''This Is America, Charlie Brown'' is an eight-part animated television miniseries that depicts a series of events in

American history The history of the lands that became the United States began with the arrival of Settlement of the Americas, the first people in the Americas around 15,000 BC. Native American cultures in the United States, Numerous indigenous cultures formed ...

featuring characters from the

Charles M. Schulz Charles Monroe "Sparky" Schulz (; November 26, 1922 – February 12, 2000) was an American cartoonist and the creator of the comic strip ''Peanuts'', featuring what are probably his two best-known characters, Charlie Brown and Snoopy. He is wi ...

comic strip ''

Peanuts ''Peanuts'' is a syndicated daily and Sunday American comic strip written and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz. The strip's original run extended from 1950 to 2000, continuing in reruns afterward. ''Peanuts'' is among the most popular and infl ...

''. It aired from 1988 to 1989 on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

. The first four episodes aired as a weekly series in October and November 1988; the final four episodes aired monthly from February to May 1989. Due to the nature of the events portrayed and the historical figures included — such as the Wright Brothers and

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...

— the opposite of most Charlie Brown cartoons, many adults were shown in full view along with the Peanuts gang, something that happened rarely in the animated films and specials and in only one early sequence in the comic strip. These adults were drawn in a style similar to ''

It's Only a Game ''It's Only a Game'' was a sports-and-game-oriented comics panel by Charles M. Schulz, creator of ''Peanuts''. Stephen D. Becker, ''Comic Art In America''. New York : Simon and Schuster, 1959, (p.159, 366) This panel feature ran for 14 months, fr ...

'', another comic strip by Schulz that featured adults, as well other productions that were overseen by ''Peanuts'' regular

Bill Melendez José Cuauhtémoc "Bill" Melendez (November 15, 1916 – September 2, 2008) was an American character animator, voice actor, film director and producer. Melendez is known for working on the ''Peanuts'' animated specials. Before ''Peanuts'', he p ...

. While all eight episodes were subsequently rerun by CBS in the summer of 1990, the series as a whole subsequently aired in the U.S. on Disney Channel between 1993 and 1997, which gave way to

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Group. It ...

between 1998 and 2003. However, "The ''Mayflower'' Voyagers" episode returned to television in 2008 (and aired each year through 2019, after which the ''Peanuts'' television specials migrated over to the

Apple TV+ Apple TV is a digital media player and microconsole developed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is a small network appliance hardware that plays received media data such as video and audio to a television set or external display. Since its secon ...

streaming platform) as companion material to pad the 1973 special '' A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving'' to a full one-hour time slot. To accommodate the slot, portions of the episode were abridged.

Music

The series included music by many composers and performers including ''Peanuts'' regular

Ed Bogas Edgar Noel "Ed" Bogas (born February 2, 1942), sometimes credited as Edward Bogas, is an American musician and composer whose work has been featured in films, animations, and video games. Career Bogas' contributions span four decades and several ...

, Dave Brubeck, David Benoit (who would later take over scoring the specials starting with '' It's Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown''),

George Winston George Winston (born December 26, 1949) is an American pianist, guitarist, harmonicist, and record producer. He was born in Michigan and raised mainly in Montana ( Miles City and Billings), as well as Mississippi and Florida. He is best known fo ...

Wynton Marsalis Wynton Learson Marsalis (born October 18, 1961) is an American trumpeter, composer, teacher, and artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. He has promoted classical and jazz music, often to young audiences. Marsalis has won nine Grammy Award ...

and

Dave Grusin Robert David "Dave" Grusin (born June 26, 1934) is an American composer, arranger, producer, jazz pianist, and band leader. He has composed many scores for feature films and television, and has won numerous awards for his soundtrack and record w ...

. This continued a tradition of using jazz musicians for the musical score; original composer

Vince Guaraldi Vincent Anthony Guaraldi (; né Dellaglio, July 17, 1928 – February 6, 1976) was an American jazz pianist best known for composing music for animated television adaptations of the ''Peanuts'' comic strip. His compositions for this series includ ...

had died in 1976, though several of his music scores were reused, notably his signature tune, "

Linus and Lucy "Linus and Lucy" is a popular instrumental jazz standard written by American jazz pianist Vince Guaraldi, appearing in many ''Peanuts'' animated specials. Named for the two fictional siblings Linus and Lucy van Pelt, it was originally released o ...

