1988 was a landmark year in animated cinema for a single reason: “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?” The blockbuster showed human characters and cartoons interacting like old chums, and even if you're not the biggest fan of “Cool World” or MC Skat Kat, that remains a pretty rad idea. That's why it's too bad Charles Schulz had to sully the good name of “Peanuts” with an awful '88 CBS special that makes “Opposites Attract” seem like “Casablanca.”
The problems begin with the title: “It's the Girl in the Red Truck, Charlie Brown.”
The CBS special, which took years for Schulz to put together, was intended to be his “Citizen Kane.” (His words, not mine.) But it's actually a dreadful 50-minute dirge starring, of all characters, Snoopy's brother Spike. He spends quite a bit of time in a live-action, totally boring desert around saguaro cacti.
The special also a strangely obvious family affair, as the lead character Jenny is played by Schulz's daughter Jill while his son Monte cowrote the script.
Watch this scene and see if you can deduce its reason for being.