In The Peanuts Book, author Simon Beecroft writes, “Snoopy is no plain ol’ dog. [Charles] Schulz said, “Snoopy refuses to be caught in the trap of doing ordinary things like chasing and retrieving sticks.’”
Since Charles Schulz introduced him in the third Peanuts comic strip in 1950, Snoopy caught on with readers, and by the 1960s, Peanuts had developed a universal audience. Soon, the characters were everywhere, not just in TV specials, the Broadway stage, and the silver screen, but on lunch boxes, toys, greeting cards, board games, and t-shirts, just to name a few of the platforms that brought Charlie Brown and the gang everywhere.
Front and center of this ever-lasting pop culture phenomenon was an icon within the iconic group – Snoopy, Charlie Brown’s dog. By the early ‘70s, the image of Snoopy registered instant recognizability with everyone not living under that rock that Charlie Brown got at Halloween.
It seemed logical that Snoopy would get own his full-length feature film – Snoopy Come Home, which debuted on August 9, 1972, and celebrates its fiftieth anniversary this year.
As the title suggests, Snoopy, Come Home tells the story of how Snoopy runs away from home to visit a young girl named Lila, who is in the hospital and has written to Snoopy asking that he visit her.
Snoopy, frustrated at many places with signs that read “No Dogs Allowed,” decides to set off to see her, leaving Charlie Brown and the gang behind.
With Woodstock in tow, Snoopy goes on this adventure, which includes getting adopted by a pet-obsessed girl named Clara before he eventually meets up with Lila.
Lila asks Snoopy to stay with her, which he decides to do, going back home to say goodbye to Charlie Brown (who is obviously very upset). The group throws Snoopy a farewell party, and he sets off to be with Lila.
However, when Snoopy gets to Lila’s apartment building, he notices another sign that reads: “No Dogs Allowed.” Taking this as a literal sign, Lila agrees that, because of that, Snoopy should go back to Charlie Brown.
Of course, all the kids are thrilled, except for Lucy, who says to Charlie Brown, “He’s your dog, and you’re welcome to him!”
Snoopy, Come Home was a unique Peanuts story. It contains the more “adventurous” plot of many of the Peanuts features, where one or all of the characters leaves the neighborhood (this would also be a part of 1977’s Race For Your Life, Charlie Brown and 1979’s Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (And Don’t Come Back)”). However, Snoopy Comes Home has also gained the reputation of being one of the melancholier of the Peanuts stories – Snoopy leaving Charlie Brown is painful enough, but also visiting the hospital and eventually parting from Lila are very sad plot points.
The film is also noteworthy for several reasons, including the introduction of Woodstock, the little, spike-haired yellow bird who would be Snoopy’s forever sidekick after Snoopy Come Home.
Additionally, if the songs in Snoopy, Come Home seem to have a Disney flair, that’s because they were composed by Robert and Richard Sherman. The Sherman Brothers, of course, are the legends who created Disney music for an entire generation, with films like Mary Poppins (1964) and The Jungle Book (1967), as well as theme park attractions, such as “It’s a Small World.” Greg Ehrbar writes more about this here, on this post.
In their book, Walt’s Time: From Before to Beyond, the Sherman Brothers discussed the unique way they demonstrated the songs for Charles Schulz, who went by the nickname “Sparky.” Robert and Richard wrote: “To our amazement, instead of listening to our material in his office, Sparky took us to his private ice rink, where we watched him skate round and round while listening to our songs over the loudspeakers.
After several playings, Sparky skated over to us, all smiles, and gave us the thumbs up sign.”
When it was released, Snoopy, Come Home was successful at the box office and with critics, and many consider it the best of the Peanuts feature films. This included critic Howard Thompson in The New York Times, who wrote: “This sprightly, clever and hilarious treat – all that a comic strip could be on screen – is even better than A Boy Named Charlie Brown, which began the series.”
Leave it to Snoopy to, once again, show up his master, good ol’ Charlie Brown.
SNOOPY, COME HOME airs this Sunday at 7pm ET/PT on MeTV.
