(And yes, despite the fact the box says it has three specials, it actually has all six, including the bonus special on each disk.)
Added later: Whoops, I somehow missed that in addition to all that, the boxed set also has an exclusive CD of six Peanuts songs. A bargain gets even bargainer!
You know that big, two-volume hardcover boxed set of Willie & Joe you’ve been lusting after? The one with all those great World War II cartoons by Bill Mauldin, the very same cartoonist that Snoopy used to quaff root beers with each Veterans’ Day? And you look at the $65 cover price and muttered to yourself “someday, someday” in that same wistful tone you used while saying the same thing about that cute cheery blond in fourth grade?
Well, that someday is today. No, not for the blond; that day shall never come, I’m afraid. But you can get Willie & Joe for 60% off at the moment. That’s right, just 26 bucks, twenty-six genuine American smackers will get you the whole set. And if you’re in the US, you can even get free super-saver shipping on it without having to buy anything else.
(Also available sat 60% off is The Marvel Vault, a fancy gift book of nifty things behind Marvel Comics. But that doesn’t have any Peanuts link to mention, and I’ve already used up the bit about the blond.)
And as the cover points out, the book includes Linus’s blanket.
And according to another part of the cover…
…this is a choking hazard for kids under 3. So no responsible parent would give Linus’s blanket to a kid under 3. And thus Linus must be at least 3.
Or, well, his parents aren’t responsible. Which really is true. I mean, when was the last time you saw either of Linus’s parents giving him any quality time?
Anyway, the kit has a 16 page color story booklet, retelling a set of Linus-and-Snoopy-fight-for-the-blanket strips as prose-and-picture stories. Not a bad attempt to do such (although the modeled coloring once again makes the Peanuts youngsters look like they have five o’clock shadow), but it still begs the question “wouldn’t we be better off with strip reprints?”
The rest of the kit is the blanket, which at around 15 inches square is to small to be used in the many varied way that Linus exploits his. Well, except as a provider of security; it would serve the needs of The Producers‘ Leo Bloom better than it serves Linus.
So, is this an overpriced story booklet, or is it a nice little novelty blanket with a booklet bonus? I leave that to you to decide. Meanwhile, you can buy one for yourself… as long as you’re at least 3 years old.
My pal Scott McGuire notes that CBS is about to reair a one-hour documentary about Snoopy. No, not the dog himself… the blimp, Met Life’s “Snoopy One”.
The title is The Best Shot in Golf, and it airs Saturday daytime on CBS. Check your local listings.
Taking advantage of the election season, the folks at Warner Home Video are moving the TV special You’re Not Elected Charlie Brown from its former role as the second feature on Great Pumpkin DVDs to its own lead role on a DVD that comes out in early October. Taking the “bonus feature” slot on that DVD is He’s A Bully, Charlie Brown (that’s the one in which Rerun loses his marbles), making its premiere DVD appearance. Add in a new documentary featurette on the making of He’s Not Elected, and you’ve got a DVD, available for preorder now.
And speaking of the election, you can now vote - for a Peanuts character! The folks behind Rock The Vote have teamed up with the Peanuts gang for the website PeanutsRockTheVote.com! There, you can vote for which Peanuts character you would want to have as president (from a choice of five - but no, this is not a historic election like this year’s main race, so you can’t vote for Franklin or…. um… who’s a particularly old Peanuts character?), see the results from various states, read some election-oriented Peanuts strips, and get info on registering to vote in the real presidential election. (Because let’s face it, this Peanuts thing isn’t a real election. More of a non-binding referendum.)
By the way - when they had that panel of former Peanuts character voice actors at Comic-Con, they rushed them all off afterwards to tape some interview material for upcoming DVDs. They’re putting some effort into these extras. Even so, I wonder just how many times the Making Of can be interesting (although there are some which could be truly different, like It’s the Girl in the Red Truck, Charlie Brown.) I hope they find some other extras, like hte Peanuts film strips, and the various odd little bits.
And remember, if you need to find any of the Peanuts cartoons on home video, head over to our list of released shows. I leave up the links to the out-of-print titles, so you can find used copies when no new ones are available.
Well, I’ve got my hands on the Peanuts-covered issue of Racer X Illustrated which I mentioned earlier. It’s apparently not on the stands quite yet — I checked my local Borders yesterday, and they still had copies of the previous issue out (which means that the next issue should be findable when it arrives) — but, well, there are occasional perks to being the AAUGH.com guy.
The article behind the illustration is by Sparky’s son Craig, talking about how he got into motocross, and how his presence there brought about a week of strips and a TV special built around the sport. The Peanuts coverage piece gets seven pages (including reprinting all five of the Joe Motocross strips) plus a one-page sidebar on other motocrossing cartoon characters, a two-thirds page piece toward the front talking about the cover, and even a one-page ad for downloading You’re A Good Sport, Charlie Brown through Amazon Unbox video downloads… even though You’re A Good Sport doesn’t appear to be actually available there yet.
I have a liking for this sort of piece, ones which aren’t general Peanuts articles in general magazines, but which show how the strip connects to some specific audience. If it’s more about Craig than it is about Peanuts, that’s fine, because it clearly shows how that informed what Peanuts did, and gives just that much more insight on how Sparky gets his ideas. This isn’t a must-own, but if the concept intrigues you, seek it out. The issue is $4.99.
boxed set. Not only do you get three DVDs (A Charlie Brown Christmas, A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, and It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown) for about $10 less than buying them separately, you also get them weeks before a couple weeks before the last two of the individual disks are scheduled to ship.
t Elected Charlie Brown
