After a Great Pumpkin, jellybeans on the Thanksgiving table, and an innocent, little Christmas tree, it’s only fitting to end one year and begin a new one with Charlie Brown and the Peanuts gang.

Happy New Year, Charlie Brown was one of the later TV specials inspired by Charles Schulz’ beloved characters, debuting 40 years ago on January 1, 1986, on CBS. It brings the usual Charlie Brown pessimism to the holiday, along with Schulz’ comforting philosophy.

Happy New Year, Charlie Brown begins on the last day of school before Christmas break, with Charlie Brown’s teacher assigning a book report on War and Peace.

Peppermint Patty then calls to invite “Chuck” to her New Year’s Eve party. Poor Charlie Brown doesn’t know what to do, as he has to finish reading Tolstoy’s novel and write the book report. He begins to look for a “short cut,” going to the store to search for the novel in comic book form or the book on cassette.

Also, Charlie Brown, usually too shy to talk to the Little Red-Haired Girl, musters up the courage to send her an invitation to the New Year’s Eve party.

He still hasn’t finished War and Peace, as the party starts, so he takes the book with him, thinking he can finish it there. He sneaks out to the front porch of Patty’s house to read, but falls asleep, sadly not only missing out on the celebration at midnight, but the arrival of the Little Red-Haired Girl, as well.

When Charlie Brown returns to school after Christmas break, he receives a “D-” on the book report, with the teacher adding a note that the report looks like it “was written after midnight on the last day of Christmas vacation.” Charlie Brown then learns that their next assignment is to read Crime & Punishment. Hearing this, he faints, and Linus says, “Happy New Year, Charlie Brown”, as the special ends.

Directed by Bill Melendez and Sam Jaimes, with animation from such artists as Bill Littlejohn and Dave Burgess, Happy New Year, Charlie Brown was written by Charles Schulz, and, like many of the Peanuts specials, pulls inspiration from his comic strip.

An example is The Little Red-Haired Girl. She was first referred to in the Peanuts comic strip in 1961 and made her TV Special debut in 1977’s It’s Your First Kiss, Charlie Brown.

There’s also Rerun, the baby brother of Linus and Lucy, who makes an appearance in the special. This character first appeared in the comic strips in 1972 and appeared in several TV specials before Happy New Year, Charlie Brown.

Here, Rerun is featured in one of the special’s funniest scenes, as he assists his brother and sister in blowing up balloons for the party. When Rerun attempts to inflate his balloon, they all come out square, even after Linus tries to teach his younger brother the correct way to inflate balloons.

There is also the plotline featuring War and Peace, which appeared in several strips over the years (including one where Snoopy attempts to read it, one word a day). In Happy New Year, Charlie Brown, it’s a very Schulz-like, humorous touch to consider a grammar school student assigned to read Tolstoy’s massive novel in a little over a week.

Happy New Year, Charlie Brown is also a musical, featuring two songs written by Ed Bogas and Desireé Goyette. One is “Slow, Slow, Quick! Quick!” where Charlie Brown attends dance school, and the other is “Musical Chairs,” a catchy number Peppermint Patty sings during the game at her party.

Consider this seldom-seen corner of The Peanuts universe to celebrate the special’s 40th anniversary and kick off your New Year. While it hasn’t become as iconic as The Great Pumpkin or the initial Christmas special, Happy New Year, Charlie Brown does solid work of placing the “Peanuts stamp” on the holiday. This is evidenced by such Charlie Brown dialogue as, “You know how I always dread the whole year? Well, this time I’m only going to dread one day at a time.”