If there’s one franchise that’s utterly synonymous with the vacations, it’s Peanuts. Based mostly on the beloved comedian strips by Charles M. Schultz, the vacation adventures of Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and the gang have delighted audiences for almost 60 years. From It’s the Nice Pumpkin Charlie Brown to a Charlie Brown Christmas, the specials fill the vacation season, with A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving serving as a midquel, however the Turkey Day basic isn’t the one Peanuts journey for the month of November. Launched as a part of the That is America, Charlie Brown miniseries, “The Mayflower Voyagers” tells the story of how the pilgrims got here to America with a Peanuts twist. Nonetheless, whereas the particular’s intentions could also be honorable, it’s exhausting to disregard simply how jarring and tone-deaf the outing is, particularly when in comparison with all the opposite vacation outings.
‘The Mayflower Voyagers’ Casts the Peanuts Characters in Darkish Conditions
The place A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving tells the story of Peanuts characters celebrating the vacation collectively, “The Mayflower Voyagers casts Charlie Brown (Erin Chase) and his friends within the roles of pilgrims, voyaging on the Mayflower. Whereas this can be a intelligent strategy to attain youthful viewers and try to show them a couple of main historic occasion, the outcomes are extremely unusual. Traditionally, it’s no secret that the voyage aboard the Mayflower got here with illness and loss of life, and the particular doesn’t essentially shrink back from that. It does, nonetheless, method the topic with “Peanuts sensibility.” Whereas the dialogue is supposed to mirror the horrors of the state of affairs, it comes off as a bit too tacky when delivered by a personality like Linus. It additionally doesn’t assist that the sequences on the Mayflower attempt to combine within the typical Snoopy shenanigans.
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One can’t essentially say that the particular doesn’t have good intentions. Certainly, the Peanuts exhibits have had a protracted historical past of imparting knowledge, morals and training, and this long forgotten special revolves round that very same mission. However execution apart, it’s simply such a darkish subject material for the in any other case cheery characters to be concerned in. The character’s involvement within the historic occasion will get even weirder when the pilgrims make it to the brand new world. The particular continues to comply with historical past to a fault, with much more off-screen deaths, and references to the despair of their state of affairs. The particular shifts from a corny retelling of occasions to 1 that simply feels grim and ugly with the occasional joke thrown in. In the end, the filmmaker’s intent could also be honorable, however it definitely will get misplaced in translation. However issues take a good odder pivot when the characters come throughout the Native American characters.
“The Mayflower Voyagers” Takes an Awkward Flip
Because the lovable Peanuts characters battle to outlive, hope emerges within the type of Squanto (Frank Weller). Whereas the historic determine stays hailed as a hero, the particular portrays him and the opposite Native American characters as unlucky stereotypes. Positive, the Peanuts specials had been by no means meant to be great pieces of animation, however the historic characters are by and enormous essentially the most uninspired designs within the particular. Moreover, their actions and dialogue are stiff and extremely trite. Including insult to damage, the image pivots from one that’s far too invested within the bleak historic facet to 1 that boasts full peace between the 2 sides, ending with a fourth wall-breaking joke. Not solely is this transformation innately awkward to observe, it solely provides to the particular’s inconsistency.
The swap is nearly deafening and completely derails any form of established tone that managed to exist previous to the introduction of the Native American characters, and actually solidifies simply how unusual the particular is. The place previous vacation outings that includes the Peanuts are strong, heartwarming and constant, this one simply comes off as half-baked and even disingenuous. It’s actually a disgrace that the present ends on the observe that it does, as Squanto’s involvement may have really been the very factor it wanted to put it aside. He may have provided a deeper understanding of the occasions, and helped steer the in any other case bleak piece towards a contented ending, slightly than forcing one.
Certainly, “The Mayflower Voyagers” is just not the basic that its creators had hoped for. From its tacky depiction of darkish, true life occasions to its stereotypes and its tonal points, it’s maybe the weirdest Peanuts particular ever created. Fortunately, there are many different basic outings from the Schultz-created gang to get us via the vacations; ones full of pleasure, humor and heat.
Whereas “The Mayflower Voyagers” is just not accessible to stream within the U.S., the superior A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving is offered on Apple TV+.
A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving
Peppermint Patty invitations everybody to Charlie Brown’s for Thanksgiving, although he’ll see his grandmother; Snoopy decides to cook dinner his personal model of a Thanksgiving meal with assist from his pals.
- Launch Date
- November 20, 1973
- Director
- Invoice Melendez , Phil Roman
- Solid
- Todd Barbee , Robin Kohn , Stephen Shea , Hilary Momberger , Christopher DeFaria , Jimmy Ahrens
- Runtime
- 50 minutes
- Writers
- Charles M. Schulz
