Happiness Is a Warm Blanket, Charlie Brown

Plot

Linus Van Pelt carries his blanket everywhere, and most of the other kids criticize him for it. Charlie Brown is the only one who doesn't. Linus ignores the teasing, loves his blanket deeply, and insists he will never outgrow it.

Snoopy agrees with Linus's attachment and tries to steal the blanket for himself, but he fails. One day, Lucy tells Linus that their grandmother is coming in a week, and if he hasn't gotten rid of the blanket by then, she will cut it into pieces. Charlie Brown suggests Linus find a substitute, which helps only a little.

Lucy makes several attempts to force Linus to let go: she locks the blanket in a closet for a day, turns it into a kite and lets the string go so it flies away and gets lost (though it is eventually found), and buries it outside. None of these work, and Linus remains obsessed. Meanwhile, other characters have their own troubles: Patty and Violet criticize Pig-Pen for being dirty, and Lucy keeps failing to get Schroeder's attention. Days later, Snoopy drags Linus and his blanket across the neighborhood, and all the children follow, getting caught up in the path.

After everyone except Charlie Brown criticizes Linus to his breaking point, he snaps and delivers a speech about how everyone needs some kind of security. He points out their own versions of his blanket: Sally has her "Sweet Baboo," Schroeder has Beethoven, Lucy has Schroeder, and Snoopy has suppertime, "24 hours a day." When Grandma Van Pelt arrives, Linus gives her a washcloth as a decoy for his real blanket. The special ends with Linus shouting "AUGH!" as Snoopy steals the blanket again and he tries to get it back.

Production

The special was first teased during NBC's coverage of the 84th Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. A Snoopy balloon dressed as a flying ace drifted by, and host Meredith Vieira told viewers that a new Peanuts animation would be coming the following year. It marked the first Peanuts special since 2006.

Craig Schulz, the son of creator Charles Schulz, wanted the animation to look like it was from the 1960s. The actual animation was done by Yearim Productions in South Korea. Most of the script came directly from the original comic strips, with additional material from Stephan Pastis, creator of Pearls Before Swine. Pastis suggested making Linus's blanket the central focus.

After Bill Melendez passed away, director Andrew Beall took over voicing Snoopy and Woodstock. The music was composed by Mark Mothersbaugh, best known as the frontman of Devo. Voice actor Andy Pessoa, who played Shermy, was also voicing Raf on Transformers: Prime at the time.