History WesternAnimation / WhyCharlieBrownWhy

** Janice's sisters bear the emotional burden of watching their sister go through painful treatments, while being neglected in turn. After venting to Linus, they manage to say that Janice's pile of presents looks nice.

* GreenEyedMonster: Downplayed with Janice's sisters; they reveal to Linus that since she got sick, they've received less presents or attention from their family. When Linus lets them vent, and tells them they really do care about their sister, they do take take time to appreciate her pile of presents knowing how happy she'll be.

* ParentsAsPeople: We don't see them, but Janice's sisters mention that with all of their parents' attention focused on Janice, they don't get as much notice or care. While her sisters understand why this is the case, since they're also worried about Janice's health, they also feel a little hurt.

First aired on Creator/{{CBS}} in 1990, this ''Franchise/{{Peanuts}}'' special (the 33rd overall) is notable as the ''first'' animated cartoon to tackle the subject of cancer. Sadly, ''Peanuts'' creator Charles Schulz [[HarsherInHindsight would lose his own battle with the disease a decade later]], but his approach to the topic was a brave move and has been celebrated and replayed for decades (although finding it on video was trickier, as the Trivia page will tell you).

* BaldOfAwesome: Janice briefly goes bald due to chemotherapy.

* BewareTheNiceOnes: A bully removes Janice's hat, which covered her baldness, and then loudly mocking her baldness until she cried. Linus then proceeds to ''verbally destroy him''.

* CanonForeigner: Janice Emmons, who was invented specifically for this special (though apparently [[RememberTheNewGuy Linus already knew her]]). She ''didn't'' end up integrated into the wider ''Peanuts'' cast, to the frustration of some.

* NeverSayDie: Probably one of the biggest, most notable ''aversions'' in modern children's programming; the special makes ''absolutely no bones'' about the fact that Janice's condition is life-threatening and is willing to discuss it at length. Charlie Brown even famously comes right out and asks Janice if she's going to die from her illness. It's also one of the elements that makes the special as effective as it is.

* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Linus, all the way! You know he's way out of character when he finds it in himself to actually yell at Lucy, a person who usually intimidates him with her fists, not to mention ''verbally tearing a bully apart for mocking Janice's condition''.

* RageBreakingPoint: Linus throughout Janice's treatment has demonstrated TranquilFury at best when people show insensitivity towards her condition, but when a bully mocks her for being bald? He ''goes postal and verbally tears the bully apart''.

* ShownTheirWork: Janice gives a detailed explanation on her treatment, including her bone marrow being sampled and the chemotherapy that makes her sick, while also making clear that being sick from the treatment is preferable to ''dying'' from untreated leukemia.

* VerySpecialEpisode: An extremely notable example - this special was the ''first'' to address cancer in an animated format, at least in the English language. A great many of the Very Special Episodes about illness and whatnot in the [=90s=] and beyond were attempting to copy this special and achieve the same impact it had (and said impact was significant).
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: In a wider ''Peanuts'' sense. By the end of their trials and travails, Linus and Janice have ''basically'' become a PuppyLove couple; [[ToyShip if not an actual "item"]], at the very least they should remain an incredibly important part of each others' lives, right? Unfortunately, in wider ''Peanuts'' works Janice rather ''vanished'' after this; she didn't become a regular in the strip for Schultz's final years of life, and she didn't even really cameo in the later ''Peanuts'' specials. This really felt weird to [=90s=] ''Peanuts'' fans, who figured Janice was going to become a regular on at least the level of someone like Pig-pen or Schroeder. This also had the unfortunate effect of [[TropeCodifier codifying]] another aspect of the VerySpecialEpisode that people find annoying: the tendency for the character in question to fall off the face of the earth after the episode is done.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: In a wider ''Peanuts'' sense. By the end of their trials and travails, Linus and Janice have ''basically'' become a PuppyLove couple; if not an actual "item" (as that'd be extremely weird for their age), at the very least they should remain an incredibly important part of each others' lives, right? Unfortunately, in wider ''Peanuts'' works Janice rather ''vanished'' after this; she didn't become a regular in the strip for Schultz's final years of life, and she didn't even really cameo in the later ''Peanuts'' specials. This really felt weird to [=90s=] ''Peanuts'' fans, who figured Janice was going to become a regular on at least the level of someone like Pig-pen or Schroeder. This also had the unfortunate effect of [[TropeCodifier codifying]] another aspect of the VerySpecialEpisode that people find annoying: the tendency for the character in question to fall off the face of the earth after the episode is done.

