You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown (1972)

As a lifelong fan of Charles Schulz's work who grew up in his hometown neighborhood and has visited the gallery near his home in Santa Rosa, Calif., I enjoyed You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown very much. The Peanuts gang's holiday specials are the best, of course, but Elected is very much in the Schulz tradition. (Note: Charlie Brown does not actually run for school president. He thinks he would lose and doesn't want the rejection, so Lucy takes a poll that predicts a 99% chance of losing. Oddly enough, the production team didn't realize until after the title track was recorded that Charlie not only is not elected but he doesn't run at all. As the producers explain in the disc's making-of featurette, that's why the lead song is "You're Elected, Charlie Brown" and the title shows the word "not" has been inserted.) Linus runs against a plain-vanilla kid named Douglas Anderson after Lucy's spot schoolyard poll (complete with threats to get the answers she wants) indicates Linus has a 99% chance of winning. Linus is a natural, of course, and gets pretty animated in his oratory. He's considered the clear shoo-in until he makes a major campaign gaffe. ("Auuugh!" cry Lucy and Charlie Brown.) As may be expected with the work of Charles Schulz, the twists and turns of the campaign trail are told at a child's-eye level but lampoon many of the contradictions and ironies of real campaigning (in the 1960s and early '70s). The disc includes the bonus show, "He's A Bully, Charlie Brown," where Charlie Brown goes to summer camp and takes on a raffish bully who has swindled several kids out of their marbles. It might be the only time Charlie Brown ever wins at something -- yet he's so modest that he lets the bully off easy. Enjoy! 4 stars.