The Vintagent Classics: The films that inspired us.

RACE FOR YOUR LIFE, CHARLIE BROWN  (1977)

Run Time: 1:15:48
Producer: Paramount Pictures
Director: Bill Melendez, Phil Roman
Writer: Charles M. Schultz
Key Cast: Charlie Brown (Duncan Watson), Snoopy (Bill Melendez), Woodstock

FILM MAKERS

Here at The Vintagent Film Archive, we draw a hard line as to what encompasses a motorcycle movie, or “Biker Flick” (a phrase coined by Roger Corman while directing the first of it’s kind, Wild Angels in 1966). Mainly, is the motorcycle integral to the film? But sometimes, there must be exceptions (left to the discretion of the Curator). In this case, a cartoon homage to the iconic Easy Rider (1969) chopper in the 1977 animated classic Race For Your Life, Charlie Brown.

As a kid born 11 years after Easy Rider came out, this was one of the first motorcycles I saw on film, long before I saw it’s inspiration, and it never left me. I definitely count Snoopy’s chopper as a reason I ride motorcycles today. I’ve built my career as an authority on motorcycle movies by collecting and curating the good, the bad, and the bizarre of motorized cinema, and during this quiet, Covid holiday season, I think Peanuts is just what the Dr. called for, for those of us who chose to go our own way, and adventure off into the sunset. So, stay safe folks, and enjoy the genius of Charles M. Schultz and the Peanuts gang!

SUMMARY

The Peanuts gang heads off to Camp Remote somewhere in the mountains. Accidentally left behind by the bus while at a desolate rest stop, Charlie Brown is forced to hitch a harrowing ride on Snoopy’s motorcycle in order to make the rest of the journey to the camp, accompanied by rock guitar type riffs while protesting Snoopy’s wild driving…

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