HE'S YOUR DOG, CHARLIE BROWN

Once you move beyond the classic Peanuts holiday specials, you may be surprised to find that there were a whole bunch of Peanuts specials that, well, may have disappeared for a reason...

He's Your Dog, Charlie Brown is not a bad Peanuts special by any means. Snoopy has been misbehaving, getting the Peanuts kids all riled up and cranky, even Charlie Brown himself. Charlie Brown decides that Snoopy needs to go back to puppy camp at the Daisy Hill Puppy Farm for re-training. The funny thing here is that you can't say "puppy farm" these days without imagining horrible illegal operations where dogs are raised in tiny crates in unsanitary, cruel conditions. Is Snoopy really from a puppy farm?!?!? Anyway, it isn't surprising that he doesn't want to go, and Snoopy ends up taking a week-long vacation at Peppermint Patty's house on the way. This episode is kind of amusing, as Peppermint Patty gets tired of freeloading guest Snoopy and actually gives him the discipline he needs to earn his keep, making him do the dishes and vacuum under the bed. A nice lesson for all!

The other special on this disc is a bit weirder. Life is a Circus, Charlie Brown has Snoopy falling for a poodle in the visiting traveling circus. Next thing the gang knows, Snoopy has run off and joined the circus as a trapeze artist. Yes, Snoopy and a poodle doing trapeze routines for adoring crowds. The nice thing about Snoopy normally (despite his fantasy life as the Red Baron), is he almost always is believable as a real dog. OK, sure, he's the funny looking kid who plays shortstop with the kids on their baseball team, but you know what I mean. Riding a unicycle across a tightrope is just about jumping the shark in Snoopy's case, in my opinion.

With only two specials on this disc, this release is kind of skimpy. But again, they offer yet another stellar extra that makes up for it: Snoopy's Home Ice: The Story of the Redwood Empire Ice Arena. Did you know that Charles "Sparky" Schulz was such an ice hockey fan that he and his wife designed and rebuilt the local ice arena in Santa Rosa, CA as a fantastical Swiss-themed skate arena that doubles as a concert hall? I had no idea! I love it! Check it out at: http://www.snoopyshomeice.com/