Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown

Infobox Film
name = Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown


image_size =
caption = Promotional poster for "Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown"
director = Bill Melendez
Phil Roman (co-director)
producer = Bill Melendez
Lee Mendelson
writer = Charles M. Schulz
narrator =
starring = "see below"
music = Ed Bogas
cinematography =
editing = Roger Donley
Chuck McCann
distributor =
released = 24 August 1977
runtime = 76 min
country = USA
language = English
budget =
gross =
preceded_by = Snoopy Come Home
followed_by = Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (and Don't Come Back!)
website =
amg_id =
imdb_id = 0076591

"Race For Your Life, Charlie Brown" is a 1977 animated film produced by United Feature Syndicate for Paramount Pictures, directed by Bill Meléndez, and the third in a series of movies based on the "Peanuts" comic strip.

Movie plot

The Peanuts gang head off to a summer camp in a mountainous area (somewhere in the western US), where they ultimately compete in a river rafting race. Upon their arrival, the gang meets a trio of ruthless bullies (and their cat Brutus) who openly boast of their having won the race every year they have competed, though it is revealed their success has always been through outright cheating, using a raft equipped with an outboard motor, direction finder, radar and sonar, and even resorting to every trick they could think of to hamper or destroy everyone else's chance to even make it to the finish line, much less win the race.

In the movie, and for the race, the main Peanuts characters are broken into three groups: the boys' group (consisting of Charlie Brown, Linus, Schroeder, and Franklin), the girls' group (led by Peppermint Patty who appoints herself the leader, Marcie, Lucy, and Sally), and Snoopy and Woodstock.

Throughout the movie, the boys' and girls' groups run into different obstacles, getting lost, stranded, and found again. The two groups continue to meet-up spontaneously at different points in the raft race, gang together to help each other when in need and eventually join forces when the race gets near the finish line (they unite only after the bullies catch up with them and destroy both their rafts).

In the climax of the movie, all three groups (the boys, the girls and Snoopy & Woodstock) collide and pile up near the finish line; even the bullies' souped-up raft runs out of steam and sinks before they can win. But Woodstock makes an improvised raft out of sticks and a leaf and is the only one to cross the finish line.

Conceding defeat, the bullies vow vengeance next year, but they are too afraid of Snoopy after he roughs up Brutus (through most of the film Snoopy is afraid of Brutus, but his fighting side emerges when Brutus attempts to attack Woodstock as he makes his way to the win).

Finally, the bus again leaves Charlie Brown behind and he is again forced to hitch a ride on Snoopy's motorcycle to get home.

Voice cast

* Duncan Watson - Charlie Brown
* Liam Martin - Linus van Pelt
* Melanie Kohn - Lucy van Pelt
* Gail M. Davis - Sally Brown
* Greg Felton - Schroeder/Camp Announcer
* Stuart Brotman - Peppermint Patty
* James Ahrens - Marcie
* Tom Muller - Franklin/Bully
* Kirk Jue - Bully
* Jordan Warren - Bully
* Fred Van Amburg - radio announcer
* Bill Meléndez - Snoopy & Woodstock

Production

Reception

Awards and honors

Soundtrack