Russ Rogers (11:33 AM on Thu Sep 4, 2008)

I think many of us have fond memories of "A Charlie Brown Christmas" and "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown." But how many of us remember well "It's Arbor Day Charlie Brown," "It's Flashbeagle, Charlie Brown," or "It's the Girl in the Red Truck, Charlie Brown"?

Bill Melendez was a very nice man. His work on "A Charlie Brown Christmas" alone should insure that he is forever enshrined in whatever Animators Hall of Fame there might be.

But Bill Melendez spent over 45 years riding his own coattails on a downward slide of consistently and increasingly dull, lifeless Charlie Brown specials with increasingly strained and outlandish premises. "It's Flashbeagle, Charlie Brown?" Seriously? In later Charlie Brown specials we SAW the adults, and the TALKED in voices we could understand! That's Antithetical to the Concept, Charlie Brown!

Out of the 50 plus Charlie Brown Movies, Specials and Episodes produced by Bill Melendez, how many are memorable or even tolerable? When I was ten, I fell asleep in the theater during "Snoopy Come Home." I didn't miss anything. It's even sadder when you compare the bulk of the Charlie Brown animations to the near perfect gem of "A Charlie Brown Christmas."

If people think "Superman Returns" was a poor continuation of a franchise based on a poor premise, well that doesn't even compare to "You're in the Super Bowl, Charlie Brown!"

John Tebbel (2:33 PM on Thu Sep 4, 2008)

Save some blame for the network, that needs holiday specials whether or not they make any sense, and for old Sparky himself, whose characters and franchise it was and who was ultimately in charge of saying no. Melendez kept the door to his studio open and the car payments coming for him and his staff. This is show biz, not Mt. Olympus. I think it's lots worse to see the characters flogging life insurance.

Vinnie Bartilucci (2:43 PM on Thu Sep 4, 2008)

As god as my witness, It's the Super Bowl Charlie Brown is on heavy rotation in my house - it's one of my daughter's favorites. Probably all the little woodstocks bouncing around.

The original specials...well, they live up to the word. As a kid, when I saw those multicolored letters spin across the screen and the jazzy "taktakkataktataktak buuuwaaahhhhh ba-da-dah da don-DAH!" played, I just assumed it was going to be a Peanuts cartoon.

I was a very emotional kid. I actually started crying when Charlie Brown won the motocross race on bike number thriteen in You're a Good Sport Charlie Brown. And thanks to the lessons taught by Your the Greatest charlie Brown, I have never closed my eyes during a foot race.

Eventually they started to get...strained. I recall a gag comic strip about the new special "It's a municipal holiday, Charlie Brown". By the time the Saturday Morning cartoon was on, the juice was gone from the fruit and they were starting to render moisture from the rind and pith.