''What a Nightmare, Charlie Brown!'' is the 17th

prime-time Prime time, or peak time, is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for television shows. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to b ...

animated Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby image, still images are manipulated to create Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on cel, transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and e ...

television special A television special (often TV special, or rarely television spectacular) is a standalone television show which may also temporarily interrupt episodic programming normally scheduled for a given time slot. Some specials provide a full range of en ...

based on the

comic strip A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics terminology#Captio ...

Peanuts ''Peanuts'' (briefly subtitled ''featuring Good ol' Charlie Brown'') is a print syndication, syndicated daily strip, daily and Sunday strip, Sunday American comic strip written and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz. The strip's original run ext ...

'' by Charles M. Schulz. It originally aired on Thursday, February 23, 1978, at 8:00 P.M. ET/PT on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

. The special is unusual in that

Snoopy Snoopy is an anthropomorphic beagle in the comic strip ''Peanuts'' by American cartoonist Charles M. Schulz. He also appears in all of the ''Peanuts'' films and television specials. Since his debut on October 4, 1950, Snoopy has become one of ...

and

Charlie Brown Charles "Charlie" Brown is the Protagonist, principal character of the comic strip ''Peanuts'', syndicated in daily newspaper, daily and Sunday newspapers in numerous countries all over the world. Depicted as a "lovable loser", Charlie Brown ...

are the only members of the ''Peanuts'' cast to appear in it. The plot is similar to that of

Jack London John Griffith London (; January 12, 1876 – November 22, 1916), better known as Jack London, was an American novelist, journalist and activist. A pioneer of commercial fiction and American magazines, he was one of the first American authors t ...

's ''

The Call of the Wild ''The Call of the Wild'' is an adventure novel by Jack London, published in 1903 and set in Yukon, Canada, during the 1890s Klondike Gold Rush, when strong sled dogs were in high demand. The central character of the novel is a dog named Buck. ...

'', and it centers on Snoopy having a nightmare about being an Arctic sled dog. This was the first special

Bill Melendez José Cuauhtémoc "Bill" Melendez (November 15, 1916 – September 2, 2008) was an American animator, director, producer, and voice actor. Melendez is known for working on the ''Peanuts'' animated specials, as well as providing the voices of Sno ...

directed since 1973's ''

A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving ''A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving'' is the tenth prime-time animated television special based upon the comic strip ''Peanuts,'' by Charles M. Schulz. It originally aired on the CBS network on November 20, 1973, and won an Emmy Award the following ...

''. In June 2010, the special debuted on DVD as part of the ''Peanuts 1970's Collection, Volume Two'' set by

Warner Home Video Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment, Inc. (doing business as Warner Bros. Home Entertainment; formerly known as Warner Home Video and WCI Home Video and sometimes credited as Warner Home Entertainment) is the American home video distribution ...

.Charlie Brown/Peanuts Specials DVD news: Announcement for Peanuts: 1970's Collection, Volume 2 , TVShowsOnDVD.com
Before that it was released on CED format in 1983, and on VHS by

Media Home Entertainment Media Home Entertainment Inc. was a home video company headquartered in Culver City, California, originally established in 1978 by filmmaker Charles Band. Media Home Entertainment also distributed video product under additional labels — The N ...

in 1985,

Hi-Tops Video Hi-Tops Video was a children's home video sublabel of Media Home Entertainment (a division of Heron Communications), active from 1986 until 1991. Some of its releases include some Charlie Brown specials, ''Madeline'' and primarily some of the ori ...

in 1988, and on September 6, 1995 by

Paramount Home Entertainment Paramount Home Entertainment (formerly Paramount Home Media Distribution, originally Paramount Home Video, and operating as the namesake film studio since 2022) is the home video distribution arm of Paramount Pictures. The division oversees Para ...

along with '' It's Magic, Charlie Brown''. The special occasionally saw airings on the American TV channel

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...

from 1998 to 2000 as part of Nickelodeon's umbrella branding for Peanuts programming, ''You're on Nickelodeon, Charlie Brown!''.

