A Boy Named Charlie Brown

Charlie Brown is afraid he won't win any games after his baseball club loses the first contest of the season. One day on the way to school, Lucy makes the facetious suggestion that Harry participate in the school spelling bee. In spite of Lucy, Violet, and Patty's taunts, Linus thinks it's a fantastic idea and cheers him on ("Failure Face"). Entering the spelling bee with trepidation, Charlie Brown triumphs over his classmates. He and Linus perform a spelling mnemonic ("I Before E") while Snoopy plays a Jew's harp as they prepare for the school championship. The following day in class, Charlie Brown freezes when asked to use his perception, but he quickly thaws out when Snoopy starts playing the song's music outside the window. After declaring him the winner, his friends chant and cheerily accompany him home ("Champion Charlie Brown"). When his friends advise him to keep studying, he is perplexed because Lucy has proclaimed herself to be his agent. Charlie Brown is once more overcome with self-doubt when they inform him that he must now compete in the National Spelling Bee in New York City. The other children applaud him as Linus reluctantly lends Charlie Brown his blanket as good luck.