Citizen Spike

 

Made the recent Blu-Ray purchase of 2025's PEANUTS Ultimate TV Specials Collection, and it's an impressive package.  Forty of the forty-five specials produced from the first special, "A Charlie Brown Christmas" in 1964 until 2011,  the direct-to-video release "Happiness Is A Warm Blanket, Charlie Brown", pretty much everything from the period prior to Apple +'s exclusive streaming deal and the new content they've produced since.

What's not included on the set: the Saturday morning cartoon series, THE CHARLIE BROWN and SNOOPY SHOW, which ran on CBS from 1983 to 1985, and the 1988 animated mini-series, THIS IS AMERICA, CHARLIE BROWN....and five specials that were produced in the 1980s that all have crazy broadcast rights issues, usually stemming from the two physical media distribution rights holders, Paramount and Warner Bros respectively, not holding those rights, usually because somebody else owns a piece of them prior to their involvement.

Like, for instance, 1993's YOU'RE IN THE SUPER BOWL, CHARLIE BROWN!....one of the few Peanuts specials not aired on CBS (coincidently now a subsidiary of Paramount), but instead on NBC.  The word around the campfire amongst Peanuts enthusiasts is that the reason why this special has never received a physical media release beyond a 1993 VHS is because one of the special's sponsors, Shell Oil has at least a piece of the aftermarket distribution rights, and the evidence is this...the only physical media release to date was the aforementioned 1993 VHS, which was sold exclusively through a promotion at Shell gas stations...

 

And, then there's the focus of this blog post, 1988's really......weird?.....IT'S THE GIRL IN THE RED TRUCK, CHARLIE BROWN...

Why I think it's weird-  well, there's the relative obscurity of the special.  Aired twice (once during it's broadcast debut in 1988 and the Disney Channel aired it only once on October 1, 1994 as part of Peanuts' 45th anniversary celebration).  The special was then released on VHS by Paramount in 1996, discontinued quickly and soon fell out of print.  There has yet to be a physical media release in any digital format (DVD, Blu-Ray, streaming).

The 1996 VHS release

Next:  there's the format and structure of the special itself.  The only Peanuts cast member featured is Spike, Snoopy's brother (whom I believe if they ever attempt a live action adaptation of the strip, Johnny Depp is born to play....)....outside of a letter reading framing sequence featuring Charlie Brown and Snoopy.  The rest of the special is a limited mix of live action and animation, a format not featured in any other Peanuts media.  The special plays like a backdoor pilot of a live action family drama, and a cartoon just happens to be a supporting cast member...

Separated at birth?

The Backstory:  This special (which I'll refer to as RED TRUCK for the rest of this rant) is one of the few pieces of Peanuts media that I like to refer to as "Peanuts Outliers".  The reason why it's labeled as such is that RED TRUCK is a special that meets the criteria of not conforming to the standard formula...it just did stuff that Peanuts specials aren't normally known for.

Snoopy Magazine, Fall 1988

What's the difference?  Supposedly, Charles Schulz viewed this project as his magnum opus, an attempt to create a masterpiece.  Sources say that he kept referring to this as his CITIZEN KANE (Schulz was a massive fan of the Orson Welles film).  He wrote, executive produced, and cast his daughter Jill Schulz in the lead role.  So, it's the closest thing we're ever going to get to a Peanuts vanity project.  And, then...Schulz's troubles began.

 

During RED TRUCK's production in 1988, the big summer movie was the live action/animation mix WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT?.  Schulz began fearing that the audience and critics would see RED TRUCK's mix of the mediums as being a rip-off of that film.  Schulz directed his daughter to clearly emphasize production dates of the special (which were prior to ROGER RABBIT's release) to point out the difference in the productions in interviews.

Jill Schulz's performance wasn't viewed favorably by critics, and some said the plot of the special didn't really go anywhere.  Some critics said that the interaction between the live actors and Spike was primitive, clumsy and unconvincing...

So, RED TRUCK remains a weird blip on the Peanuts radar, it's availability...and lack of... making it an obscurity.  Again, word around the campfire amongst enthusiasts is it's rarity is due to Schulz simply being disappointed in the critical response and wanting the show to remain dead and buried.

RED TRUCK is available on YouTube and Internet Archive via uploaded VHSRip.  I can remember taping this the night it was broadcast in 1988 and it remaining this oddity that I thought I had dreamed up during my high school days, and then I'd break out my VHS copy, view it, and conclude:  "Dear God....that was acually REAL.  I did see that once."