It’s Flashbeagle, Charlie Brown premiered on this day 40 years ago, almost exactly one year after the release of its obvious inspiration Flashdance, which opened in theaters on April 15th, 1983. Naysayers like to claim that Flashbeagle was already dated even before it aired, usually pointing out that the special has no plot, but c’mon. This is Peanuts we are talking about! Charlie Brown and Snoopy’s primetime outings usually weren’t especially strong in the story department anyway. I mean, have you watched A Charlie Brown Christmas? The plot for that thing doesn’t really start until more than halfway through its runtime, and everyone loves it anyway.
So for those who haven’t watched the most awesome Peanuts special ever, Flashbeagle is a musical with several original songs which coincided with a soundtrack album of the same name. Again, as previously noted, there really is no plot. Snoopy plays football with Peppermint Patty. Then Peppermint Patty sucks at school. Then there’s a party. Then Snoopy dances at a nightclub. The end. But none of that really matters, because these songs rock. They are all products of the 1980s, and gloriously so. Where else are you gonna see Peppermint Patty leading an aerobics class? And I haven’t even mentioned the animation of Snoopy dancing, which is simply sublime, made fluid by the fact that Jennifer Beals’s body double from Flashdance actually provided the live-action reference for it.
Unfortunately, It’s Flashbeagle, Charlie Brown is not available in its entirety on YouTube (thanks for that, Apple). What I can give you, though, are the commercials that aired during its original broadcast, so hey, that’s cool. So enjoy these ads which feature a couple getting horny over Ritz Crackers, and Almost Joy desperately trying to convince you that people actually like Almond Joys…
Have a flashing cool night, y’all!