It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

This now-forgotten "Peanuts" animated special aired originally on New Year's Day 1986 (and recently rerun in 2014 on ABC) is a nice addition to any New Year's celebration and indeed a wonderful companion to the Thanksgiving and Christmas specials. The script uses quite a bit of material from classic "Peanuts" strips dating back to the early '60s mixed into a storyline involving the most stressful New Year's holiday one could imagine: Charlie Brown not only has to read "War and Peace" and write a book report on it as assigned by his sadist of a teacher (in the original strip, it was "Gulliver's Travels," by the way), but stresses out over Peppermint Patty and Marcie's New Year's party and the prerequisite dance lessons. Poor Charlie Brown spends 70 percent of the special lugging around a book that's half as big as he is, having no success in getting through it (by New Year's Eve he's still only on page five), and trying to get in some reading time whenever he can (even at the party itself), and the rest of the time worrying about inviting the Little Red-Haired Girl to the dance (much to the disgust of Peppermint Patty, who expects Charlie Brown to ask her and is as usual completely oblivious to the fact that he's not interested in her). Both story lines end as unhappily as one would expect them to in a "Peanuts" special, though there's a bit of a consolation prize for Charlie Brown as far as the party goes...The special will probably invite the inevitable comparisons to 1984's "It's Flashbeagle, Charlie Brown," due to the "party" storyline and the inclusion of a few songs. In particular, the 1950s-ish "Musical Chairs" song sounds like a leftover from "Flashbeagle" in that it sounds a lot like an amalgamation of "Lucy Says" (although this time around it's Peppermint Patty and not Lucy who sings the song and dominates the game) and "I'm In Shape." By the way, the reviewer who said the "Pig Pen Hoedown" was included in this special is incorrect; the "Hoedown" is included in "Flashbeagle." Pig Pen appears in this special only as a musician in Schroeder's jazz combo at the New Year's party. This special is, however, much more cohesive than "Flashbeagle" in terms of story, and doesn't seem as disjointed, as there's very little extraneous material outside of the chief story lines, and Snoopy doesn't hog all the screen time, which, as much as I love Snoopy, can get quite tiring in other "Peanuts" movies and specials.Overall, very enjoyable even if it doesn't rise to the "classic" level of "A Charlie Brown Christmas," "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving," "It's the Easter Beagle..." or "It's the Great Pumpkin...". 7/10. One of the better post-1980 "Peanuts" specials.

Old blockhead Charlie Brown gets nothing right. And nothing goes right for him either. This New Year themed special is no exception. All Chuck wants to do is prepare for a New Year's Eve party and ask out the little red-headed girl he's long had a crush on. Only his luck would land him with the task of reading War and Peace in just a few days with a book report due as soon as he goes back to school.While the others are having fun, dancing, drinking root beer, and counting down to midnight Chuck can do nought but slave away through the pages of a Russian epic. You can't help but feel sorry for him. His bad luck doesn't end there though, or ever come to think of it.Makes for a perfect double-bill with any of the Peanuts Xmas specials in the week between Dec 25th and Dec 31st.

This is a good show and I don't understand why it hasn't been put on DVD like the other Holiday Charlie Brown Shows. Poor Charlie Brown the worst he can think of always seems to happen to him, like when he gets his hand caught trying to deliver an invitation to the red hair girl.Then when she does show up for the party he's not there to bring in the New Year.It's funny how much time Peppermint Patty spends trying to get Chuck to notice her.Great Show!

This has one of my all-time favorite lines. Sally wonders to Charlie Brown, when will her Sweet Babboo invite her to the party? Linus responds from outside, "I AM NOT YOUR SWEET BABBOO! AND I WOULDN'T INVITE YOU TO A GARAGE SALE!"I think this also marks the only appearance ever of the Little Red Haired Girl, whom we not only see, but also find out that her name is Heather.Poor Charlie Brown... trying to learn to dance, read War and Peace, make an appearance at at New Year's Party, and still deal with his crazy dog!