Why, Charlie Brown, Why?
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| Why, Charlie Brown, Why? | |
|---|---|
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| Genre | Animated TV Special |
| Created by | Charles M. Schulz |
| Written by | Charles M. Schulz |
| Directed by | Sam Jaimes |
| Voices of | Kaleb Henley (Charlie Brown) Brandon Stewart (Linus) Adrienne Stiefel (Sally) Jennifer Banko (Lucy) Olivia Burnette (Janice) Bill Melendez (Snoopy) Lindsay Sloane, Brittany Thornton (Janice's sisters) |
| Composer(s) | Judy Munsen |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Bill Melendez |
| Running time | 30 minutes (with commercials) |
| Broadcast | |
| Original airing | 1990 |
| Chronology | |
| Preceded by | You Don't Look 40, Charlie Brown |
| Followed by | Snoopy's Reunion |
Why, Charlie Brown, Why? is one of many prime-time animated TV specials based upon the popular comic strip Peanuts, by Charles M. Schulz. It originally aired in 1990 and was also nominated for an Emmy.[1]
Contents |
[edit] Story
Janice, a friend and classmate of Charlie Brown and Linus, has not been feeling well lately; she is always tired and has a constant fever, and her bruises are not healing. One day at school, Janice becomes so ill that she has to go home, and her classmates soon find out that she is in the hospital.
After school, Linus and Charlie Brown decide to visit Janice in the hosital, where she tells them that she has leukemia. The news hits Linus especially hard, as he appears to be falling for her. Janice explains what tests the doctors did to discover that she had cancer and explains that some of them did not hurt. She then shows them her IV line and explains her chemotherapy.
After learning of his friend's illness, Linus begins to see life differently, especially when he challenges his sister Lucy's narrow-minded attitude towards Janice's illness ("You could catch leukemia from her and give it to me! ... She probably got the disease because she's a creepy kid."). However, his eyes are really open when Janice comes back. She has lost her hair because of her chemotherapy, and wears a cap to cover her bald head. This attracts the attention of a schoolyard bully, who makes fun of Janice's baldness until an enraged Linus explains that she has cancer and asks if he would like to go through what Janice has gone through. The bully quickly softens and tells Janice that he likes her hat. As Christmas approaches, Linus goes to Janice's house to give her a present, but her sisters inform Linus that she is at the hospital receiving treatment. The sisters are upset at all the attention Janice has been getting lately. Linus gives them his present for Janice and departs.
Some time and lots of extensive treatments later, Janice tells Linus she has a surprise for him, and she reveals the surprise at the end of the show while playing on the swings: her long blonde hair has grown back even longer than it was before. The ending is quite open; the hair regrowing tells the viewer that the chemotherapy has ended. This opens two possibilities, either...
- the chemotherapy has succeeded, and she has returned to full health (the most likely scenario), or
- the chemotherapy failed, and Janice and her family have decided to stop medication and live for the day, and remain happy to the end.
[edit] Hymn
This special also included a brief rendition of the classic hymn "Farther Along," sung by Becky Reardon. The song played in the background as a tearful Linus struggled to make sense of Janice's illness.
[edit] Production and Reception
Why, Charlie Brown? Why? grew out of a proposal from the American Cancer Society that Charles M. Schulz and producer Bill Melendez create a short five-minute animated film to be shown to young cancer patients. When Schulz suggested that the five-minute film be expanded to a full half-hour special, Melendez and CBS initially balked at the idea but eventually agreed to do it because of Schulz's enthusiasm for the project (1). Schulz wrote the scenario for the special with input from the American Cancer Society and Sylvia Cook, a registered nurse at Stanford Children's Hospital. Cancer was a subject with which Charles M. Schulz was familiar; his mother died of cancer, and Schulz himself would eventually succumb to colon cancer. The special is also shown in public education systems, primarily elementary schools and junior high schools, as a method for teaching kids how others deal with leukemia.
Critical reaction to the special was mostly positive, although one reviewer found it somewhat "maudlin" at times, partly because of the "Farther Along" scene and Linus' losing his temper with the bully who teased Janice for being bald (2). Other reviewers, however, praised the show for its realism and poignancy and for Janice's bravery in facing her disease head-on (3).
[edit] Nominations
The episode was nominated for the Emmy for an Outstanding Animated Program (For Programming One Hour or Less.) [2]
[edit] References
[edit] External links
| Preceded by “You Don't Look 40, Charlie Brown” |
Peanuts television specials | Followed by “Snoopy's Reunion” |
