Everyone loves Peanuts, right? Snoopy and Charlie Brown are cartoon icons and have endured many decades with some classic television specials and the original comic strip. To celebrate its 75th anniversary, Warner Bros. has put out the Peanuts: 75th Anniversary Ultimate TV Specials Collection Blu-ray, which packages together 40 specials that were released between 1965 and 2011 (with just five being omitted).
“Since Charles Schulz first introduced the kid with the zigzag shirt, fans of all ages have loved the Peanuts gang. This 75th-anniversary compilation features 40 TV specials that celebrate the charm and humor that have established Charlie Brown, Lucy, Linus, Snoopy and their friends as cultural treasures. Watch your most beloved specials – and discover new favorites – in this comprehensive collection,” says the official description.
Like nearly everyone, the first thing I did was check out some of my favorites, such as Why, Charlie Brown, Why? and the Christmas specials. Some of the later specials, mainly the ones made after Charles Schulz’s death, aren’t as good and won’t be ones you revisit often. However, there’s a lot of quality specials among the 40 included, including some really fun ones I wasn’t familiar with, such as It’s Flashbeagle, Charlie Brown, and A Charlie Brown Valentine. You’re sure to find some new favorites, which is a lot of the enjoy of this comprehensive offering.
Most of the Peanuts specials look good to great in this Blu-ray set, especially the more iconic ones, such as A Charlie Brown Christmas and It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. However, some of the later specials look particularly rough. It’s Spring Training, Charlie Brown, for example, has a poor framerate, while I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown, has vertical stretching. Likewise, the audio is a mixed bag as well, as they’re all the remastered mixes (no option for the originals), and some sound pretty bad (like It’s an Adventure, Charlie Brown). It’s great to have some of these more obscure specials on Blu-ray for the first time, but I wish more care had been taken.
Here’s the bad news about the Peanuts: 75th Anniversary Ultimate TV Specials Collection Blu-ray: there are no special features included across the five discs. There is a really nice 28-page booklet that includes character bios and brief overviews of the different specials included within the set, though. But that’s the only deluxe-feeling part of this package, which could’ve really used a nice documentary on the franchise’s impact to flesh things out.
Peanuts: 75th Anniversary Ultimate TV Specials Collection Blu-ray Review: Final Verdict
The Peanuts: 75th Anniversary Ultimate TV Specials Collection Blu-ray is an easy recommendation for any Charlie Brown fans. All of the iconic specials are included, and there’s sure to be quite a few you haven’t seen that will become new favorites. It’s a shame there aren’t any bonus features and that the transfers are uneven, but having nearly all (five are sadly missing due to rights issues) the specials in one place makes this worth picking up.
Disclosure: ComingSoon received product from the distributor for our Peanuts: 75th Anniversary Ultimate TV Specials Collection Blu-ray review.