YOU'RE NOT ELECTED, CHARLIE BROWN

In the cutthroat world of politics, you're still a loser, Charlie Brown.

What a treat that Warner Bros. is releasing a slew of Charlie Brown and the Peanuts gang's TV specials, from It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, to the all-time classic Christmas special. What makes these releases so interesting is that the WB is also unearthing many little-known Peanuts specials (if you look at IMDb, there are over 40 of them!), just in time for their respective holidays. Each of the big-name specials also gets an extra special or two tacked on to the DVD.

I have to admit I don't remember ever seeing You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown. Created for TV in 1972, it was meant to coincide with the presidential election (Nixon vs. McGovern) and give the audience a more kid-friendly depiction of how an election is held.

In You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown, it is time for class president to be elected at the Peanuts gang's elementary school. First Charlie Brown considers running, but Lucy's unscientific poll results in her proclamation that a blockhead like Charlie Brown would never win... but how about Linus? Seeing Lucy ask kids if they would vote for Linus, while she threatens them with her fists is funny and honestly a little cringe-inducing. Linus rails against "the media" distorting his words, and it just takes one speech (where he proclaims the glory of The Great Pumpkin) to almost completely derail his campaign. Like many Peanuts specials, there is always more than a grain of truth going on, which makes this special still relevant and watchable today.

  DVD NOTES   
 
For this release, the more obscure Peanuts special tacked on to the DVD is called He's a Bully, Charlie Brown. It is obvious that this is a newer special, because the drawing style is noticeably different (the titular bully at the summer camp actually has eyelids... weird). And there is the character of Rerun, who is Linus and Lucy's little brother. The gist of the story is that the kids are at camp, and one bully is picking on less-skilled marbles players and winning all their marbles. Charlie Brown decides enough is enough, and tutors with Joe Cool until he faces off against the mean kid, and wins all the marbles back fair and square. Turns out this special was from 2006 (!) which may explain why this is the first special I've seen where Charlie Brown actually WINS at something. Could it have to do with our modern coddling of our kids? Curious. Overall, this special doesn't have the spark or the wit of other specials to make it memorable.

Like the other releases, there is a great mini-doc about the history of the making of You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown, including interviews with the "kids" that did the voices of the characters (they are now in the 40s). Turns out that the special was originally called You're Elected, Charlie Brown until one of the higher-ups pointed out that Charlie Brown in fact is NOT elected... Linus is! But apparently the song in the opening credits had already been recorded, and you can hear they original title is still in there. This special also introduced Snoopy's Joe Cool character, as well as the first song sung by composer Vince Guaraldi.