Twelfth animated special based on the cartoon strips of Charles M. Schulz gets around to Easter, as Lucy tries to color her eggs, and Peppermint Patty tries in vain to make Marcie comprehend the proper way to make Easter eggs(going broke in the process). All of them meet at the department store(already pushing Christmas!) to look for Easter gifts and clothes, while Snoopy tries to find a new house for Woodstock after accidentally destroying it. He also gets to dance with some bunnies. Sally is wary about Linus talking about the Easter Beagle after her Great Pumpkin experience, but Snoopy steps in(much to Lucy's annoyance) to save the day. Appealing and warm holiday tale.

While not as entertaining as many of the other Peanuts holiday specials (Thanksgiving, Halloween, Christmas), there's still some amusing scenes that makes It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown worth recommending. Like seeing Peppermint Patty get frustrated every time her friend Marcie cracks open the eggs (to fry, waffle, or boil) as Patty prepares to paint them. Or Snoopy botching some attempts at getting his bird friend Woodstock a bird house. Only a Peanuts cartoon would have a scene in a Discount Mart with a sign saying "Only 246 days till Christmas" with potential presents on sale! Though while Linus' belief in the Easter Beagle, unlike that of the Great Pumkin, comes true, isn't it a bit strange no one acknowledges that it's Snoopy doing the rounds? And why is Schroeder's scene so brief here? Otherwise, this was a pretty entertaining animated special with fine work, as always, by musician Vince Guaraldi on the score.

This is as depressing as the rest of the specials, though not as much as the Christmas one. It's amazing to me that more of my generation didn't grow up angst-ridden because of pap like this. You want to THROTTLE Lucy and the rest of the girls, save for Peppermint Patty, who at least tries to be nice to Charlie Brown, and give the rest of the gang a whop upside the head while imitating Cher in 'Moonstruck': "Snap out of it!" When CBS chose not to air any of the specials one year I sat down and wrote a personal letter to Roone Arledge, CEO at the time, profusely thanking him. These shows should be put in the dustbin, have kerosene poured over them, and set alight!

Let's see, error prone Marcie, crabby Lucy, wise Linus, helping Snoopy, and good old Charlie Brown. I like the part where the Easterbeagle (i.e. Snoopy) approaches and gives the eggs to the kids. I also like the part where Snoopy is at the store, and dances with Marcie and Peppermint Patty. Woodstock is funny. The music is cool. And Marcie keeps messing up on boiling eggs. Which makes Peppermint Patty say "AAAUGGHH!" This happens for about 4 or 5 times. Why not just kick her out of here or something and let her do it herself. Or better yet, explain that eggs should not be broken, toasted or roasted in the beginning. That way she would not go through all this mess. I bet a lot of you people went up into similar problems as Peppermint Patty went into. You had similar problems with your friends or family members (like your siblings or parents no offense). Some scenes got edited into, THE CHARLIE BROWN AND SNOOPY SHOW (1983-1985). If you like this one, you'll like IT'S ARBOR DAY CHARLIE BROWN (1976).