It's the Pied Piper, Charlie Brown is the last animated special produced under the supervision of Charles M. Schulz

Charles M. Schulz

Charles Monroe "Sparky" Schulz was an American cartoonist, whose comic strip Peanuts proved one of the most popular and influential in the history of the medium, and is still widely reprinted on a daily basis.-Early life and education:Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Schulz grew up in Saint Paul...

. Based on characters from the comic strip

Comic strip

A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....

 Peanuts

Peanuts

Peanuts is a syndicated daily and Sunday American comic strip written and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz, which ran from October 2, 1950, to February 13, 2000, continuing in reruns afterward...

, it was released on 12 September 2000. It marks the last Peanuts special to be animated with traditional cel animation. Starting with the next special (A Charlie Brown Valentine

A Charlie Brown Valentine

A Charlie Brown Valentine is an animated television special, based on characters from the Charles M. Schulz comic strip Peanuts. It features the Peanuts characters during the week leading up to Valentine's Day...

), Peanuts specials are currently animated with Digital ink and paint.

Plot

It's the Pied Piper, Charlie Brown is a retelling to Sally by Charlie Brown of the story how the Pied Piper of Hamelin (portrayed by Snoopy) chased away all the mice (changed by Charlie Brown from rats because Sally is terrified of rats) from the town of Hamlet. The Peanuts kids substitute some characters, Snoopy being the Pied Piper Beagle with his contract being for a year's supply of dog food. Snoopy plays a concertina (squeezebox), with presumably David Benoit doing the honors. (Snoopy played accordion too a few times in the comic back in the early comics and Snoopy can't play the flute) The special breaks Peanuts tradition in that it shows adults, who speak audible language (unlike most other Peanuts specials in which adults are only heard off stage speaking in "wah wah" sound of a muted trombone). The other good example was the This is America, Charlie Brown

This Is America, Charlie Brown

This is America, Charlie Brown was an eight-part animated TV mini-series, depicting events in American history with characters from the Charles M. Schulz comic strip Peanuts. It aired from 1988 to 1989 on CBS. These eight episodes, originally released singly on videocassette, were released in a...

 miniseries, which portrayed adult historical figures alongside the kids.

Cast and crew

• Quinn Beswick - Charlie Brown, Townsperson
• Ashley Edner
  Ashley Edner
  Ashley Louise Edner is an American actress.Edner was born in Downey, California, the daughter of Cindy and Bob Edner, and the younger sister of actor Bobby Edner...
  
   - Sally
• Corey Padnos - Linus Van Pelt, Mayor's Aides
• Rachel Davey - Lucy Van Pelt
• Frank Welker
  Frank Welker
  Franklin Wendell "Frank" Welker is an American actor who specializes in voice acting and has contributed character voices and other vocal effects to American television and motion pictures.-Acting career:...
  
   - The Mayor
• Neil Ross
  Neil Ross
  Theodoric Neilson "Neil" Ross is an English voice actor and announcer, born in London, England and now resident and working in Los Angeles, in the United States. He has provided voices for in many American cartoons, particularly those based on Hasbro products and Marvel Comics, and numerous...
  
   - Interviewer
• Pat Musick
  Pat Musick
  Pat Musick is an American voice actress. She is the mother of Mae Whitman.-Television roles:* 2 Stupid Dogs - Additional Voices* The Adventures of Don Coyote and Sancho Panda - Additional Voices...
  
   - First Woman
• Joan Van Ark
  Joan Van Ark
  Joan Van Ark is an American actress, most notable for her role as Valene Ewing, which she originated on the CBS series Dallas and continued for thirteen seasons on its spin-off, Knots Landing...
  
   - Secretary
• Bill Melendez
  Bill Melendez
  José Cuauhtémoc "Bill" Meléndez was a Mexican-American character animator, film director, voice artist and producer, known for his cartoons for Warner Brothers, UPA and the Peanuts series...
  
   - Snoopy, Woodstock, Mouse Sounds

• Directed by Bill Melendez
• Written by Charles M. Schulz
• Produced by Bill Melendez and Mike Wallis
• Executive Producer: Lee Mendelson
• Original Music by David Benoit