After the success of 1969’s A Boy Named Charlie Brown, another theatrical Peanuts release became inevitable. The next flick arrived in 1972 with a feature that focused on Charlie Brown’s dog, as that pooch stepped into the spotlight with Snoopy Come Home.

In this flick, the independent-minded Snoopy (voiced by director Bill Melendez) gets a letter from a mysterious sick girl named Lila (Johana Baer). Snoopy immediately splits and takes his bird pal Woodstock with him.

Snoopy’s abrupt departure puts Charlie Brown (Chad Webber) in a tizzy. The rest of the movie looks at Snoopy’s connection with Lila and the choices he must make.

Comparisons between Snoopy and Boy become inevitable, and truthfully, I prefer the earlier flick, though both have their merits. Actually, as a film, Snoopy probably works better, and it certainly presents a stronger plot.

In Boy, I got the feeling Charles Schulz did little more than string together some old comic strips. The story lacked a coherent thrust and came across as a patchwork compilation.

Though parts of Snoopy offer the same impression, it nonetheless seems much tighter and better integrated. It always concentrates on Snoopy.

Even when he’s off-screen, the characters think of him and discuss him. Boy went off into many tangents, but Snoopy keeps its eyes on the main story.

This means its many musical numbers flow more smoothly as well. I thought that Boy worked in a lot of tacked-on production pieces that didn’t mesh with the overall film.

That doesn’t happen in Snoopy. While I don’t feel that the tunes of Disney songwriters Richard and Robert Sherman are particularly memorable, they advance the story and fit within the movie’s tale.

Speaking of which, the plot sure has a lot more emotional heft than the story of Boy. Snoopy doesn’t turn into Terms of Endearment, but it goes into sadness more than one might expect. This means the movie packs a bigger punch and resonates more.

As for negatives, I think Snoopy lacks the satirical bite and clever dialogue of Boy. This becomes inevitable due to its focus on Snoopy. Because he doesn’t talk, his many scenes remain silent.

The movie also focuses on more slapstick than I’d like. Those segments are fine for what they offer, but I prefer when Peanuts showcases words instead of visuals.

Actually, the decreased dialogue might not be so bad when I consider the voice actors. Most of the performers from Boy don’t reappear here, and the new cast isn’t as good as the prior one.

Webber seems particularly lackluster, and Robin Kohn’s Lucy can’t approach the fussy snap of Pamelyn Ferdin’s. The actors aren’t bad, really, but they don’t do much with the material.

Both flicks offer similarly mediocre animation. Neither Boy nor Snoopy does much to improve on the work you’d see in a Peanuts TV special.

The animation is passable at best, though I admit this isn’t a terrible negative given the look of Charles Schulz’s drawings. I don’t think the characters make sense in a smoothly animated universe.

All of that said, Snoopy Come Home remains a likable program. It offers a sweet, gently amusing film with a nice emotional bent. Kids will enjoy it and their parents might get into it as well.

Snoopy Come Home appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.33:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. While it came with issues, the image seemed perfectly acceptable much of the time.

Sharpness only occasionally faltered, as some shots appeared slightly soft. However, those weren’t frequent intrusions, as most of the flick looked nicely delineated.

No problems with jagged edges or shimmering popped up, and edge enhancement was absent. Grain seemed fairly natural.

Source flaws were a major distraction during Boy Named Charlie Brown, but they created fewer concerns here. To be sure, the movie still suffered from occasional specks and spots.

In addition, poor clean-up work often gave the movie a somewhat dirty look not related to the transfer. In any case, the end result was substantially cleaner than Boy, and print defects created relatively modest concerns.

Colors also improved. They seemed somewhat dingy in Boy, and a few shots here were somewhat flat. Otherwise the tones appeared fairly lively, as the hues were almost always good, and they sometimes became quite strong.

Blacks seemed deep and firm, and the smattering of low-light shots looked smooth and easily visible. Enough issues materialized to keep this one a “B-“, but at least it marked a clear step up from the prior film in the series.

While perfectly acceptable, the DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack of Snoopy Come Home wasn’t anything special. The soundfield opened up to a modest degree, as localized speech occasionally came from the sides, and effects decently accurately. A little movement occurred – such as during beach scenes – but this wasn’t an especially dynamic soundscape.

Stereo imaging for the music was unexceptional. The score and songs spread to the sides without much real definition. <

I wouldn’t call it “broad mono” but I didn’t detect any particular clarity to the placement of the instruments. The surrounds acted to reinforce music and effects, though they did come to life moderately well for elements like waves.

Audio quality remained fine. Speech could be slightly flat, but the lines were consistently intelligible and lacked any edginess.

Music also sometimes suffered from lackluster high-end, as the tunes and score seemed a little muted. Nonetheless, they were acceptable concise, and bass response was surprisingly good.

Effects sounded more than acceptable, as they showed good clarity and passable depth. The soundtrack seemed fine for an older movie.

How did this Blu-Ray compare with the prior DVD? Audio seemed a bit more involving and robust, though the two remained fairly similar.

Visuals got a format-related boost, as the Blu-ray seemed better defined and showed more dynamic colors. This wasn’t a massive upgrade but I preferred the Blu-ray.

Note than the DVD went with a 1.85:1 aspect ratio whereas the Blu-ray gave us 1.33:1. I have no idea which should be considered “correct”, and I can conjure arguments for each as the better option. I doubt the 1.33:1 compromises the source, but I also doubt the movie ran theatrically at 1.33:1, as those dimensions wouldn’t have been common in 1972.

Whatever the case, note that the opening/closing credits came with severe windowboxing. I understood windowboxing in the days of 4X3 TV overscan, but in the 16X9 set/Blu-ray era, this makes no sense.

Expect zero extras here. Not even a trailer makes an appearance on this barebones release.

Snoopy Come Home has some flaws, but it overcomes those with a warm, moving little tale. The Blu-ray provides generally good picture and audio but it lacks bonus materials. This never becomes a great release, but it seems like an adequate rendition of a charming film.

To rate this film, visit the original review of SNOOPY COME HOME