Plot

One winter day,

is trying to pretend to be a musher with

, but the dog has other ideas and gets Charlie Brown to pull while he has fun riding in the sled. When night comes and they are comfortably indoors, Charlie Brown is indignant that Snoopy is adjusting too well to home life, reminding Snoopy of the facts that

Arctic The Arctic (; . ) is the polar regions of Earth, polar region of Earth that surrounds the North Pole, lying within the Arctic Circle. The Arctic region, from the IERS Reference Meridian travelling east, consists of parts of northern Norway ( ...

dogs are only fed once a day, their meals largely consisting of cold meat and raw fish (to which Snoopy blanches and gives a look of "it's too bad to be them") and coming to the conclusion that Snoopy is "an overly civilized, underly 'dogified' dog". Snoopy makes a sumptuous dinner of five pizzas, vegetables and a milkshake, to which Charlie Brown retorts he hopes Snoopy can digest all that food. Snoopy then falls asleep atop his doghouse, but when he wakes up he finds himself in a polar region, to which he is made a sled dog for the

Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, more commonly known as The Iditarod (), is an annual long-distance sled dog race held in Alaska in early March. It travels from Anchorage to Nome. Mushers and a team of between 12 and 16 dogs, of which at lea ...

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

, presumably during the Klondike Gold Rush or the

1925 serum run to Nome The 1925 serum run to Nome, also known as the Great Race of Mercy and The Serum Run, was a transport of diphtheria antitoxin by dog sled relay across the territory of Alaska, US territory of Alaska by 20 mushing, mushers and about 150 sled dogs ...

. Snoopy is cruelly mistreated, being run ragged by his owner (who is only seen in shadow or silhouette and only speaks in a much deeper version of the classic ''Peanuts'' adult "waa-waa-waa" language) and his quintet of the larger dogs. They deny Snoopy any food or water and take turns barking loudly at him to let him know he is indeed an outsider. One scene which breaks the snow scenes is where the sled master stops at a honky tonk, and a hungry Snoopy sneaks inside to snatch a sandwich and a mug of root beer sitting near a piano, where he feigns playing

John Philip Sousa John Philip Sousa ( , ; November 6, 1854 – March 6, 1932) was an American composer and conductor of the late Romantic music, Romantic era known primarily for American military March (music), marches. He is known as "The March King" or th ...

's " The Washington Post March". Snoopy later tries his hand at a game of poker, where he keeps a poker face until he laughs out loud revealing his improbable winning hand of five aces, which causes a brawl and leaves Snoopy to escape into the next room. He finds himself on stage with a painted backdrop of

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

and is cheered for his dancing. However, when the music changes and he impersonates a can-can dancer, Snoopy is thrown out of the bar and is back with the sled dogs, where he continues to be mistreated. Unable to take any more, that night Snoopy breaks down crying, then once he's done he goes about converting to his "new life" to survive, baring his fangs and falling to walking on all fours. Snoopy challenges the lead dog to a fight and wins, becoming the "

Alpha Male In the zoological field of ethology, a dominance hierarchy (formerly and colloquially called a pecking order) is a type of social hierarchy that arises when members of animal social animal, social groups interact, creating a ranking system. Dif ...

" of the sled dog pack. He also turns the tables on the rest of the dogs by denying them food and water. Eventually, he leads his owner over an ice-covered lake where the ice cracks and causes all the sled dogs and the owner to be swallowed into the water. Snoopy finds himself being pulled into the hole. As he grapples screaming for his life, Snoopy wakes up clinging to the side of his doghouse and is relieved that he was just having a nightmare. Snoopy later wakes Charlie Brown up and recounts his nightmare in pantomime, to which Charlie Brown allows Snoopy to spend the night inside with him, but not before Snoopy helps himself to a large ice cream sundae, reminding himself that his Arctic experience was indeed a nightmare.

Voice cast

as Snoopy * Liam Martin as Charlie Brown

References

External links

* {{Peanuts television specials Peanuts television specials 1970s American television specials 1970s animated television specials 1978 television specials Television shows directed by Bill Melendez Television shows directed by Phil Roman 1978 in American television CBS television specials Mushing films Television shows based on works by Jack London Television shows about nightmares Television shows set in Alaska