Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown

Race for Your Life,
Charlie Brown
UK Promotional poster
Directed byBill Melendez
Written byCharles M. Schulz
Based onPeanuts
by Charles M. Schulz
Produced by
Starring
Edited by
  • Roger Donley
  • Chuck McCann
Music byEd Bogas
Production
companies
Distributed byParamount Pictures
Release dates
  • July 16, 1977 (1977-07-16) (Japan)
  • August 3, 1977 (1977-08-03) (New York)
  • August 24, 1977 (1977-08-24) (United States)
Running time
75 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$3.2 million

Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown is a 1977 American animated adventure comedy film produced by United Feature Syndicate for Paramount Pictures, directed by Bill Melendez and Phil Roman, and the third in a series of films based on the Peanuts comic strip. It was the first Peanuts feature-length film produced after the death of composer Vince Guaraldi, who was originally intended to score the film, and used the same voice cast from the 1975 and 1976 TV specials, You're a Good Sport, Charlie Brown, Happy Anniversary, Charlie Brown, and It's Arbor Day, Charlie Brown, and the same voice cast member from the 1974 TV special, It's a Mystery, Charlie Brown. However, Liam Martin voiced Linus van Pelt for the last time in the movie, and went on to voice Charlie Brown in the 1978 TV special, What a Nightmare, Charlie Brown!. This would be Stuart Brotman's final role before his death from a brain aneurysm in 2011.

Unlike the previous two Peanuts theatrical films, Charles M. Schulz wrote an original plot without relying on any specific storyline from the strip. The idea for the film came to him during a family trip, during which he tried rafting with his wife on Rouge River. However, some gags were taken from the strip, such as the one where Snoopy and Peppermint Patty jump on the waterbed. The film received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics and came 5 years after Snoopy Come Home, and 3 years before Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (and Don't Come Back!!).