Welcome Home, Franklin is the first Peanuts short dedicated to Franklin. Which is new to the animated features but (I’ve recently learn) not at all new for the comic strip. A number of the details and scenarios of Franklin’s origin and introduction were taken from the strips starting back in 1968. It seems he was more verbose in print than he was in animation.

This new Apple TV+ short introduces us to Franklin who has just moved to town. He is concerned by Linus’ obsession with The Great Pumpkin, confused by Lucy’s psychiatry stand, and baffled by whatever in hell Snoopy and Woodstock are up to. But he runs into good ol’ Charlie Brown and they hit it off… later joining forces to build a soap box racer.

The short is warm and funny, telling a full length story instead of bouncing between set pieces like a lot of the Peanuts specials do. It takes the occasional Snoopy diversion but mainly focuses on Franklin’s friendship with Charlie Brown and how they run the soap box race.

It’s amusing seeing a newcomer baffled by all these weird kids… he must have thought he moved to a weird cult town when Linus starts goin on about The Great Pumpkin. But, in turn, Franklin mentions The Negro League and some Jazz greats… plus James Brown (no relation). The short acknowledges that Franklin is Black but does not linger on it… just makes the point that different friends bring different experiences to the table.

The short is certainly amusing but mainly its warm-hearted and tells a consistent, continuous story with its own emotional peaks and valleys. I enjoyed it quite a bit.

Score: 85