What Have We Learned, Charlie Brown?
| What Have We Learned, Charlie Brown? A Tribute |
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| Genre | Animation |
| Created by | Charles M. Schulz |
| Written by | Charles M. Schulz John McCrae (for the poem In Flanders Fields) |
| Directed by | Bill Melendez |
| Voices of | Brad Kesten Victoria Vargas Jeremy Schoenberg Stacy Heather Tolkin Michael Dockery Monica Parker Bill Melendez |
| Composer(s) |
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| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English, French |
| No. of episodes | 1 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Charles M. Schulz Creative Associates |
| Running time | 28 minutes |
| Release | |
| Original network | CBS |
| First shown in | May 30, 1983 |
| Chronology | |
| Preceded by | It's an Adventure, Charlie Brown |
| Followed by | It's Flashbeagle, Charlie Brown |
What Have We Learned, Charlie Brown? A Tribute is the 26th prime-time animated television special based upon the comic strip Peanuts, by Charles M. Schulz, who introduced the special. It originally aired on the CBS network on May 30, 1983, Memorial Day in the United States, and one week prior to the 39th anniversary of the D-Day Invasion. It aired on CBS only one other time, on May 26, 1984, which was the Saturday before Memorial Day, and ten days prior to the 40th anniversary of the D-Day Invasion.
The special directly follows the events of the 1980 theatrical feature film Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (and Don't Come Back!!). Charlie Brown, Linus, Snoopy, Peppermint Patty, Marcie, and are returning from their student exchange in Paris. The film was purposefully open-ended in case there could be other adventures among the characters prior to returning home.
Charles Schulz said about its development,
Schulz struggled with development of the storyline until shortly after his open-heart surgery in 1981. While recuperating, he was able to finalize the concept with a common line that would tie everything together, "What Have We Learned, Charlie Brown?"
The special opens with Charlie Brown back home, assembling a photo album of pictures taken from the trip. His younger sister, Sally, approaches and asks him how it went. From there, it is shown in a flashback:
As they begin to head back from the chateau to the train station for the return trip to London (where they would return to America by plane), their problematic rental car (a Citroen 2CV) slows their progress, before breaking down entirely in a small French town. Renting another one from a French lady (who immediately accepts their offer after realizing Snoopy is, in fact, a World War I Flying Ace) they soon become lost and camp at a nearby beach for the night. Linus, however, wakes up shortly before daybreak and walks along the beach, realizing they are at Omaha Beach.
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Wikipedia