Snoopy's Presents: Lucy's School

 

AIRDATE: 8/12/2022

It's been three months, time for Apple TV to drop another Peanuts special!

STORY

It's not just a new school year the kids are dreading. A new school looms in the near distance, strange as it is scary, scary as it is strange. Leading the charge against the tyranny of mandated education is Lucy, who has discovered a way she and her friends can enjoy endless summer. First, though, she has to teach them a thing or two about a thing or two. 

MUSIC

Sharing the slide with Jeff Morrow, She & Him contribute both a cute original song, "Back To School," and a sweet-spirited rendition of the Beach Boys classic "All Summer Long," which plays over a montage of amiable frolic. 

ANIMATION

I can't get enough of this new Peanuts style. I wanna stir it into my mashed potatoes. I wanna pour it into my bathwater. Unprecedented (for Peanuts) experimentation with color and design encourages repeated viewings of a show that is admittedly light on laugh-out-loud moments. 

VOICES

After a two-special break, Etienne Kellici returns to voice the world's most beloved blockhead. He fits in just fine with the troupe, who've all settled into their roles, snug as a hug.

ENGLISH 

Lucy's unorthodox teaching methods mean every day is a field trip. Her class (which includes Jose Peterson! And Snoopy!) sits through Star Trek, stamps up bingo cards, and shoots a round of mini-golf. Because what better way, truly, to learn about science, math and geography? 

Miss Othmar, make way for Miss Halverson. That name hit me immediately, and with a little research, I discovered why: Charles Schulz's mother, Dena Halverson. 

MATH

Change can be so devastating for a kid. I'm digging these new specials not only delving into uneasy moments of childhood, but also how two of them have centered around Lucy, always the most brazenly emotional of the bunch. 

The expanded neighborhood, where we see the characters interacting with other kids who'll never be given names much less lines, is another check in the column. But there's only so much more I can endure of Roy being seen and never heard. Guys, he was the Peppermint Patty hook-up in the comic strip! So vital! Just a line!

SCORE

Solid 8/10. No cynicism, no snark, just a nice little story told marvelously. And little kids cracking accidental jokes on England.