Snoopy Come Home

"Linus: You bought Snoopy in the month of October, right? According to the records at the Daisy Hill Puppy Farm, Snoopy was bought by another family in August. This family had a little girl named Lila. Snoopy and Lila loved each other very much, but then they moved, and the family decided they just couldn't keep Snoopy so they returned him. (Beat) You got a used dog, Charlie Brown."



Snoopy Come Home is a 1972 animated Peanuts feature length film. It was the second out of the four feature-length Peanuts films. As the first film, A Boy Named Charlie Brown, focused on Charlie Brown, this film focuses almost entirely on Snoopy.

It is also, unquestionably, the most depressing and heart-wrenching thing in the Peanuts franchise. If there were a trope called "Crowning Moment of Tear Jerking", this film would win fairly easily.

To summarize: The plot begins with Snoopy experiencing dissatisfaction with his life amongst the Peanuts characters, as numerous "NO DOGS ALLOOOOOOOOOOWED" signs have recently been put up around the town, resulting in Snoopy being kicked out of most public places. After this, Snoopy attempts to get the attention of most of his friends only to be rejected or shrugged-off in one way or another.

Snoopy then receives a letter from his original owner, Lila, whom he only spent two months with as a puppy before he was sent back to the Daisy Hill Puppy Farm because Lila's family moved. The letter informs Snoopy that Lila has become a Littlest Cancer Patient and wishes to see Snoopy again. Snoopy and Woodstock immediately leave town to visit her without explaining. They go on a somewhat surreal journey across the country and engage in silent shenanigans.

Meanwhile, Charlie Brown spirals into a near suicidal depression at Snoopy running away, and any attempts at his friends to cheer him up fail. If anything, he in the Charliest of Browniest fashions manages to simply make everyone depressed as they all blame themselves for Snoopy running away.

Snoopy and Woodstock eventually make it to Lila's side where they help her recover, only to have Lila pressure Snoopy into staying with her permanently. Feeling obligated, Snoopy returns home to inform everyone that he is leaving to live with Lila permanently, essentially massacring what little self-esteem Charlie Brown has in the process. This culminates in a going-away party in which the entire Peanuts cast (and the audience as well) ends up crying hysterically the entire time while Snoopy gives away all of his possessions. Charlie Brown sinks even deeper into depression afterwards.

Upon arriving at Lila's home, Snoopy finds out that not only does Lila already have a pet of her own in the form of a beloved cat, but that her apartment has a "No Dogs Allowed" policy. Freed of his obligations, Snoopy joyfully runs back home and into the arms of Charlie Brown and company who welcome him back joyfully. Until he gets a swelled head and demand that they give back all the things he gave them before moving or he'll sue them, upon which everyone but Charlie Brown leaves Snoopy in disgust (though he does leave a few moments later in disgust as well when Snoopy has let Woodstock type in the ending credits).


 * Adaptation Expansion: Adapted from a series of strips where Snoopy went missing to visit Lila in hospital. The strips did have the angst of Charlie Brown losing Snoopy and discovering he wasn't Snoopy's original owner, but there was never any question of whether Snoopy would stay with Lila or return to Charlie--that was added by the film.
 * And Call Him George: Along the way, Snoopy and Woodstock are captured by a little girl named Clara, an insane, pet-obsessed little girl that makes Elmyra from Tiny Toon Adventures look sane in comparison.
 * To enlarge on the above, she thinks that Snoopy (a beagle) and Woodstock (a canary) are a sheepdog and a parrot.
 * "Fundamental Friend Dependability" is an inspired bit of lunacy, written by the Sherman Brothers. They also wrote "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious", and it shows.
 * Aw, Look -- They Really Do Love Each Other: Despite Charlie Brown being a depressive loser and their sometimes indifferent interactions, Snoopy still chooses him over an angelic little girl in the end.
 * Not that he had much of a choice, anyway.
 * You might have missed Snoopy bawling over leaving Charlie Brown. The "NO DOGS ALLOWED" sign just gave him a convenient excuse to break his obligation.
 * To underscore the point, this is the only time in the movie where the sight of the "NO DOGS ALLOWED" sign is accompanied by cheerful, triumphant music instead of its usual sinister Leitmotif, as Snoopy is literally dancing for joy.
 * Bittersweet Ending: In classic Peanuts style, still played for laughs.
 * Break the Cutie: ALL of the Peanuts in this movie, but especially Snoopy and Charlie Brown.
 * Chekhov's Gun: "NO DOGS ALLOWED!"
 * Death By Newbery Medal: One could argue that the film's Charlie Brown arc is a deconstruction of it: losing a pet doesn't make Charlie Brown an adult. It just makes him chronically depressed and makes his abandonment issues worse. If anything, it causes him to emotionally regress.
 * Actually, the film confirms Charlie Brown's philosophy while playing Monopoly that no matter how bad things get, everything will work out in the end. Lucy called it "stupid".
 * Escalating War: Snoopy and Linus get into one of these over Linus' blanket, complete with yanking, foot-stomping, nose-tweaking, head-butting, collar-snapping, and shin-kicking.
 * Face Palm: Lila, when Snoopy shows her the "No Dogs Allowed" sign on her building.
 * Heroic BSOD: Charlie Brown ends up being depressed even by the standards of Charlie Brown. That's saying something.
 * Snoopy with Clara, after she tells him she's going to spank him.
 * It Got Worse
 * Karma Houdini: Admit it, Clara pretty much got away with the Elmyra-esque antics scot-free. Had she tried that in this day and age, especially with the advent of video sharing, let's just say a little Image Board called 4chan would've found her and...her life would be in shambles.
 * Though from the mess and after she got her head stuck in a fish bowl, it can be assumed her mom punished her for irresponsibility (albeit off-screen, of course).
 * Leitmotif: The four note "No Dogs Allowed" motif.
 * Littlest Cancer Patient: Lila, although she's portrayed much less sympathetically in the last scene.
 * Her actual illness is also kept vague and unspecified.
 * Scooby Dooby Doors: A scene like this occurs at one point when Clara chases Snoopy and Woodstock through her house.
 * Title Drop: While despairing over Snoopy being gone, Charlie Brown cries out the movie title.
 * Tropey Come Home
 * We Want Our Jerk Back: Snoopy behaves like a prick to everyone in the film, but they all cry when he leaves. When he eventually returns, they're shocked when he continues to be a prick.
 * What Happened to The Mouse?: For some reason, after the deep thought sequence, Peppermint Patty disappears for the rest of the movie. She isn't even seen again in the movie unless you count the credits.