Life Is a Circus, Charlie Brown
| Life Is a Circus, Charlie Brown | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Animated TV Special |
| Created by | Charles M. Schulz |
| Directed by | Phil Roman |
| Voices of | Michael Mandy Brent Hauer Casey Carlson Earl "Rocky" Reilly Kristen Fullerton Shannon Cohn Christopher Donohoe Bill Melendez |
| Composer(s) |
Ed Bogas Judy Munsen |
| Country of origin | USA |
| Original language(s) | English |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Lee Mendelson |
| Producer(s) | Bill Melendez |
| Cinematography | Nick Vasu |
| Editor(s) | Roger Donley Chuck McCann |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Release | |
| Original network | CBS |
| First shown in | October 24, 1980 |
| Chronology | |
| Preceded by | She's a Good Skate, Charlie Brown |
| Followed by | It's Magic, Charlie Brown |
Life is a Circus, Charlie Brown is the 20th prime-time animated TV special based upon the popular comic strip Peanuts, by Charles M. Schulz. It was originally aired on the CBS network on October 24, 1980. The special won an Emmy Award in 1981 for Outstanding Animated Program.
Snoopy is lying on top of his doghouse when he hears music. He follows the music and finds a circus unloading. Among other animals, he sees three poodles, and immediately latches onto the white one (whom the audience later learns is named Fifi). He follows her to the entrance of the big top with his tongue hanging out and his pupils shaped like hearts, then stops. Polly, the dog's trainer, sees Snoopy and pulls him inside.
The next day, Peppermint Patty calls Charlie Brown to tell him her school gave all students the day off to see the circus. Charlie Brown tells her that his school will be closed as well, and they decide to attend the circus together. At the circus the children see Snoopy perform as part of a dog act. They all realize it is Snoopy and eventually relish his new career, despite Snoopy's shortcomings being completely untrained. However, Charlie Brown isn't having any of it, exclaiming Snoopy's career is being his dog.
Later that night, Charlie Brown realizes Snoopy has not returned. He goes to the circus site in time to see Snoopy enter a boxcar, still following Fifi. The gate of the boxcar slams shut on him, and the circus train pulls away. The next scene involves Snoopy trying to find a good warm place to fall asleep while the train is in motion. First he tries to lie on the humps of a camel, only to slide off in between both humps each time, then he finds a lion lying on the ground with its mane spread out on the floor. Snoopy finds this warm enough to settle into and does, but his comfort is short-lived when the lion wakes up and, while it does no harm to Snoopy, he gets scared off, running over the top of a bear (waking it but that's all), then finds himself in another boxcar filled with props. He decided to lie on top of one box, which turns out to be the saw-a-person-in-half magic trick. He falls into that box and his head and feet appear out the holes in each end.
Polly slowly trains Snoopy to become part of the act. First he is given the name Hugo The Great, then he is taught to ride a unicycle first on the ground, then on the high wire. Snoopy also learns to do a back flip and his performance in the next show is an improvement.
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