{"id":184717,"date":"2023-08-22T15:25:07","date_gmt":"2023-08-22T19:25:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/armchairarcade.com\/perspectives\/?p=184717"},"modified":"2023-08-22T15:25:13","modified_gmt":"2023-08-22T19:25:13","slug":"analysis-snoopy-presents-one-of-a-kind-marcie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/armchairarcade.com\/perspectives\/2023\/08\/22\/analysis-snoopy-presents-one-of-a-kind-marcie\/","title":{"rendered":"Why It’s Great Analysis and Review – Snoopy Presents: One-of-a-Kind Marcie"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Apple <\/strong>has been a surprisingly good partner to the Peanuts<\/strong> brand since acquiring the home streaming rights back in 2020. On Apple TV+<\/strong>, you can not only watch all of the classic TV specials, but also the classic TV series, as well as quite a few new shows and specials produced with WildBrain<\/strong>. It’s the latter, specials, and in particular, Snoopy Presents: One-of-a-Kind Marcie<\/a>, that I felt compelled to discuss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although keeping mostly in the spirit of the contemporary Peanuts brand from decades in the past, I’ve felt a bit ambivalent towards series like The Snoopy Show<\/a> and specials like Snoopy Presents: Lucy’s School<\/a>. They’re certainly competently executed and have some stand-out moments, but whether it’s the occasional personality that feels just a bit off-character, off-brand voice, or overly saccharin and non-substantive gag or story, I haven’t enjoyed these as much as I would typically expect. Of course, part of that is I’m a 50-year-old father rather than a 10-year-old, so my perspective and expectations are clearly different, but I think One-of-a-Kind Marcie<\/strong>, which was just released on August 18, 2023, was able to raise the bar to the point where I can appreciate the direction these are going so much more.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Snoopy Presents: One-of-a-Kind Marcie (2023)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Any introspective fan of classic Peanuts will tell you that one of the reasons why the IP is so durable is that each of the core characters has real depth. They have clear emotional and other psychological issues and demons that they wrestle with regularly. Charles M. Schulz<\/a> had a gift for getting that pathos across in a relatively short series of four panels. These aren’t your average comic strip kids and the best of the classic TV specials were able to explore that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having created new strips for an amazing run of 50 years, 1950 – 2000, it’s fair to say that recognizing disorders at that time clinically outside what was considered neurotypical was either non-existent or in its infancy. These characters were just regular oddballs. In retrospect, however, many of the Peanuts characters exhibited characteristics that today would be diagnosed as Attention-Deficit\/Hyperactivity Disorder<\/a> (ADHD<\/strong>), bipolar disorder<\/a>, emotional lability<\/a>, depression<\/a>, Autism Spectrum Disorder<\/a> (ASD<\/strong>), and more. Again, it was a Schulz <\/strong>gift that he was able to explore some of these issues in relatively thoughtful and respectful ways without necessarily being conscious of their existence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Enter the post-2020 Apple-led Peanuts. With a better understanding of everyday disorders that fall outside of the neurotypical range, Peanuts can become even more relevant, building on what Schulz, consciously or otherwise, established with these personalities all those years ago. And I can say with confidence that One-of-a-Kind Marcie <\/strong>not only goes there, but succeeds in a way that few other post-Schulz productions have been able.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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