Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie's plot.

In the early 1990's, a nurse approached Charles Schulz and asked if it would be possible for him to produce a five minute little film for child cancer patients. At first he declined, explaining about the costs of animation, and why it wouldn't work for the Peanuts gang to be involved in something as "heavy" as that. Shortly thereafter, Schulz called the nurse back, and said they were not only going to do it, but they were going to produce it as a regular half-hour animated special, and that he, Lee Mendelson , and Bill Melendez were going to donate their time producing the program.

The result is the surprisingly excellent "Why, Charlie Brown, Why?" It came out in 1992 (hard to believe that's TEN years ago…), and although I was aware of it's existence, I didn't see it until yesterday. The basic storyline is that a good friend of Linus, Janice, discovers she has leukemia. It starts out with her noticing how easily she bruises, and being constantly fatigued…after missing several days of school, Linus and Charlie Brown check up on her, and she tells them that she has cancer. I knew this was the premise behind the program, and I was VERY skeptical, thinking it would either become preachy and after-school-specialy, or it would be so maudlin and depressing that it would forever taint my view of the Peanutsverse.

It turns out it was much better than I could have possibly hoped, and is easily the best Peanuts production of the last ten, possibly twenty years! Some of the reasons it's so good:

Everyone treats Janice differently; these are children, and their reactions to her ring true. Although Linus always sticks by her side, and Charlie Brown, although scared, does too, some other characters have very different reactions. After Janice undergoes chemotherapy, she of course loses her hair; a bully on the playground mocks her mercilessly, to the point that Linus LOSES it, and let me say, the fury of a Linus is awesome to behold. Later on, when Linus brings infamous sister-biyotch Lucy a glass of milk, she freaks because she thinks cancer is contagious—even after Linus explains that it's not, and what it's all about, she still refuses the milk.
Janice herself is a nice little character, and although she's a brave little girl, she also tells her friends when it hurts, and when she's frightened. She keeps a stiff upper lip, but again, it comes across as an honest portrayal of a child in that situation. We meet Janice's two sisters, who are simultaneously scared for their sister and a bit jealous of all of the attention and gifts she's getting, and feel a bit neglected—a nice, realistic touch that made this more real for me.
The 24-minute video takes us through the course of a year, and we see that cancer isn't something that you get over overnight, like a cold or something—we see the kids go through the course of the seasons, and we get the sense that this is something that's not just difficult for Janice, but for her friends and family as well.
We learn about cancer, and the various treatments available…Janice has to undergo surgery, we see many parts of the hospital, learn about x-rays, chemotherapy, and all of the shots that she has to get—it's never graphic, never morbid, but is educational, as much for many adults as it is for their children.
Just when it gets too sad, too scary, or too deep, there's Snoopy to pull through for us. He's his usual self here, and we get to see him not only as that mischievous beagle we all love, but also as the World Famous Surgeon, running around the hospital looking for patients (and hot fudge sundaes!)

This is an excellent program, and is a wonderful introduction for children to the unfortunate world of chronic illness. Although the disease here is leukemia, I would have appreciated this when my younger brother was always in the hospital with chronic asthma. My aunt died last February of several kinds of cancer; she was following her husband, who also succumbed to cancer a few years before. I've got cancer all over the place in my family. Sometimes it can be beaten, sometimes not. If you have children in your family with fears of disease, no matter what the sort, I recommend this video. It has humor, heart, and hope; all things that children need to learn when fear hits home.

Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: VHS