I'll Take Peanuts with Every Holiday, Including Easter

Lisa is fed up with Linus' disappointing her

Snoopy tries to give Woodstock what he wants

I first watched It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown! (1974) Easter of 2019, on April 21st, having located the Special Edition DVD at Walmart. I didn't even know there was an Easter Holiday Special for the Peanuts gang. That was also the case for the Valentine's Day Special, as well. I felt much better this year at Easter, so my mood for the Peanuts special was much better. I was in a deep depression, and it would only get worse as 2020 continued. I voluntarily distanced from my mother and stepfather, having dreamt of them dying from Covid in the hospital hooked up to machines all alone--this would sadly come to fruition, as my stepfather died of Covid, when he contracted it from a surgery he had on his hip in December--so the family didn't have our annual Easter get-together. This year is thankfully different and my family has a big Easter planned, with the vaccines rolling out, and the numbers going down. My spirits couldn't be much lower than April of 2020.

Snoopy as the Easter Beagle Linus goes on and on about is just perfect. He brings a smile to those around him. He does eventually find Woodstock his birdhouse. I laugh at how characters just have what they need when they need it when they shouldn't such as Marcie happening to carry a shaker of salt and Snoopy carrying a hole hand drill. But Snoopy has a kiss for Peppermint Patty, Marcie, and Lucy, all of whom can't help but blush and glow because it is exactly what they need at that point and time. But poor Chuck...no egg from the Easter Beagle for him. I think that is why I loved "The Peanuts Movie" (2015) so much. Chuck got the happy ending he (and we for him) always longed for. The callback to The Great Pumpkin was nice as was the clever Christmas consumerism when the Peanuts gang visit to the mall.

I am disappointed that this special won't be available for any audience but those who own it on physical media or are subscribed to Apple TV +. I miss the days when you could see this on Network evening television. Still, I believe I have most of the holiday specials now on physical media so I'm happy about that.

From April 2019 user comments:

Although not on par with the Halloween and Christmas specials (and probably not even with the Thanksgiving or Valentine's specials, either), I think Peanuts / Charlie Brown fans will still find much to enjoy in the Easter special, "It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown!" Especially Snoopy's pursuit of a good home for Woodstock, Peppermint Patty's inability to make her tagalong buddy, Marcie, understand how to present eggs for coloring, and the protracted, lengthy escalator travel just to find Easter supplies/items as the discount store has already set up Christmas decorations despite the holiday being months away. Linus' insistence that the Easter Beagle will deliver colored eggs on the holiday morn gets a nice callback to The Great Pumpkin when Charlie's sister, Sally, reminds him of that disaster the previous Halloween. Not as much Charlie Brown as you might expect but the special does feature most of the regulars. Woodstock's decorating the birdhouse into quite the penthouse bachelor pad resulting in Snoopy's rising hostility is a highlight as is Marcie's misuse of eggs as Peppermint Patty fails to get the point across that you don't fry, scramble, roast, or skillet them when preparing them for coloring. Snoopy peeps into a vase egg, resulting in an imagined dance with rabbits. Snoopy must also wring poor Woodstock after the bird gets soak and wet from a good rain. There are plenty of Easter hallmarks to really establish the holiday quite nicely. Not great Peanuts but still fun. As expected, on Easter morning, Chuck is glum, before the Easter Beagle delivers colored eggs (taken after Sally strategically placed them in locations she felt she could find them for herself) to them all, lifting the Peanuts' gang's spirits. Not all the favorite's appear, so this isn't an altogether noteworthy Holiday installment, but still not a waste.