It Was My Best Birthday Ever, Charlie Brown

1997 direct-to-video special directed by Bill Melendez

You're in the Super Bowl, Charlie Brown (1994)
It's the Pied Piper, Charlie Brown (2000)

It Was My Best Birthday Ever, Charlie Brown is the 38th animated television special based on characters from the Charles M. Schulz comic strip Peanuts.^[1] It is one of two direct-to-video Peanuts specials that have yet to air on U.S. television.

Plot

The special begins with Linus roller-skating all over town. On his way back from a birthday party, he passes by a garden where he hears someone singing ("O Mio Babbino Caro"). As he enters the garden, he learns that a little girl named Mimi is the person that was singing. After Linus and Mimi spend time gardening together, Linus invites her to his birthday party, and she accepts the invitation.

Linus keeps hearing Mimi's singing voice everywhere he goes and can't seem to stop thinking about her. As Linus is writing his guest list for his birthday party, Lucy asks who Mimi is. After Linus tells her, Lucy thinks that it's ridiculous that Linus is inviting a girl that he just met and thinks Mimi will not show up, but Linus is positive that she will.

On the day of Linus' birthday party, Linus wonders where Mimi could be. Lucy and Sally bring out Linus' birthday cake and light the candles, and everybody starts singing "Happy Birthday" to him. Linus tries to get them to stop, but to no avail. As soon as everybody finishes singing, Linus hears Mimi singing "Happy Birthday" from outside. After Mimi finishes singing to Linus, she gives him a flower and a kiss. At first, Linus is sad when Mimi has to leave, but he later starts dancing along with everyone else.

The end of the special shows Linus talking to Charlie Brown about if he'll ever see Mimi again and Woodstock shows up, whistling the song that Mimi sang.

Cast

Steven Hartman as Charlie Brown
Anthony Burch as Linus van Pelt
Jamie Cronin as Lucy van Pelt/Mimi
Danielle Keaton as Sally Brown
Brandon Taylor as Pig-Pen
Megan Ellis as Birthday Girl
Bill Melendez as Snoopy/Woodstock

Marcie, Shermy, Franklin, Patty and Frieda appear but do not have dialogue.

Production

It Was My Best Birthday Ever, Charlie Brown was one of the final television specials completed during creator Charles M. Schulz's lifetime (along with the next special It's the Pied Piper, Charlie Brown). He died in 2000.^[2]

This was also the first Peanuts special to be animated using digital ink and paint (although the backgrounds are still done in the classic hand-painted style of the 1960s–90s specials.)

The song Mimi sings when Linus meets her is the "O mio babbino caro" ("Oh my dear Papa") soprano aria from the 1918 opera Gianni Schicchi by Giacomo Puccini. It was featured on several other Peanuts shows.

References

^ Solomon, Charles (2012). The Art and Making of Peanuts Animation: Celebrating Fifty Years of Television Specials. Chronicle Books. pp. 164, 170. ISBN 978-1452110912.
^ Boxer, Sarah (February 14, 2000). "Charles M. Schulz, 'Peanuts' Creator, Dies at 77". The New York Times. Retrieved October 1, 2008.