Race For Your Life, Charlie Brown (1977) Feature Length Theatrical Animated Film

You Blockhead, It's the End of the Road!

Ah yes, another Peanuts summer camp flick. Gosh, I love these especially this one! Charlie Brown and the gang head to summer camp again. Like all camps, there are many competitions taking place. Charlie Brown's (C Team) squad of Linus, Franklin, and Schroeder have some how become the target of a rival group of crooked campers. During the tug of war, these crooked campers use trees and rocks to their advantage. They even have a wildcat that picks on Snoopy. Peppermint Patty's team (P Team) of Sally, Marcie, and Lucy engage in such activities as wallet making. The grand finale of camp events is the river race. Groups of campers sail down a river in boats or rafts. C Team and P Team prepare their rafts for the race but the crooked campers steal the air for their own super raft that has sonar, radar, and other fancy gadgets. The day of the race comes and all teams are ready... except for C Team and P Team, whose rafts have to be re-inflated. The race begins and the crooked campers run their raft into a pier. Later during the race, the cheaters switch a sign that leads our heroes down a stretch of river that's rigged with demolition charges. The charges explode and block C Team and P Team from sailing down the river. Thanks to Snoopy and a bulldozer, the path is cleared and the teams can now sail again. A wicked storm occurs and all the teams are washed ashore. Snoopy loses Woodstock in the raging river and desperately attempts to save him but fails. C Team and P Team salvage what they can, but Snoopy decides to look for his friend. Woodstock is alone and nervous wreck without Snoopy. Soon, both C Team and P Team, begin to look for Snoopy after finding his raft abandoned. A few hilarious scenes later, Snoopy and both teams end up in a deserted cabin and celebrate the night away with a waltz. After a brief snowfall (in the summer?), the race is back on but the crooked campers have trashed the rafts. C Team and P Team now join together, using what remains of P Team's raft. Ultimately, Charlie Brown is put in charge. I won't spoil the rest of the film but it's great to see Charlie Brown lead his team as they get tricked into sliding down a watermill spillway, and go plunging over a waterfall. Also, Snoopy will confront his nemesis for the sake of Woodstock. What a great piece of work this is! I love the way the story is tailored to the events of the river race. I especially like the result of race!