". This miniseries featured

The Winans The Winans are an American gospel quartet from Detroit, Michigan consisting of brothers Marvin, Carvin, Michael and Ronald Winans. Members ''Please refer to the Winans family page for more detail on the individual members.'' About: Origins & Mu ...

, Desirée Goyette, and Lou Rawls as the singing vocals (Goyette and Rawls had previously worked with Melendez on the ''

Garfield ''Garfield'' is an American comic strip created by Jim Davis. Originally published locally as ''Jon'' in 1976, then in nationwide syndication from 1978 as ''Garfield'', it chronicles the life of the title character Garfield the cat, his hum ...

'' TV specials).

Cast

Regular voice actors

*Erin Chase:

Charlie Brown Charles "Charlie" Brown is the principal character of the comic strip '' Peanuts'', syndicated in daily and Sunday newspapers in numerous countries all over the world. Depicted as a "lovable loser," Charlie Brown is one of the great American a ...

(first female actress to voice Charlie Brown) *Erica Gayle: Lucy van Pelt *Brittany M. Thornton:

Sally Brown Sally Brown is a fictional character in the comic strip ''Peanuts'' by Charles Schulz. She is the younger sister of main character Charlie Brown. She was first mentioned in May 1959 and throughout a long series of strips before her first appeara ...

*Brandon Stewart: Linus van Pelt *Jason Mendelson:

Peppermint Patty Peppermint Patty is a fictional character featured in Charles M. Schulz's comic strip ''Peanuts''. Her full name is Patricia Reichardt, which is very rarely used in the strip. She is one of a small group in the strip who live across town from C ...

*Marie Cole: Marcie *Curtis Andersen:

Schroeder __NOTOC__ Schroeder is a North German language, German (from Schröder) occupational name for a cloth cutter or tailor, from an agent derivative of Middle Low German , "to cut". The same term was occasionally used to denote a gristmiller as well as ...

* Hakeem Abdul-Samad: Franklin *

Snoopy Snoopy is an anthropomorphic beagle in the comic strip ''Peanuts'' by Charles M. Schulz. He can also be found in all of the ''Peanuts'' films and television specials. Since his debut on October 4, 1950, Snoopy has become one of the most recog ...

and

Woodstock Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock. Billed as "an Aq ...

Occasional voice actors

*Jason Riffle: Charlie Brown (in ''The Birth of The Constitution'') *

Jeremy Miller Jeremy James Miller (born October 21, 1976) is an American actor. He is known for his portrayal of Ben Seaver on ''Growing Pains'' and its two reunion movies. He also voiced Linus van Pelt in ''Happy New Year, Charlie Brown!''. Career Miller ...

: Linus van Pelt (in ''The Birth of The Constitution'') * Ami Foster: Lucy van Pelt (in ''The Birth of The Constitution'') *Christina Lange: Sally Brown (in ''The Birth of The Constitution'') *Keri Houlihan: Marcie (in ''The Birth of The Constitution'') *Tani Taylor Powers: Marcie (in ''The Mayflower Voyagers'' and ''The Wright Brothers at Kitty Hawk'') * Cameron Clarke: Snoopy (in ''The Music and Heroes of America'') *Sean Mendelson: Pilgrim Boy (in ''The Mayflower Voyagers'') *Grant Gelt: Franklin (in ''The NASA Space Station'')

Pig-Pen Pig-Pen is a fictional character in the comic strip ''Peanuts'' by Charles M. Schulz. While amiable, he is a young boy who is, except on rare occasions, extremely dirty and attracts a permanent cloud of dust. History "Pig-Pen" is a nickname. I ...

, Violet, and other characters appear a few times but are silent.

Additional voice actors

* Frank Welker - Captain Smith (in ''The Mayflower Voyagers''), Pilgrim Explorer 2 (in ''The Mayflower Voyagers''), Squanto (in ''The Mayflower Voyagers''),

George Mason George Mason (October 7, 1792) was an American planter, politician, Founding Father, and delegate to the U.S. Constitutional Convention of 1787, one of the three delegates present who refused to sign the Constitution. His writings, including ...

