Snoopy Presents: One-of-a-Kind Marcie, on Apple TV+

In terms of temperament, Marcie is probably the closest to poor Charlie Brown, but she is no blockhead and there is no way her best friend, Patricia Peppermint Patty would ever forget about her. Still, there are times she takes Marcie for granted. In fact, many of the shy, bookish girl’s insights go unappreciated in Snoopy Presents: One-of-a-Kind Marcie, the latest Peanuts special, which premieres tomorrow on Apple TV+.

Peppermint Patty is determined to win her school’s annual golf tournament, even though she has incredibly stiff competition from Snoopy. Her not-so-secret weapon is her caddy, Marice who can read greens and winds better than Bagger Vance. However, Marcie has other issues on her mind, like the insufficient number of pizza slices in the cafeteria at lunch time and the hall congestion in between periods that always makes the undersized underclassmen late for class. She has ideas to solve these problems, if people will listen to her.

One-of-a-Kind does not have an original song like the memorable title tune of It’s the Small Things, Charlie Brown, but it is another good opportunity for a long-time supporting Peanuts character to get a turn in the spotlight. Marcie is definitely a sweet kid, who has many admirable traits worth emulating. Plus, her golf tips are surprisingly good for a cartoon character.

Of course, Snoopy rocks golf clothes like nobody’s business. He has relatively little screen-time in this special, but he makes the most of it. Screenwriter Betsy Walters does a nice job deepening Marcie’s relationship with Peppermint Patty, in ways that the Charles Shultz family clearly felt was in keeping with the original comic strips and their conception for the special.

In fact, the new Apple specials have maintained an impressively consistent level of quality. One-of-a-Kind is not quite as strong as It’s the Small Things or For Auld Lang Syne, but it is maybe slightly better than To Mom (and Dad) with Love, which still had plenty of nice things to say about family and friendship. Regardless, Marcie is such a familiar cartoon face, it is rewarding to see her get her just due.

Again, Jeff Morrow does a nice job of evoking Vince Guaraldi’s classic scores. This time there is a lot of flute in the orchestral mix, which was not uncommon in Guaraldi’s soundtracks (including It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!). It is just so nice to see the tradition of Peanuts specials continued and done in a manner that respects the spirit of the original classics. Recommended for nostalgic fans and family audiences, Snoopy Presents: One-of-a-Kind Marcie starts streaming tomorrow (8/18) on Apple TV+.