Posts tagged "Charlie Brown"

Peanuts Holiday Collection (A Charlie Brown Christmas/A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving/It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown) [VHS]

Two of the all-time cartoon classics It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1966) and A Charlie Brown Christmas (a Peabody and Emmy winner from 1965) highlight this three-disc, six-episode set. Although the DVDs contain no extras (good grief!) and could have been combined on a single disc (drat!), the collection looks and sounds wonderful on DVD. The content is the same on the VHS and DVD sets, with two episodes per tape or disc. Accompanying Pumpkin is You’re Not Elected, Charlie Brown, a cute spin on politics that has aged very well since its 1972 release. Christmas sports a lackluster sequel of sorts, It’s Christmas Time Again, Charlie Brown (1992) that has Sally dwelling on getting (instead of giving), Charlie Brown facing a spending dilemma, and everyone suffering stage fright before the annual school play. A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (1973) also won an Emmy but is not as well known as others; it also suffers from not having the original cast. Snoopy is foremost in helping to put on an impromptu feast (toast and popcorn) as the gang keeps forgetting the true meaning of the holiday. Also on the disc is a better Thanksgiving venue, The Mayflower Voyages (1988), part of the This is America, Charlie Brown series that breathed new life into the franchise. Mostly narrated by Linus, the show traces the Pilgrims’ plight and doesn’t talk down to youngsters on the hardships they faced. It’s a treasure of a gift (for others or yourself), all nicely packaged. –Doug Thomas
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Voice of Charlie Brown pleads guilty to threatening and stalking in California

The man who was the voice of Charlie Brown in the first “Peanuts” television specials has pleaded guilty to threatening and stalking both his ex-girlfriend and a plastic surgeon who gave her a breast enhancement he paid for.

City News Service says 56-year-old Peter Robbins entered the plea Wednesday in a San Diego court and could get up to three years in prison at his sentencing next month.

Prosecutors say Robbins called his former girlfriend dozens of times a day and told her he would kill her and her son if she did not give back his dog and car.

They say he made similar threats and demanded a refund from the plastic surgeon.

Robbins provided the voice of the title character in 1965′s “A Charlie Brown Christmas” and 1966′s “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.”

Voice of Charlie Brown arrested in California on stalking, other charges

Authorities in California say the voice actor who portrayed Charlie Brown in many “Peanuts” shows was arrested on charges that include stalking.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokeswoman Angelica de Cima said Peter Robbins was arrested Sunday at the San Ysidro Port of Entry. She told U-T San Diego that a background check yielded a warrant against Robbins from the San Diego County sheriff’s department.

A sheriff’s spokeswoman said she did not have details about the warrant.

The 56-year-old is set to be arraigned Wednesday on counts of making a threat to cause death or great bodily injury and of stalking. His manager has declined to comment.

Robbins was the voice of Charlie Brown for TV specials, “A Charlie Brown Christmas” and “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.”

You’re Not Elected, Charlie Brown

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Bieber's Believe makes believers

… 2012 11:46:01 EDT AM. This image from the Stratford Shakespeare Festival's Facebook page shows native son Justin Bieber singing on the steps of the Avon Theatre Saturday afternoon during the intermission of You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown. Tweet …
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US Navy assault ship collides with tanker in Pacific; no injuries or fuel spills reported

An 844-foot-long U.S. Navy vessel collided with a refueling tanker Wednesday in the Pacific Ocean, causing damage to both ships, but there were no injuries or fuel spills, military officials said.

The midmorning accident between the amphibious assault ship USS Essex and the oiler USNS Yukon occurred about 120 miles off the coast of Southern California as the Essex was approaching the Yukon to get in position to be refueled, said Cmdr. Charlie Brown, a spokesman for the 3rd Fleet.

Navy officials said there apparently was a steering malfunction on the Essex, which was carrying 982 crew members on its way to San Diego for scheduled maintenance. It had spent the past 12 years based in Sasebo, Japan, as command ship for the Navy’s Expeditionary Strike Group 7.

Both ships were able to continue toward San Diego despite the damage, which did not compromise their fuel tanks or systems, Navy officials said.

The Yukon arrived at the Navy base in San Diego after 3 p.m. Wednesday with its crew of 78. All but four are civilian mariners.

The Essex was keeping to its planned arrival time of 9 a.m. Thursday.

Brown said the degree of the damage was still being assessed. He said he couldn’t say how fast the ships were moving at the time of the crash because the Navy is still investigating the cause of the collision.

The standard speed for ships lining up to refuel at sea is about 13 knots, Brown said. No lines or hoses had been connected yet since the two vessels were just approaching each other.

The ships’ speed, about 15 mph, is not very fast, so they likely just bounced off each other, said maritime safety consultant J.W. Allen.

Even so, he said, with massive ships, it can be “a pretty hard bump that can bend metal” and cause dents. The Essex resembles a small aircraft carrier, while the Yukon is 677 feet long.

Navy ships routinely refuel at sea while under way.

“They were probably so close there was no time to respond when the steering went out,” said Allen, who served 30 years in the Coast Guard.

The Yukon, which was launched in 1993, has been involved in at least two previous collisions, including on Feb. 27, 2000, when it collided with a 135-foot civilian cargo ship while trying to enter Dubai’s Jebel Ali port in the United Arab Emirates. The Yukon sustained minor damage.

Less than five months later, it was hit by the USS Denver during refueling off the coast of Hawaii. Both ships sustained heavy damage.

Navy officials said it was the Essex’s first collision.

A helicopter based on the Essex crashed off Hawaii in 1995, injuring four. In 1996, another of its helicopters crashed into the Indian Ocean off the coast of Africa where it was helping in the departure of U.N. peacekeepers from Somalia.

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Associated Press writers Andrew Dalton and John Antczak in Los Angeles contributed to this report.