits the Smithsonian Institution, where they discuss three former US presidents.

8 Music and the heroes of America May 23, 1989 Schroeder and Franklin try to present a school play about great American musicians, ranging from Stephen Foster to John Philip Sousa to rock'n'rollers, but is interrupted by both the antics of Snoopy and Lucy, who decides to do her own report on famous American heroes, including Susan B. Anthony, Amelia Earhart, George Washington Carver and Martin Luther King Jr., on the same stage at the same time. In the end, Charlie Brown names his favorite song: "Linus and Lucy" by Vince Guaraldi.

Technical data

Original language English
Country United States
Regia Evert Brown (ep. 1-2), Sam Jaimes (ep. 3-4, 8), Sam Nicholson (ep. 5), Bill Melendez (ep. 6-7)
Producer Bill melendez
Subject Lee Mendelson, Charles M. Schultz (ep. 1-4, 7-8), Bill Melendez (ep. 5-6)
Studio Lee Mendelson Film Productions, Bill Melendez Productions
Network CBS
1st TV October 21, 1988 - May 23, 1989
Episodes 8 (complete)
Relationship 4:3
Episode duration 25 min
Italian network JuniorTV
Italian dialogues Martino Consoli, Donata Consoli, Renata Bertolas
Double studio Italian Carioca
Italian dubbing direction Martin Consoli

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_Is_America,_Charlie_Brown