Lauf um Dein Leben, Charlie Brown! (1977)

Lauf um Dein Leben, Charlie Brown!: Directed by Bill Melendez, Phil Roman. With Duncan Watson, Greg Felton, Stuart Brotman, Gail Davis. The Peanuts gang goes to summer camp, and they participate in a river-raft race against some cheating bullies.

“Charlie Brown and the gang head to summer camp, where they run into a group of nasty bullies and their cat (which is the size of a bulldog). They all compete in a big river raft race where our favorites run into lots of obstacles, including sabotage from the bullies. The third Peanuts film is enjoyable enough, but not one of the best. For one thing, the great Vince Guaraldi had passed away before this so this was scored by Ed Bogas. His music choices are uninspired and forgettable. There are a lot of physical gags in this one, especially once the race starts (and it takes up the majority of the film). There are also some funny character bits, such as Peppermint Pattyu0026#39;s pushing for a vote for everything. Sally also has a number of cute lines (u0026quot;I wasnu0026#39;t even born in 1800!u0026quot;). Snoopy and Woodstock also get some amusing stuff to do but the boy characters, like Charlie Brown and Linus, have few memorable funny moments. Charlie Brown does get to step up and be the hero in the end, and the scene where he stands up to pushy Patty was very awesome, but he doesnu0026#39;t get much in the humor department. Also, the bully villains are pretty one-note. Theyu0026#39;re very obnoxious and easy to root against but it wouldu0026#39;ve been nice to see them have a sliver of character. They donu0026#39;t even have names. The voice work is decent. The animation is solid with nice colors and well-done action scenes. Itu0026#39;s not one of my favorite Peanuts cartoons, full-length or short, because thereu0026#39;s really not a lot of meat on the bone here. But it is fun and the characters are quirky and colorful as ever. Itu0026#39;s definitely better than most of the Peanuts cartoons put out from the u0026#39;80s onward, but just not up there with the very best earlier stuff.”