It’s time for another Charlie Brown special. Surprisingly, Charlie doesn’t have much of a role this time, which is actually quite shocking. Patty is the main character this time around as she enters an ice skating competition so she has to train quite a lot if she wants to take home the gold trophy. With Snoopy as her coach this goal is definitely possible, but it will still be quite difficult. Will she fall to the Charlie Brown curse or will she be able to win the whole thing?

It’s definitely unique to have Patty have such a starring role. She is a decently good character, but I have to say that Charlie Brown has more charisma as the title character. One scene where Patty shows why she is a good main character is when she is attacked by around 10 bullies. Charlie Brown would have ran away, but Patty eagerly fights them off along with her coach, Snoopy. Snoopy then clears the field so the 10 kids are shoveled away. It’s why you never want to mess with Snoopy when he is coaching someone. It was probably the highlight of the special.

As with the last Peanuts special that I reviewed, this one is essentially a sports themed one. Ice Skating can be a sport after all and Snoopy teaches Patty all that she knows. Unfortunately, Snoopy was probably burdened with too many tasks this time. He makes costumes, handled the music, handles the field, and is Patty’s coach. This gives her an edge on the other contestants, but Snoopy mishandles the music so Patty has to wing it with the whistling of a bird nearby. The other contestants weren’t bad for their ages, but they simply didn’t put in the same amount of practice that Patty did. She got up at 4:30 after all and while her homework may have taken a hit as a result, at least she got to have her 5 minutes of fame and a trophy that will last a lifetime.

If I had one complaint with Patty, it would be that she is rather ungrateful to Marcie. Patty asked Marcie to make her a costume out of the blue so Marcie tried her best, but the end result wasn’t so good. Still, the thought is what counts, but Marcie threw in some insults right off the bat. It was a bit harsh considering the situation. Ah well, not all of the characters can be as awesome as Snoopy right? Charlie Brown and the others only get a line or two and typically only try to discourage Patty from afar. These friends don’t have a lot of confidence in her.

The animation is fairly standard for Peanuts. If you’re a fan of this more abstract retro animation style, then you’ll like it. Keep in mind that these specials did come out quite a while ago. The songs used for the skating scenes are all classics that have aged well to this day. They are all soothing and fitting for a nice game of Ice Skating although I wouldn’t want to see the themes pop up in an action film. Some music are simply more suitable for one genre than another one, although battle music is pretty much always applicable.

Finally, it’s nice to have a happy ending for a change. Most Charlie Brown specials have rather sad endings to remind you that life isn’t easy. That’s fine for most of them, but once in a while the characters should have a victory right? This is that moment and maybe it will just be a running gag that the only films to have happy endings will be the ones where Charlie Brown isn’t the main character. That would be rather sad, but also an interesting gimmick.

Overall, She’s a Good Skate Charlie Brown was a solid special. It felt more to the point than some of the others and there wasn’t really any filler here. The special didn’t try to buy any time and just launched right into the plot. I feel like some Charlie Brown specials have a hard time cutting out the padding so this was nice to see. I’m always up for a snow time adventure as well since the scenery is quite sharp. If you want to see a charming little adventure than this special is right up your alley. It’s also short so it is not as if you would lose a lot of time by watching it. It’s over in a flash.

Overall 7/10