It's the Pied Piper, Charlie Brown

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It's the Pied Piper, Charlie Brown
ItsPiedPiperCB-TC.png
GenreAnimated television special
Created byCharles M. Schulz
Based onPied Piper of Hamelin
Written byCharles M. Schulz
Directed byBill Melendez
Starring
  • Quinn Beswick
  • Ashley Edner
  • Corey Padnos
  • Rachel Davey
  • Frank Welker
  • Randy Crenshaw
  • Neil Ross
  • Michael Mishaw
  • Gene Morford
  • Don Shelton

Pat Musick

Theme music composerDavid Benoit
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
Production
ProducersLee Mendelson
Bill Melendez
Mike Wallis
Running time25:16
Production companyUnited Feature Syndicate
DistributorParamount Home Entertainment
Release
Original releaseSeptember 12, 2000 (2000-09-12)
Chronology
Preceded byIt Was My Best Birthday Ever, Charlie Brown (1997)
Followed byA Charlie Brown Valentine (2002)

It's the Pied Piper, Charlie Brown is the 39th and last animated special produced under the supervision of Charles M. Schulz. Based on characters from the comic strip Peanuts, it was originally released exclusively on VHS & DVD on September 12, 2000, seven months after the death of Charles Schulz.[1]

Plot[]

At the start of the special, Snoopy is using music to play a concertina on top of his doghouse outside, but he falls off and the instrument smashes on him. After the opening credits, Charlie Brown is making dog food, Sally tells Snoopy to get his feet off the table and stop ringing that cell phone and then to stop ringing the front door bell, Charlie Brown asks Sally if she has glasses, but she doesn't have them. It's the Pied Piper, Charlie Brown is a retelling story to Sally by Charlie Brown of how the Pied Piper of Hamelin (portrayed by Snoopy as the Pied Piper Beagle) chased away all the mice (changed by Charlie Brown from rats because, upon the story saying that the rats fought the dogs and killed the cats, Sally is terrified of rats) from the city of Hamelin, The mice play sports such as basketball, football, baseball, hockey and other sports, but suddenly, the mice get all over Charlie Brown, causing him to cough constantly. After that, we then cut back to the house, where Schroeder now plays piano during mice invasion, but suddenly after the music, a mouse jumps on the piano and infuriates Schroeder, this causes the mice to dance and play the tune of "Chopsticks" on his toy piano. At the library, the mice dance to the funky music to lure Franklin, Marcy, Violet and Pigpen away from the library. At the city town hall, Charlie Brown, Lucy, Linus and Sally follow a TV crew into the mayor's office. The Peanuts gang substitute some characters, Snoopy being the Pied Piper Beagle with his contract being for a year's supply of dog food. When Snoopy plays a concertina (with David Benoit doing the honors), he lures the mice away from the city town hall and the mice follow him out of town and into the distance, A woman claps to the beat, the sun is about to set, and the sky is about to turn orange, once Snoopy the Pied Piper Beagle and the mice are gone, the bells ring and the music gets faster as the mayor and his assistant members are put under a spell and dance to the faster tempo. We then cut back to the city town hall in which Charlie Brown warns the mayor and his assistant members that anybody that refuses to sign a contract and pay should pay in other ways, so Snoopy plays a long note on his instrument and he does it to the mayor, when Charlie Brown signs a contract, he gives the beagle a dog bone, when the mayor and his assistant members refuse to pay for Snoopy's contract for a year's supply of dog food and sign a contract, they laugh uncontrollably, but all of a sudden, they hear Snoopy the Pied Piper Beagle playing his music again, and the mayor and his assistant members become bewildered. Instead of Snoopy bringing the kids and the other Peanuts kids out of town with his music, he does it to the mayor and his jerky pals, lures them away from the city town hall and brings them out of town, the mayor and his assistant members dance to the tune of "Down By the Old Millstream", follow Snoopy the Pied Piper Beagle out of town and into the distance in which they now sing the song "Down By The Old Millstream", part of its lyrics "Not the river but the stream", "Where I first met you", "With your eyes of blue", "That you loved me true", "You were sixteen", "My village queen", and "By the old millstream", We then cut to the sunset scene in which the mayor and his jerky assistants sing the last part of "Down By the Old Millstream", and will never be seen again, once the mayor and his assistant members disappear by Snoopy the Pied Piper Beagle's concertina playing seen in the shadow of the sunset, the sky turns red and later, when the mayor and his assistants, Snoopy the Pied Piper Beagle with his instrument and the sun are finally gone from the sky, the last bit of the music plays, but when the music stops, the sky gets completely dark, and then nightfall approaches as the mayor and his assistants are soon enough seen next to a campfire, in which they now sing the song "Goodnight Sweetheart" and they then go to sleep, there's also some tents, a moon and a lake there. After they finally went to sleep, the music stops and we then cut back to the house in which Charlie Brown reads the verse of the story "And so the Pied Piper, led the mayor and his council members out of town" and when he finishes his story "A Promise is a Promise", his little sister Sally does not think it would happen in real life. When they hear the music and look out the outside window to see what it is, we see Snoopy's doghouse in a nighttime setting, there's a moon there, but the moon is different than the one from the "Goodnight Sweetheart" song, and they also see Snoopy the Pied Piper Beagle on his doghouse using music on his instrument to make Linus, Lucy, Franklin and Peppermint Patty bewildered and dance to the beat around his doghouse, Lucy waits long enough to shout at Charlie Brown in a rough manner "Charlie Brown, get your stupid dog to stop playing this music!" and Linus, Lucy, Franklin and Peppermint Patty continue dancing to the foursome dance music around Snoopy's doghouse, but after that, the music stops and the special concludes with a closing credit sequence.

After the credits, there's also a special presentation called "An American Classic, Peanuts" featurette about a documentary of a tribute to the Peanuts gang's all time creator Charles Schulz at the end of the VHS release, but on the DVD release, it can be shown on the "Special Features" menu.

Cast[]

Violet, Peppermint Patty, Schroeder, Pig-Pen, Marcie, and Franklin also appear but have no lines.

Production notes[]

It's the Pied Piper, Charlie Brown breaks Peanuts tradition in that it shows adults, who speak audible language. Other notable examples are the This Is America, Charlie Brown miniseries, which portrayed adult historical figures alongside the kids, as well as Life Is a Circus, Charlie Brown (1980), which featured a talking circus announcer.

References[]

  1. ^ Solomon, Charles (2012). The Art and Making of Peanuts Animation: Celebrating Fifty Years of Television Specials. Chronicle Books. pp. 41, 175. ISBN 978-1452110912.

External links[]

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