One day, Snoopy receives a letter. After reading the letter, Snoopy immediately sets off with Woodstock without explaining to Charlie Brown where he is going or why he’s leaving. After Snoopy leaves, Charlie Brown reads the letter, which is from a young girl named Lila. In the letter, Lila says she has been hospitalized for three weeks and needs Snoopy to keep her company, so Snoopy has gone off to see her, leaving Charlie Brown and the others in the dark as to who Lila is. Despite being unaware of who Lila is, Charlie Brown and the gang soon begin to miss Snoopy dearly.
En route to see Lila, Snoopy and Woodstock face the challenges of a world full of "No Dogs Allowed" signs, are briefly adopted as pets by an animal-obsessed girl (identified as Clara in the theatrical poster), whose mother lets her keep Snoopy, though they successfully escape, and they camp out, play football and make music while preparing their dinner. When Snoopy and Woodstock finally reach the hospital, again, no dogs are allowed. To add further insult, the hospital does not allow birds either. Snoopy is foiled in his first attempt to sneak into Lila's room, but his second attempt is successful. He then keeps Lila company, and Lila tells Snoopy that his visit helped her get better.
Back at home, Linus calls the Daisy Hill Puppy Farm to ask about Snoopy, and learns that Lila was Snoopy’s first owner and not Charlie Brown. Prior to Charlie Brown adopting Snoopy, Lila’s family were about to move to a new home, they were forced to return him to Daisy Hill Puppy Farm. After Linus reveals this to him, Charlie Brown faints.
Lila asks Snoopy to go home with her, but he has doubts. Snoopy decides to go back home to Charlie Brown. However, when he sees Lila watching him tearfully from her hospital window, Snoopy finds it too hard to leave her and he runs back and hugs her, which she takes as a sign that he wants to live with her. But first, he has to go back to his old home to say goodbye to everyone. When Snoopy returns, he informs Charlie Brown that he’s leaving through a letter he wrote, and gives some of his friends his most prized possessions, and gives Charlie Brown his best wishes. The kids throw Snoopy a large, tearful going-away party, each one bringing a gift (all of which turn out to be bones). The kids closest to Snoopy get up to say a few words in his honor, but during Charlie Brown's turn, he is overwhelmed to the point of silence, though he gives Snoopy his present. After Snoopy leaves, Charlie Brown is unable to sleep or eat.
When Snoopy arrives at Lila's apartment building the next day, he sees a sign next to the main entrance that reads "No dogs allowed in the building." Snoopy is overjoyed that this gives him an excuse to return to Charlie Brown. Lila arrives and Snoopy is reluctantly introduced to her pet cat. Snoopy shows Lila the sign, and she has no choice but to allow Snoopy to leave. Snoopy returns home, and the children are overjoyed to see Snoopy return, carrying him high to his doghouse. Once there, using his typewriter, Snoopy demands the kids return the items he gave them. The gang, annoyed by this, then leaves Charlie Brown and Snoopy; Charlie Brown walks crossly away.
Snoopy then instructs Woodstock to type in the credits on his typewriter.
Snoopy, Come Home marked the first time Snoopy's thoughts are fully communicated to the audience outside of the comic strip. This was achieved by having his typed correspondences appear at the top of the frame, giving the viewer full access to his thoughts. Previously, Schulz had opted to mute Snoopy entirely, except for inflected squealing and growling. Snoopy's thought balloons, though overt in the strip, are not translated in the animated projects.
Music
Snoopy, Come Home was the only Peanuts animated project produced during Vince Guaraldi's lifetime (1928–76) that did not contain a musical score by the noted jazz composer. Guaraldi had composed all the previous Peanuts animated television specials as well as the debut film A Boy Named Charlie Brown. Music for this film was instead provided by the Sherman Brothers, who had composed some of the music used in various Disney films and theme park attractions. Schulz said this was an experiment, as he had wanted to have more of a commercial "Disney" feel to Snoopy, Come Home. "Everybody felt that the first movie had too much the 'feel' of the TV specials," said producer Lee Mendelson in 2011. "We collectively thought that we needed more of a feature film 'look' and score. That's why we went to the Shermans, who at the time were No. 1 in their field for such things."[4]
As of September 2020[update], the film had a 93% rating on review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 14 reviews with an average score of 7.70/10.[6]The New York Times said: "This sprightly, clever and hilarious treat—all that a comic strip could be on the screen—is even better than A Boy Named Charlie Brown, which began the series."[7]
Accolades
The film won a CEC Award for Best Children's Film becoming its first recipient.
