Snoopy, Come Home
Snoopy, Come Home is a 1972 American animated musical comedy-drama film based on Charles M. Schulz's Peanuts comic strip, directed by Bill Melendez and written by Schulz, in which the beagle Snoopy leaves Charlie Brown to visit his original owner, Lila, who is ill in a hospital.1 • 2 It was the second theatrically released Peanuts feature-length film, following A Boy Named Charlie Brown (1969).3 • 1
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | August 9, 1972 (theatrical), distributed by National General Pictures; 80 minutes; rated G2 • 1 |
| Key creators | Director Bill Melendez; writer Charles M. Schulz (credited "Created and written by"); producers Lee Mendelson and Bill Melendez1 |
| Production companies | Lee Mendelson Film Productions, Inc., Sopwith Productions, Inc., and Cinema Center Films (CBS)1 |
| Screen debut | Introduced Woodstock, Snoopy's small bird companion, who had begun appearing in the comic strip in 19671 |
| Music | Songs by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman; the only Peanuts animated project made during Vince Guaraldi's lifetime (1928–1976) without a Guaraldi score1 • 4 |
| Voice cast | Chad Webber (Charlie Brown), Robin Kohn (Lucy Van Pelt), Stephen Shea (Linus Van Pelt), Johanna Baer (Lila), Bill Melendez (Snoopy and Woodstock)2 |
| Later releases | Re-released theatrically by Columbia Pictures in 1975; first CBS television broadcast on November 5, 19761 |
Spoilers
Story
The film opens at the beach, where Charlie Brown, Linus, Snoopy, and Peppermint Patty spend the day. Snoopy promises Peppermint Patty a picnic the next day, but when he arrives he is turned away by a new "No Dogs Allowed" sign. Infuriated, he dictates a complaint letter to Woodstock, his friend and secretary, a small clumsy bird who rarely flies in a straight line.1
Snoopy then receives a letter from Lila, the girl who owned him before he came to Charlie Brown, and who has been sick in the hospital. With Woodstock he sets out across the country to visit her, repeatedly blocked by "no dogs allowed" signs in buses, trains, and public buildings. When Lila recovers, she asks Snoopy to live with her. After a tearful farewell party at which the whole gang gives him a parting gift, Snoopy leaves, and Charlie Brown is left depressed.2 • 5 The parting scene, in which Charlie Brown and Snoopy cannot look at each other before both break into sobs, is one of the film's most remembered moments.5
Production
Production ran from late December 1970 to early May 1972, and the film was registered for copyright by Lee Mendelson Film Productions, Inc. and Sopwith Productions, Inc. on May 24, 1972.6 The animated opening credits spell the title without a comma, but most contemporary and modern sources list it as Snoopy, Come Home.1 In the end credits, Snoopy appears to conduct the music and dictate the credits to Woodstock, who types them as they appear onscreen.1
Melendez and Mendelson had made the first Peanuts feature, A Boy Named Charlie Brown (1969), with Schulz, and many of the same crew worked on both films and on the television specials, including A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965) and It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1966).1 Early production charts listed some voice actors from the earlier film, such as Peter Robbins and Pamelyn Ferdin, but they did not appear in the finished picture.1
Music
The songs, with music and lyrics by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman, the songwriting team behind Mary Poppins, include "Gettin' It Together," "No Dogs Allowed," "At the Beach," "Fundamental-Friend-Dependability," "Snoopy, Come Home," "It Changes," "Lila's Theme (Do You Remember Me?)," and "The Best of Buddies."1 • 7 Featured vocalists included Shelby Flint and Thurl Ravenscroft.1 The Sherman score replaced the jazz compositions of Vince Guaraldi, who had scored the earlier Peanuts specials and the first feature; Snoopy, Come Home was the only Peanuts animated project produced during Guaraldi's lifetime that did not use his music.4
Reception and afterlife
The film holds a 93 percent Tomatometer score from 14 reviews and an 84 percent audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.2 Reviewers have singled out the running gag of the "No Dogs Allowed" signs and the film's alternation of humor and heart-tugging sadness; Roger Ebert gave it 2.5 out of 4 stars.2 Its willingness to put child characters through genuine loss and loneliness, rather than resolving everything lightly, is a recurring note in audience and critical responses.2
The film was re-released theatrically by Columbia Pictures in 1975, and its rights were later purchased by Avco Embassy, which planned another release; it first reached television on CBS on November 5, 1976.1 It has since appeared on home video and streaming platforms, and it remains one of the four theatrically released feature-length Peanuts films, alongside A Boy Named Charlie Brown, Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown (1977), and Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (1980).8
References
- Snoopy, Come Home (1972), AFI Catalog of Feature Films
- Snoopy, Come Home, Rotten Tomatoes
- Animating Comics Exhibition Walkthrough, Charles M. Schulz Museum
- Snoopy, Come Home, Peanuts Wiki (Fandom)
- John Cuellar dissertation, OhioLINK
- Snoopy, Come Home details, AFI Catalog
- Snoopy, Come Home, Apple TV
- Before Your Visit, Charles M. Schulz Museum
Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Films by genre, form, and subject › Animated and short films › Animated films by source material and subject › Films based on comics and games
Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026
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