United Media, the company that issues licenses for products based on properties like
Dilbert,
Arthur, and of course
The Peanuts, has
posted information about the
Peanuts specials they expect to come to DVD next year:
Paramount to release three new DVD/videos in 2004 - "A Charlie Brown Valentine," "Lucy Must Be Traded, Charlie Brown" and "I Want A Dog For Christmas, Charlie Brown!"
We've known for a few months that the made-in-2002 Valentine Day special,
A Charlie Brown Valentine (not to be confused with the 1975 classic
Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown), had been announced for a 1/6/04 DVD release. And in the past several weeks, pre-orders had begun for DVDs of the most recent
Peanuts special, August 2003's
Lucy Must Be Traded, Charlie Brown. Those will hit on 3/2/04.
United Media's information verifies that the latest special to be produced,
I Want A Dog For Christmas, Charlie Brown!, is already being planned for DVD release in the Holiday 2004 season, even though the show has not yet premiered for broadcast. The story centers around ReRun, the youngest brother of Lucy & Linus, who wants his own dog...and ends up with Snoopy's brother, Spike. That's when the mayhem starts! You can look for this special to air for the first time this coming Tuesday, December 9th.
ABC airs this hour-long special at 8PM Eastern/Pacific.
The two titles already announced for 2004 include - as a bonus - two classic
Peanuts specials each, all created from the era prior to the death of Charles Schultz. The
Charlie Brown Valentine release includes "There's No Time For Love, Charlie Brown" (1973) and "Someday You'll Find Her, Charlie Brown" (1981). The
Lucy Must Be Traded, Charlie Brown disc is accompanied by "Charlie Brown's All Stars" (1966) and "It's Spring Training, Charlie Brown" (1992). Each of these two DVDs has a list-price of $14.99, for 3 half-hour specials.
However, there's no word yet from Paramount about the cost of
I Want A Dog For Christmas, Charlie Brown!, when exactly the DVD will street, or whether it will contain any classical shorts as a bonus. Stay tuned, though, and we'll have that information for you just as soon as it's available.
Thanks to Steven Wesley for contributing to this story.
