It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown: Remastered Deluxe Edition
DVD Review by Jon Cooke
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Getting the "deluxe" treatment this time around is 1974's It's the Easter Beagle Charlie Brown. As the title suggests, Snoopy takes the spotlight. The plot borrows heavily from the more famous Great Pumpkin special with Linus trying to convince his pals of the existence of the "Easter Beagle" (guess who?). There are some bits of business with Peppermint Patty attempting to show pal Marcie how to color Easter Eggs thrown in there, too. A particularly amusing bit has the gang entering a department store which has banners and decorations all over telling shoppers how there are only "246 Shopping Days Until Christmas!". A funny gag that is still very much relevant today. Filling out the disc, like the Paramount version of the DVD which preceded it, is It's Arbor Day, Charlie Brown (1976). In what has to be the only Arbor Day TV special ever made (somebody correct me if I'm wrong),
Lucy and the gang decide to plant trees all over Charlie's baseball field (much to Chuck's dismay).
Once again, the only new content on the disc is a new 15-minute featurette with the same bunch of folks who were on-hand to discuss the Valentine's Day special and a handful of trailers for upcoming WB DVDs (The Smurfs, Tom & Jerry Tales, A Pup Named Scooby-Doo, etc). The picture quality is excellent and an improvement over the old Paramount edition, but I am not sure that is a big enough incentive to re-buy Easter Beagle if you already have it on DVD. If you don't already have this title in your library, both specials are perfectly watchable, albeit somewhat forgettable, Peanuts cartoons that would be fine viewing this time year. The attractive packaging and affordable price makes it good Easter basket filler for the kiddies. However, a rental should be enough for most people to get their Snoopy fix.
