You're a Good Sport, Charlie Brown

You're a Good Sport, Charlie Brown is the 14th prime-time animated television special based on the comic strip Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz. It originally aired on the CBS network on October 28, 1975. In this special, Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and Peppermint Patty participate in a motocross race.

This was the final Peanuts special scored by John Scott Trotter, and penultimate with music by Vince Guaraldi.

Plot

Snoopy and Woodstock engage in a spirited tennis match, while Linus and Sally are unable to play due to the courts being occupied. Sally attempts to intimidate the players by referring to her 'boyfriend' who will deal with them, prompting Linus to flee in embarrassment. Following his defeat, Snoopy destroys his racket in frustration.

Peppermint Patty soon arrives and informs the group of an upcoming motocross race. She encourages Charlie Brown and Snoopy to participate. Linus volunteers as their pit crew, and together they use their limited resources to purchase an old, unreliable motorcycle. Snoopy enters under the pseudonym 'The Masked Marvel,' with Marcie serving as the event announcer.

At the start of the race, both Charlie Brown and Snoopy crash at the first turn and are taken away for medical attention: Snoopy to a hospital, and Charlie Brown mistakenly to a veterinary clinic. After regaining consciousness, Charlie Brown escapes the vet's office and retrieves Snoopy from the hospital.

Back at the track, Linus reminds Charlie Brown that a helmet is required to continue racing. With his original helmet lost, Linus improvises one using a hollowed-out pumpkin. Though reluctant and humiliated, Charlie Brown returns to the course.

As the race progresses, other competitors gradually fall out due to mechanical failures and mud traps. Despite his outdated equipment and slow speed, Charlie Brown endures and is the only racer to cross the finish line. However, race officials reveal that the promised grand prize — tickets to the Pro Bowl — is unavailable. As a substitute, Charlie Brown receives a kiss from Loretta, the unremarkable 'Motocross Queen', and a certificate for five free haircuts—an ironic reward, given that his father is a barber and he has little hair himself.

Linus consoles him, affirming that winning through persistence is more meaningful than any material prize. Uplifted, Charlie Brown expresses newfound confidence.

In the final scene, he prepares to pitch a baseball game, declaring that despite 980 consecutive defeats, he now understands what it means to win. A line drive immediately knocks him out of his clothes, restoring the familiar pattern of comic failure.

Voice cast

• Duncan Watson as Charlie Brown
  • Peter Robbins – Charlie Brown's screaming voice (archived)
• Liam Martin as Linus van Pelt
• Gail Davis as Sally Brown
• Melanie Kohn as Lucy van Pelt and Loretta
• Stuart Brotman as Peppermint Patty
• Jimmy Ahrens as Marcie
• Bill Melendez as Snoopy/Woodstock

Production notes

Voice talent

You're a Good Sport, Charlie Brown was Duncan Watson's second time voicing Charlie Brown — his first was the previous special, Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown, and he would return for the 1976 special Happy Anniversary, Charlie Brown and the feature film, Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown in 1977.

Music score

You're a Good Sport, Charlie Brown was the last Peanuts television special to air during Vince Guaraldi's lifetime. Guaraldi died of a sudden heart attack on February 6, 1976, several hours after he had finished recording music cues for the television special It's Arbor Day, Charlie Brown. That special aired posthumously on March 16, 1976. You're a Good Sport, Charlie Brown was also the last Peanuts special conducted and arranged by John Scott Trotter, who died on October 29, 1975 — one day after the special was broadcast. Trotter had worked in conjunction with Guaraldi on every Peanuts television special starting with It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1966).

The music score for You're a Good Sport, Charlie Brown was something of a departure from Guaraldi's other scores as the music fused his jazz style with the funk, disco and pop music of the 1970s that was popular at the time coupled with the use of the Minimoog, Clavinet, and ARP String Ensemble synthesizers as well as the Rhythm Ace Drum Machine.

All music cues were composed by Guaraldi and recorded by the Vince Guaraldi Trio on September 12, 18, and 19, 1975, at Wally Heider Studios, featuring Seward McCain (electric bass) and Mark Rosengarden (drums, guiro).

In the mid-2000’s, recording session master tapes for seven 1970s-era Peanuts television specials scored by Guaraldi were discovered by his son, David Guaraldi. The songs "Motocross" (version 3; aka "Cue 9") and "Centercourt" were released on the compilation album, Vince Guaraldi and the Lost Cues from the Charlie Brown Television Specials (2007). A live version of "Centercourt" (retitled "You're a Good Sport, Charlie Brown") appeared on the compilation album Oaxaca in 2004.

On July 11, 2025, a remastered album featuring the original recordings and several bonus tracks will be released to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the special.

Awards

You're a Good Sport, Charlie Brown won Schulz his third Emmy Award for Outstanding Children Special. He previously earned the award for A Charlie Brown Christmas and A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving.

External links

• at IMDbTemplate:EditAtWikidataTemplate:WikidataCheck

1. REDIRECT Template:Peanuts filmography