General · EdgepediaOctober 3, 20265 min read

Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown

Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown is a 1975 American animated television special based on the Peanuts comic strip by Charles M. Schulz, in which Charlie Brown waits in vain for a Valentine's Day card while the other children pursue their own disappointments in love. It was created and written by Schulz, directed by Phil Roman, produced by Bill Melendez and Lee Mendelson, and scored by Vince Guaraldi. The special premiered on CBS on January 28, 1975, runs about 25 minutes, and was the 13th animated Peanuts special.¹^•²

Key fact	Detail
First broadcast	CBS, January 28, 1975; running time 25:47 per the Paley Center's record¹
Place in series	The 13th animated Peanuts special²
Key crew	Charles M. Schulz (writer, creator), Phil Roman (director), Bill Melendez (producer), Lee Mendelson (executive producer), Vince Guaraldi (composer)¹
Recognition	Nominated for the 1975 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Children's Special³
Main voice cast	Duncan Watson (Charlie Brown), Stephen Shea (Linus), Melanie Kohn (Lucy), Greg Felton (Schroeder), Lynn Mortensen (Sally), Linda Ercoli (Violet and Frieda), Bill Melendez (Snoopy and Woodstock)⁴
Current availability	Streaming on Apple TV, which holds exclusive Peanuts streaming rights through 2030⁵^•⁴

Spoilers

Plot

The special follows several intertwined storylines on and around Valentine's Day. Charlie Brown waits hopefully by his mailbox for a valentine and pins his hopes on the school's classroom card exchange, but the day passes without a single card for him.⁶^•⁷ Linus buys a large box of candy as a gift for his teacher, Miss Othmar, and Sally, seeing him leave the store, assumes the chocolates are meant for her and works on a suitable valentine in return.⁷^•⁸ Lucy seeks some token of affection from the unresponsive Schroeder, while Snoopy and Woodstock amuse themselves spearing valentines on each other's noses and Snoopy, disguised as Cupid, fires plunger arrows at Charlie Brown.⁴^•⁹

The ending. On the day after Valentine's Day, Violet approaches Charlie Brown with a group of friends, says they feel bad about not giving him any valentines, and hands him one from which she has erased her own name. Schroeder objects that kindness cannot be made retroactive and that the gesture only eases their guilt, but Charlie Brown eagerly interrupts: "Don't listen to him! I'll take it!"⁹ Linus, meanwhile, never delivers his gift; his teacher drives off with her boyfriend before he can give it to her.⁸

Production

The special came from the same team as the earlier Peanuts specials: Schulz wrote it, Bill Melendez Productions animated it, and Guaraldi composed and performed the score with music supervision by John Scott Trotter.¹^•⁷ The animation staff included Sam Jaimes, Don Lusk, Bob Carlson, Bob Matz, Al Pabian, Bob Bachman, Joe Roman, Patricia Joy, and Bill Littlejohn.¹ Several children in the closing credits carry crew members' names, including Phil (for director Phil Roman), Lee (for executive producer Lee Mendelson), Joanne Lansing, Pat, Linda, and Sam (for animator Sam Jaimes).⁷

Music

Guaraldi's score mixes original mid-tempo tunes, his established favorites, and a mambo, and it uses the ARP String Ensemble, then a new synthesizer, to give the music a string-laced sound. Highlights include "Heartburn Waltz," which appears in eight variations, and the ballads "Jennie L." and "There's Been A Change."²

The complete score went unreleased for nearly fifty years. In 2024, Lee Mendelson Film Productions issued it for the first time: the original 24 cues mixed into 22 tracks, most available for the first time, plus eight bonus or alternative tracks, on a 42-minute album that the company described as the longest individual soundtrack it had released.²

Reception and legacy

The special was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Children's Special in 1975, losing to ABC's Yes, Virginia, There Is A Santa Claus; the other nominees included the Peanuts special It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown.³

The melancholy premise reached its audience directly. After the first broadcast, children across the United States mailed valentines addressed to the cartoon character Charlie Brown, sending them to Peanuts creator Charles Schulz.¹⁰ Retrospective reviews have focused on the special's treatment of unrequited love; Common Sense Media describes it as handling the disappointments of the school card exchange "with sophistication and humor," and notes visual gags such as Sally finding an entire Shakespearean sonnet printed on a candy heart.¹¹ The special draws on years of Valentine's Day Peanuts strips, a theme Schulz returned to in animation again in the 2002 special A Charlie Brown Valentine.¹²

Availability

The special streams on Apple TV and Apple TV Amazon Channel in 4K, and can be bought on DVD and Blu-ray from retailers including Amazon, GRUV, and Barnes & Noble; it is not available on Netflix or as a free streaming option.⁴ Apple TV+ has been the exclusive streaming home for the Peanuts catalog since 2020, and in October 2025 it extended that partnership through 2030 with WildBrain, Peanuts Worldwide, and Lee Mendelson Film Productions.⁵ Home video editions include the Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown Deluxe Edition (2008), which pairs it with the specials It's Your First Kiss, Charlie Brown and You're in Love, Charlie Brown and a documentary featurette on Schulz's work.¹¹

References

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026