I’ve been going through the filmstrips that I received this weekend, checking some of the details (turns out I’m missing one filmstrip that I have a teacher’s guide for, and have doubles of another strip), and digging into one of them. Well, I cheated on that a bit; I haven’t dug out a cassette player yet, but all the dialog is in the teacher’s guide.

It’s Your Hobby, Charlie Brown exists to teach kids that their hobbies may lead them to their eventual careers. Charlie Brown is engaged in his most futile hobby, baseball, and is facing his usual lack of success. Dolores, the original, makes some comments (including a snide one), and reveals that she has only been in the neighborhood for a few weeks (which explains why we hadn’t seen her in the strip before. It doesn’t explain “or since”, of course…)

After CB talks with Linus and Peppermint Patty, establishing a need for a hobby, Dolores starts spieling about all of Snoopy’s hobbies, which are depicted… in varying artistic texture.

Charlie Brown gets introduced to other possible hobbies, and unsuccessfully explores animal training. We also get an appearance by Frieda, working at a lemonade stand, long after she disappeared from the strip.

Ultimately, Franklin introduces Charlie Brown to a hobby that might lead to a career as a geologist: rock collecting. The round-headed kid takes to this pastime.

Kind of puts the trick-or-treating scenes in It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown in a whole different light, doesn’t it?

(And if you don’t recall just what I’m talking about, that fine special airs Wednesday, 8:30 PM, ABC.)

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