(in ''The Birth of The Constitution''),

Gouverneur Morris Gouverneur Morris ( ; January 31, 1752 – November 6, 1816) was an American statesman, a Founding Father of the United States, and a signatory to the Articles of Confederation and the United States Constitution. He wrote the Preamble to th ...

(in ''The Birth of The Constitution''), Wilbur Wright (in ''The Wright Brothers at Kitty Hawk''), Jason Welker (in ''The NASA Space Station''), Alexander Graham Bell (in ''The Great Inventors''),

Thomas Edison Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventi ...

(in ''The Great Inventors''),

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

(in ''The Smithsonian and the Presidency''),

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

(in ''The Smithsonian and the Presidency'') *

Gregg Berger Gregory Alan Berger (born December 10, 1950) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Jecht from ''Final Fantasy X'' and the ''Dissidia Final Fantasy'' games, Grimlock from '' The Transformers'', Mysterio and Kraven the Hunter from '' ...

- Pilgrim Leader (in ''The Mayflower Voyagers''), Myles Standish (in ''The Mayflower Voyagers''), Pilgrim Explorers (in ''The Mayflower Voyagers''), Orville Wright (in ''The Wright Brothers at Kitty Hawk''), NASA Mission Control (in ''The NASA Space Station''), Thomas Watson (in ''The Great Inventors''), Samuel (in ''The Smithsonian and the Presidency'') * Chris Collins as ''Mayflower'' Watchman (in ''The Mayflower Voyagers''), Samoset (in ''The Mayflower Voyagers'') * Hal Smith as

(in ''The Birth of the Constitution''),

James Wilson James Wilson may refer to: Politicians and government officials Canada *James Wilson (Upper Canada politician) (1770–1847), English-born farmer and political figure in Upper Canada * James Crocket Wilson (1841–1899), Canadian MP from Quebe ...

(in ''The Birth of The Constitution''),

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...

(in ''The Birth of the Constitution''),

John Muir John Muir ( ; April 21, 1838December 24, 1914), also known as "John of the Mountains" and "Father of the National Parks", was an influential Scottish-American naturalist, author, environmental philosopher, botanist, zoologist, glaciologist ...

(in ''The Smithsonian and the Presidency'') * Julie Payne - Mrs. Holiday (in ''The Great Inventors'') *Bud Davis *Chuck Olson * Shep Menken *Brandon Horne *Marie Wise *Alissa King

Episodes

Home media

The eight episodes, originally released individually on videocassette, were released in a two-DVD collector's set on March 28, 2006, by

Paramount Home Entertainment Paramount Home Entertainment (formerly Paramount Home Media Distribution, and originally Paramount Home Video) is the home video distribution arm of Paramount Pictures, a division of Paramount Global. The division oversees PPC's home entertainme ...

. However, the DVD set went out of print once

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

purchased the rights to all ''Peanuts'' television specials.

Warner Home Video Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Inc. (formerly known as Warner Home Video and WCI Home Video and sometimes credited as Warner Home Entertainment) is the home video distribution division of Warner Bros. It was founded in 1978 as WCI Home Vide ...

has since reissued the miniseries on DVD as of June 17, 2014. It was also released on the

digital format Digital data, in information theory and information systems, is information represented as a string of discrete symbols each of which can take on one of only a finite number of values from some alphabet, such as letters or digits. An example is ...

References

External links

*
This is America, Charlie Brown
from Kim Cartoon {{Peanuts television specials 1988 American television series debuts 1989 American television series endings 1980s American animated television series 1980s American television miniseries American animated television spin-offs American children's animated comedy television series American children's animated education television series Animated television series about children Animation based on real people Works based on Peanuts (comic strip) CBS original programming English-language television shows Historical television series Television series about the history of the United States Television series by DHX Media Television series by Warner Bros. Television Studios Fiction set in 1620 Fiction set in 1787 Fiction set in 1869 Fiction set in 1903 Television series set in the 17th century Television series set in the 1780s Television series set in the 1860s Television series set in the 1900s Cultural depictions of the Wright brothers Cultural depictions of George Washington Cultural depictions of Abraham Lincoln Cultural depictions of Theodore Roosevelt