It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown


It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown! is the 12th prime-time animated TV special based on the comic strip Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz. In the United States, it debuted on CBS on April 9, 1974 at 8 PM. Thereafter, CBS aired it each Easter season from 1974 to 2000. ABC repeated the special in some years during the period 2001 through 2014.

Summary

While most of the Peanuts gang is busy getting ready for Easter, Linus futilely tries to convince them that it is all a waste of time, and that the "Easter Beagle" will take care of everything. Only Charlie Brown's sister, Sally, believes him, although she remains skeptical after their Great Pumpkin misadventure on Halloween.
Peppermint Patty and Marcie attempt to color Easter eggs, but as it is Marcie's first time, she does not know how. Their first attempt fails as Marcie fries the eggs on a griddle. The second attempt fails when she tries cooking more eggs on a waffle iron, then in a toaster, and baking the rest of them in the oven. In the third and final attempt, Peppermint Patty spends the last of her allowance on a third carton of eggs. In doing so, Peppermint Patty explains to Marcie about how the eggs must be cooked. The eggs are to be neither fried, roasted, toasted, nor waffled. They are supposed to be boiled. However, instead of putting them in shells-and-all, Marcie puts the eggs into the pot of water. This results with egg soup. Peppermint Patty has an outrage then screams to Marcie that she made egg soup. So that attempt one last time fails. At the end, Peppermint Patty has spent her whole allowance, is out of money, and cannot buy any more eggs. Therefore, she and Marcie end up with no colored eggs and are unable to make any more attempts.
Woodstock wakes up shivering in his nest after a cold spring rain. He goes for help to Snoopy, who buys him a birdhouse. At first Woodstock hates it, but soon makes it over into a bachelor pad, complete with television, contemporary artwork, a sunken bed, modern furniture, and a quadrophonic stereo system. Curious to see more of the inside, Snoopy gets his nose stuck in the entry hole and accidentally shatters the birdhouse, and so he buys Woodstock another house.
Much to Schroeder's chagrin, Lucy believes that Easter is the "gift-getting season", so she decides to have her own private Easter egg hunt, painting and then hiding the eggs herself to find them on Easter morning. But unknown to her, Snoopy follows close behind and snatches up each one of the eggs. Easter morning arrives, and so does the Easter Beagle, tossing eggs to everyone including Woodstock in his new birdhouse, to Lucy, and even Peppermint Patty and Marcie. But by the time he gets to Charlie Brown, Snoopy has run out of eggs, and he gives Charlie Brown an embarrassed smile instead.
At the end, when everyone has received Easter eggs, Sally, tells Linus that he was right. There is an "Easter beagle". But Lucy responds angrily. She reluctantly believes Linus that an Easter beagle exists and angrily says that he gave her an egg that was one of her own eggs. Charlie Brown did not get any goodies from the Easter beagle.
When everyone has received an Easter egg from the "Easter beagle", Marcie then asks Peppermint Patty what they should do with their eggs now that they have them. Peppermint Patty instructs Marcie that after you receive the eggs, you put a little salt on the eggs and eat them. Marcie does so. After the Easter Beagle's visit, Sally becomes a believer. But as for Lucy, she quickly realizes that the Easter Beagle gave her one of her own eggs. Because of that, she is still brooding about it ten weeks later, and Linus suggests that she go and talk about it with Snoopy. She visits Snoopy's doghouse to pick a fight, but Snoopy takes the fight out of her with a disarming kiss on the cheek. Lucy smiles at that because Easter still made her happy. Then she says, "The Easter Beagle" as the special ends.

Voice cast

Music score

The music score for ' was composed by Vince Guaraldi and conducted and arranged by John Scott Trotter. The score was recorded by the Vince Guaraldi Trio on February 12, 20, 26 and March 14, 1974, at Wally Heider Studios, featuring Seward McCain and Eliot Zigmund.
The song "Snoopy and Woodstock" featured is an uptempo reworking of "Mystery Theme," the primary theme of It's a Mystery, Charlie Brown which was broadcast two months prior to '.
  1. "Peppermint Patty"
  2. "Easter Theme"
  3. "Piano Sonata No. 3 in C Major, Opus 2: I. Allegro con brio"
  4. "Snoopy and Woodstock"
  5. "Linus and Lucy"
  6. "Woodstock's Dream"
  7. "Background No. 1"
  8. "Easter Theme"
  9. "Woodstock's Dream"
  10. "Snoopy and Woodstock"
  11. "Background No. 2"
  12. "Kitchen Music"
  13. "Linus and Lucy"
  14. "Woodstock's Pad"
  15. "Woodstock's Dream"
  16. "Minuet in G major, BWV Anh. 116"
  17. "Woodstock's Dream"
  18. "Kitchen Music"
  19. "Linus and Lucy"
  20. "Linus and Lucy"
  21. "Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Opus. 92: II. Allegretto"
  22. "Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Opus. 92: I. Poco sostenuto – Vivace"
  23. ""Background No. 3"
  24. "Linus and Lucy"
  25. "Easter Theme"
No official soundtrack for It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown has been released. However, in the mid-2000s, recording session master tapes for seven 1970s-era Peanuts television specials scored by Guaraldi were discovered by his son, David Guaraldi. This resulted in the release of "Snoopy and Woodstock" and "Kitchen Music" being released on the compilation album, Vince Guaraldi and the Lost Cues from the Charlie Brown Television Specials, Volume 2. In addition, a live version of "Woodstock's Pad" was also released in 2008 on Live on the Air from a Vince Guaraldi Trio concert originally recorded on February 6, 1974.

Voice talent

It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown was the last special for Todd Barbee. He would be replaced by Duncan Watson, respectively.

Television

The program's rights are held by ABC Television, where it runs annually. It ran annually on ABC from 2001 up to April 11, 2006. In 2007, the network, without any explanation, did not air the program, but it returned on March 18, 2008, as filler programming against American Idol. The TV special was watched by 6.32 million viewers, in fourth place behind Idol, NCIS and The Biggest Loser, and fifth place if Spanish-language Univision is counted. ABC didn't air the special in 2011 or 2012, but it aired on Easter Sunday 2013 along with Charlie Brown's All-Stars, watched by 2.56 million people, tied for fourth place behind the end of the NCAA Championship Basketball Game between Duke and Louisville and a rerun of The Voice. The special aired again with Charlie Brown's All-Stars on Easter Sunday in 2014. To date this is the last broadcast airing of the special.

Home media

It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown was released to DVD twice, first on March 4, 2003 by Paramount Home Entertainment and again on February 19, 2008 on a Remastered Deluxe Edition DVD from Warner Home Video. It was also released in the UK by Firefly Entertainment in 2004, with Life Is a Circus, Charlie Brown.
VHS releases of It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown have, in the past, been available in the 1980s from Kartes Video Communications, Media Home Entertainment and subsidiary Hi-Tops Video and in the 1990s by Paramount.