The Features:

This latest in the recent slate of 'Remastered Deluxe Edition' reissues of the late, great Charles Schulz's Charlie Brown cartoons may not be on par with the better, classic holiday specials but they're still worth a look, particularly for longtime fans. Here's a look at what's on the disc...

Peanuts: Snoopy's Reunion:

This cartoon, from 1991, finds everyone's favorite beagle in a bit of a slump. While he's happy with his life as Charlie Brown's dog, he can't help but feel like something is missing. Charlie Brown, perceptive and just genuinely caring as always, figures that what his best friend needs is family. As it turns out, we learn that when Snoopy was much younger, and still living at the Daisy Hill Puppy Farm, he and his fellow beagle pups played in a band. As they've all grown older and moved on to various locations, they've obviously grown apart.

Good ol' Chuck decides that what Snoopy needs to do is set up a family reunion, so that he can catch up with his old litter-mates. With some help from some good friends, Snoopy's clan all finally decide to meet up back at the old puppy farm, only to discover that things are not so much as they remember them. That said, change can't deter their spirit and Snoopy, Spike, Andy, Olaf, Marbles, Belle, Molly and Rover still have plenty in common and the reunion goes on.

While the plot is a little on the hokey side, the scenes where Snoopy and his siblings all get down with their instruments and perform absolutely make this worth watching. It's not everyday you get to see Snoopy and a bunch of 'Snoop-a-likes' get down with drums, banjo, violin, jug and guitar but it's all here in it's corny digitally remastered glory. It all leads up to an appropriately 'that's our Snoopy' style ending but as the story plays out, it's fun to learn a little bit more about where the world's most famous cartoon dog came from and what his various family members were like. That said, hardcore fans won't have a problem picking up continuity inconsistencies and contradictions between Snoopy's origin as told in this cartoon as opposed to Snoopy Come Home. Enjoyed on its own merits, however, this is still great family entertainment.

On the technical side of things, the animation is just as good here as it was in any of the other specials and as sugary as the story might be in spots, there are still a lot of good gags in here to keep the laughs coming. This is 100% Peanuts through and through and the magic is very definitely still here even if the episode isn't as instantly recognizeable or internationally famous as some of those that came before it.

It's Flashbeagle, Charlie Brown:

Ahhh.... the eighties. The decade of bad music, bad fashion, and bad politics didn't stop there, it took Charlie, Snoopy and company down a couple of notches as well with this animated special from 1984. I kid... it's really not that bad, but it's definitely a product of the decade in which it was made.

There isn't really a storyline here, so much as there's a premise. The Peanuts gang are all getting into physical fitness and part of that regiment involves dancing. Well as anyone who has ever gone dancing knows, some people have more rhythm than others. Linus is dangerous on his feet, while Snoopy zips around like the king of the world, showing off his moves and transforming himself from a regular dog into a super dancing Flashbeagle!

There's really not a whole lot more to it than that - the plot this time is wafer thin and it really seems to exist for the sole purpose of simply stringing together a few fun dance sequences involving the various characters. For what it is, it's entertaining enough and definitely worth a watch just for the 'wow, am I really watching this?' factor of the scene in which Snoopy really does become Flashbeagle (complete with live action fireworks and trippy psychedelic scenes).

It's Flashbeagle, Charlie Brown is mediocre Peanuts material to be sure, but it's entertaining enough on a surface level that it's a fun time killer. It doesn't have the heart or the soul that made the better entries in the series so good, but if nothing else, it's mindless entertainment.

The Video:

Everything on this disc shows up in 1.33.1 fullframe, just as it should be. The quality is pretty good and it appears that Snoopy's Reunion has been restored to a certain extent as it's cleaner and better looking than it previously was on DVD. Colors look nice and bright without appearing overcooked and there are only minor instances of any noticeable serious print damage (just specks here and there). Some mild grain is visible in some spots but that's completely forgivable, it just looks more film like. There aren't any problems with compression artifacts or edge enhancement to complain about and overall the material looks quite good.

The Audio:

The English language Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo soundtrack is clean and clear and as simple as it's always been. Dialogue is always nice and easy to understand and there aren't any problems with hiss or distortion. Levels are properly balanced and everything sounds fine. An Optional 2.0 Mono dub is available Dolby in Japanese while optional subtitles are supplied in English, French, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Thai.

The Extras:

The only really substantial extra on this disc is Together Again: A Peanuts Voice-Cast Reunion (9:49) that is essentially a document of a panel that was held at the 2008 San Diego Comic Con where some of the voice actors and actresses like Sally Dryer, Lee Mendelson, Jeannie Schulz and a few others got together to answer questions from a room of fans and sign autographs. The convention footage is spliced in with some clips from a few different cartoons and some interview bits as the participants talk about their work on the show. It's a fairly interesting segment that fans should enjoy a fair bit.

Aside from that, there's a trailer for Sesame Street Presents Follow That Bird, some animated menus, and chapter selection.

Overall:

While this release isn't on par with some of the better entries, Snoopy's Reunion has still got plenty of sweet comedic charm and Warner Brothers's remastered DVD looks and sounds just fine and includes a second bonus episode and a decent featurette to boot. Recommended.

Ian lives in NYC with his wife where he writes for DVD Talk, runs Rock! Shock! Pop!. He likes NYC a lot, even if it is expensive and loud.