I'm a big Charlie Brown fan and I've seen just about everything that has been done for the him and the other Peanuts characters over the years, but this set had escaped me. I had heard of it back in the late 80's but never saw it. The idea of Charlie Brown giving some American history lessons sounds very good, and starts out that way, but then slowly becomes hard to watch. Not all of the character are here, but the main ones are and their famous attitudes are not tampered with for the sake of the show.
Charlie Brown and the Gang travel through American history to highlight some of the more important items of interest. The subjects that are covered range from the voyage of the Mayflower to the building of the Transcontinental railroad to the NASA space station. The first five episodes have our friends injected into the time periods as subjects on the sideline. After that it turns into them giving book reports in class where their imagination carries them into the action. This series also does not play around with the myths of history it deals with just the facts and makes it enjoyable. The episode entitled The Smithsonian and the Presidency is very fun especially when they find their own cartoon hanging in the museum.
I wasn't overly thrilled with this set, I'm glad that I got a chance to see it but I doubt I'll ever watch it again. Young kids who are learning about American history will find it interesting and fun. The best thing is that this series could be used as a teaching tool, because in some ways it doesn't sugar coat anything, it tells you the truth through and through.
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