7/10
"Are You An Escaped Criminal, Charles?"
16 July 2023
"It's An Adventure" is one of the lesser-known Peanuts specials of the 1980s (judging by its paltry vote total here). One reason for that may be its format. That is to say, this one doesn't tell one story, but rather contains several short skits. Some are just a few minutes long, others run closer to ten. There are eight individual stories in all and they are all unrelated. The total runtime (without commercials) adds up to nearly 50 minutes, double the length of a typical Peanuts program.

Why I rated it a '7': I found it relatively entertaining if not quite hilarious. The opening story, "Sack," about Charlie seemingly imagining a baseball where other spherical objects should be (sun, moon, ice cream scoop), has him wear a bag over his head and go to camp to be cured. OK. A little odd, but ok. Another story features Peppermint Patty and Marcie as caddies at a country club. Some of the others contain familiar themes, like Lucy flirting with Schroeder and Lucy trying to get rid of Linus's blanket.

For me the highlight of the show was "Kite." Here Charlie, in frustration, deliberately damages a tree that ate his kite. Fearing punishment from the EPA(!), he 'runs away from home' and winds up in a distant unfamiliar neighborhood where he befriends several young children. They ask him to be their baseball coach (little do they know of his ineptitude lol) and he is of course flattered by the request. All of these new characters were cool to see and were very cute, especially Milo. The title of this review is one of Milo's questions from the story. Like I said, it's probably the best one of the group, even it ends kind of abruptly.

This special originally aired in May 1983 and I wonder if it ever aired again. I suspect not. It's not even available on DVD from what I know, but you can find it online, like I did. Worth the effort for Peanuts fans for sure.

7/10. Would I watch again (Y/N)?: Yes.
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