It is a sad and heavy story, that is still met with a happy and light ending so that the kids who watch Peanuts, as well as parents or grandparents who have real kids with cancer do not get too upset to watch it again. For 40 years, the Peanuts comic books and cartoons were known for telling lighthearted yet mature slice-of-life stories that only showed kids and their pets, and rarely ever showed adults (except when they needed to in the Thanksgiving special, the mini-series about American history and Snoopy's Reunion). In 1990, we get a very special episode near and dear to the heart of Charles M. Schulz. Because of his own real experience and family history of cancer, I could not be more proud of Charles M. Schulz for negotiating with Sylvia Cook, Bill Melendez and CBS to make this a full 22-minute story, instead of a 5-minute PSA short like the ones he made about brushing teeth, dental hygiene and air pollution in 1978. I also love it when serious PSA stories that introduce a new character for their story, know how to give their main subject character some depth and personality that helps us feel emotionally attached to them for the single story they are in. Oops was a very special Family Ties episode from Season 1 that I watched because it featured Cristen Kauffman two years before she played Betty in Back to the Future and got to work with Michael J. Fox again. Oops was a stand-out serious episode about teen pregnancy which did a good job of fleshing out the personalities and interactions of Cindy Sullivan and her mother Lynn Sullivan. It is the same case with Janice Emmons, her older sister and her younger sister in Why, Charlie Brown, Why. Even in other Peanuts TV specials or movies that do not take on a serious subject like this one, stories that include other new kids we do not see often, really help to expand the world of Peanuts, which says a lot for a cartoon world limited to an unspecified suburban American town with kids who are perpetually stuck in the mid-20th century using rotary phones and typewriters. Yes, even in The Peanuts Movie from 2015.
1990 was an unusual and fascinating year for children's animation; the same year of Why, Charlie Brown, Why? Had Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue when Alf, Alvin and the Chipmunks, Garfield, Tigger, Winnie the Pooh, and the main characters of DuckTales, Looney Tunes, Muppet Babies and The Smurfs come together to teach a brother and sister, Michael and Corey, about how to quit on drugs. Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue and Why, Charlie Brown, Why? Deserve to be remembered for being a big start for two new actors each. WCBW is the first acting credit for Sabrina the Teenage Witch star Lindsay Sloane, who voiced Janice's older sister, and the twelfth acting credit for The Torkeltons star Olivia Burnette, who gives a very good serious child's performance as Janice Emmons in this TV special and Mickey Bolen in Casey's Gift: For Love of a Child. CASttR is the first time after Mel Blanc's passing when Jeff Bergman got to play Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, who each show Michael his past and future with drugs, and he puts on a memorable first performance for both characters. It is also the fifth acting credit for Jason Marsden, who voices Michael and got to have a very illustrious cartoon acting career ever since, including A Goofy Movie and The Fairly OddParents.
Why, Charlie Brown, Why? Is the yin to Cartoon All-Stars' yang, the various cartoon characters who come together and take Michael on a trippy adventure and encourage Corey to tell her parents about his problem give the story a whimsical tone despite the serious subject matter. Why, Charlie Brown, Why? Is more sad and serious, and tells a much more down-to-earth story like many Peanuts cartoons before and after it, but does not forget to have light moments of comedic relief with Snoopy and Woodstock as the seasons change from fall to winter to spring, and goes deep into showing us a variety of positive and negative reactions to Janice's cancer. Linus and Charlie are Janice's friends and visitors who get a little scared when she tells them how she learned she had leukemia, but they support her all throughout her journey and hope for her to get better. Sally ignores how Janice feels when she does not like riding the school bus and tells Janice she could have stayed and played at home longer after she got well. Lucy acts even worse when she believes Janice is contagious and will get her and Linus sick, and thinks Janice got cancer because she is a "creepy kid."
