This Is America,
Charlie Brown (animated)
Picture: C+
Sound: C+ Extras: D Episodes: B
One of the greatest signs of how great The Peanuts Gang
was, is and always will be is in a remarkable series of books that were often
best-sellers and even vital reading for fans of all ages. This included books that made history
fun. By the late 1980s, the creators of
the TV specials decided to make an animated equivalent and the new This Is
America, Charlie Brown DVD set from Paramount.
Each installment runs a half-hour each and are as follows:
1) The
Mayflower Voyagers
2) The
Birth Of The Constitution
3) The
Wright Brothers At Kitty Hawk
4) The NASA
Space Station
5) The
Building Of The Transcontinental Railroad
6) The
Great Inventors
7) The
Smithsonian & The Presidency
8) The
Music & Heroes Of America
The shows are four-a-piece-per the two DVDs included in
slender cases that slide into a nice box.
Some of the shows work better than others, but I was impressed by the
wit, intelligence and progressiveness of the shows. In the Transcontinental Railroad segment, the Peanuts Gang
help hammer the spikes that make the railroad possible and are joined by the
Chinese workers (drawn in the best peanuts tradition) that built most of it and
were purposely never photographed. This
is not to say this is being overtly political, but telling the truth about
history seems to be political by default, which is another issue.
The only other thing I can compare these shows to is the
classic America Rock segments of the immortal Schoolhouse Rock
shorts (also on DVD). This set is
another good one for fans of Peanuts and solid family entertainment with
substance.
The 1.33 X 1 image is decent, with good color and art in
the Peanuts tradition. Sometimes, there
are flaws and minor errors, but they all play back well otherwise. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo has no surround
information on any of the installments, but they are all clean and clear. There are no extras, though maybe a special
edition with some books would work.
- Nicholas Sheffo
