Woodyanders Review of She's a Good Skate, Charlie Brown

She's a Good Skate, Charlie Brown (1980 TV Short)

Typically enjoyable Peanuts TV special

[8/10 · 13 November 2011]

Peppermint Patty rigorously trains for an upcoming figure skating competition with Snoopy serving as her tough coach and Marcie deputized as her reluctant costume designer. Director Bill Melendez, working from a pleasant and witty script by Charles M. Schulz, relates the delightful story at a snappy pace, creates and sustains an engagingly breezy tone, and milks the amusing sense of good-natured dry humor for a few solid laughs (it's a total hoot to see a crabby and exacting Snoopy put Patty through her paces and the sequence with Patty and Snoopy standing up to a team of belligerent bully hockey players is quite funny). Naturally, the trademark sweet and warm Schulz sensibility is very evident here, with the single most lovely, precious, and touching moment occurring when Woodstock whistles the music for Patty over the microphone at the big skating event after Snoopy accidentally breaks the cassette player. The nice jazzy score by Ed Bogas and Judy Munsen keeps things bubbling along. The animation is really bright and colorful as well. Well worth a watch for Peanuts fans.