I am very happy that Janice Emmons survived her cancer, not only because Why, Charlie Brown, Why would be too much of a downer if she died young, but it would also be a cheap way to cut off the story early when there are more sides to this subject to cover in the second half of the story. Transition from fall to winter, and Janice is bald from chemotherapy treatments. Linus stands up to a mean boy who bullied Janice for being bald, and asks him how he would feel if he had cancer and lost his hair. Linus goes to Janice's house to give her a Christmas present, and her older sister is mad that Janice keeps getting more Christmas gifts than them. Janice's younger sister says that all the presents and attention that Janice gets are ways for people who care about Janice to show that they hope she gets well. When spring comes by, Janice is well again and she is happy to be back at school. The swings are back after the winter, and Linus pushes Janice on the swings again with the joyful surprise that her hair grew back in 3 months since we last saw her in the winter. I was proud of Charles M. Schulz for telling a heavy, yet idealistic story that carefully educates kids about cancer and can still have a happy ending without any cheap death fake-outs. 😠I do not think Why, Charlie Brown, Why? Would be any better or develop Linus's character throughout the story any more if Janice Emmons died in the end or in the middle, and I also do not think Wonder Park would be a better story for June Bailey if her mom died. They would waste good characters by not treating them like an actual person with their own side of the story to tell because they were only a "motivational tool" for Linus's and June's story. June's mom teaches her to keep her light of positivity shining in her, which is an important thing for June to remember to do to keep Wonderland alive on her own whether or not her mother survives. June Bailey's mom surviving her sickness in the end does nothing to nullify June's character development throughout the story, and I would much rather prefer June being rewarded with the return of her mom, than for June to lose her mom and possible learn how to move on from it way too fast.
1990 was an unusual and fascinating year for children's animation; the same year of Why, Charlie Brown, Why? Had Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue when Alf, Alvin and the Chipmunks, Garfield, Tigger, Winnie the Pooh, and the main characters of DuckTales, Looney Tunes, Muppet Babies and The Smurfs come together to teach a brother and sister, Michael and Corey, about how to quit on drugs. Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue and Why, Charlie Brown, Why? Deserve to be remembered for being a big start for two new actors each. WCBW is the first acting credit for Sabrina the Teenage Witch star Lindsay Sloane, who voiced Janice's older sister, and the twelfth acting credit for The Torkeltons star Olivia Burnette, who gives a very good serious child's performance as Janice Emmons in this TV special and Mickey Bolen in Casey's Gift: For Love of a Child. CASttR is the first time after Mel Blanc's passing when Jeff Bergman got to play Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, who each show Michael his past and future with drugs, and he puts on a memorable first performance for both characters. It is also the fifth acting credit for Jason Marsden, who voices Michael and got to have a very illustrious cartoon acting career ever since, including A Goofy Movie and The Fairly OddParents.
Why, Charlie Brown, Why? Is the yin to Cartoon All-Stars' yang, the various cartoon characters who come together and take Michael on a trippy adventure and encourage Corey to tell her parents about his problem give the story a whimsical tone despite the serious subject matter. Why, Charlie Brown, Why? Is more sad and serious, and tells a much more down-to-earth story like many Peanuts cartoons before and after it, but does not forget to have light moments of comedic relief with Snoopy and Woodstock as the seasons change from fall to winter to spring, and goes deep into showing us a variety of positive and negative reactions to Janice's cancer. Linus and Charlie are Janice's friends and visitors who get a little scared when she tells them how she learned she had leukemia, but they support her all throughout her journey and hope for her to get better. Sally ignores how Janice feels when she does not like riding the school bus and tells Janice she could have stayed and played at home longer after she got well. Lucy acts even worse when she believes Janice is contagious and will get her and Linus sick, and thinks Janice got cancer because she is a "creepy kid."
I am very happy that Janice Emmons survived her cancer, not only because Why, Charlie Brown, Why would be too much of a downer if she died young, but it would also be a cheap way to cut off the story early when there are more sides to this subject to cover in the second half of the story. Transition from fall to winter, and Janice is bald from chemotherapy treatments. Linus stands up to a mean boy who bullied Janice for being bald, and asks him how he would feel if he had cancer and lost his hair. Linus goes to Janice's house to give her a Christmas present, and her older sister is mad that Janice keeps getting more Christmas gifts than them. Janice's younger sister says that all the presents and attention that Janice gets are ways for people who care about Janice to show that they hope she gets well. When spring comes by, Janice is well again and she is happy to be back at school. The swings are back after the winter, and Linus pushes Janice on the swings again with the joyful surprise that her hair grew back in 3 months since we last saw her in the winter. I was proud of Charles M. Schulz for telling a heavy, yet idealistic story that carefully educates kids about cancer and can still have a happy ending without any cheap death fake-outs. 😠I do not think Why, Charlie Brown, Why? Would be any better or develop Linus's character throughout the story any more if Janice Emmons died in the end or in the middle, and I also do not think Wonder Park would be a better story for June Bailey if her mom died. They would waste good characters by not treating them like an actual person with their own side of the story to tell because they were only a "motivational tool" for Linus's and June's story. June's mom teaches her to keep her light of positivity shining in her, which is an important thing for June to remember to do to keep Wonderland alive on her own whether or not her mother survives. June Bailey's mom surviving her sickness in the end does nothing to nullify June's character development throughout the story, and I would much rather prefer June being rewarded with the return of her mom, than for June to lose her mom and possible learn how to move on from it way too fast.