* KickTheDog: The bully does this to Janice by tossing away her hat and announcing loudly that she's bald.

* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Linus, all the way! You know he's way out of character when he finds it in himself to actually yell at Lucy, a person who usually intimidates him with her fists.

* RageBreakingPoint: Linus throughout Janice's treatment has demonstrated TranquilFury at best when people show insensitivity towards her condition. But when a bully mocks her for being bald? He ''goes postal''.

* TookALevelInBadass: Linus manages to stand up to a bully.

* AdultFear: A little girl in your class becomes sick for no reason, and develops a potentially incurable disease. The special was made a mere few decades after revolutionary treatment for leukemia was found and was entering wide circulation[[note]]a significant part of the point of the special was to encourage ''parents'' who might otherwise hesitate to subject their child to the harshness of chemotherapy to go for it[[/note]]; up until the 1950s-60s afflicted children would bleed to death from the lack of platelets. Charlie Brown and Linus demonstrate this fear best:

** Linus does the TitleDrop because he cannot find an answer for why someone he likes is struck at random with cancer.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: In a wider ''Peanuts'' sense. By the end of their trials and travails, Linus and Janice have ''basically'' become a PuppyLove couple; if not an actual "item" (as that'd be weird for their age), at the very least they should remain an incredibly important part of each others' lives, right? Unfortunately, in wider ''Peanuts'' works Janice rather ''vanished'' after this; she didn't become a regular in the strip for Schultz's final years of life, and she didn't even really cameo in the later ''Peanuts'' specials. This really felt weird to [=90s=] ''Peanuts'' fans, who figured Janice was going to become a regular on at least the level of someone like Pig-pen or Schroeder. This also had the unfortunate effect of [[TropeCodifier codifying]] another aspect of the VerySpecialEpisode that people find annoying: the tendency for the character in question to fall off the face of the earth after the episode is done.

* AdultFear: A little girl in your class becomes sick for no reason, and develops a potentially incurable disease. The special was made mere decades after revolutionary treatment for leukemia was found; up until the 1950s-60s afflicted children would bleed to death from the lack of platelets. Charlie Brown and Linus demonstrate this fear best:

* ShownTheirWork: Janice gives a detailed explanation on her treatment, including her bone marrow being sampled and the chemotherapy that makes her sick.

* VerySpecialEpisode: An extremely notable example - this special was the ''first'' to address cancer in an animated format, at least in the English language. A great many of the Very Special Episodes about illness and whatnot in the [=90s=] and beyond were attempting to ape this.

First aired on Creator/{{CBS}} in 1990, this ''Franchise/{{Peanuts}}'' special (the 33rd overall) is notable as the first animated cartoon to tackle the subject of cancer. Sadly, ''Peanuts'' creator Charles Schulz [[HarsherInHindsight would lose his own battle with the disease a decade later]], but his approach to the topic was a brave move.

* VerySpecialEpisode: The special was the first to address cancer in an animated format.

First aired on Creator/{{CBS}} in 1990, this ''ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}}'' special (the 33rd overall) is notable as the first animated cartoon to tackle the subject of cancer. Sadly, ''Peanuts'' creator Charles Schulz [[HarsherInHindsight would lose his own battle with the disease a decade later]], but his approach to the topic was a brave move.

* NotAfraidOfYouAnymore: Linus does this upon Lucy discovering he was visiting Janice, and had checked her forehead for a fever. Since Linus knew he can't catch cancer like a cold, he yells at his normally bully of sister for her remarks. Linus goes as far as standing up against a school yard bully for making fun of Janice's baldness, a side-effect of chemotherapy.

* BewareOfTheNiceOnes: A bully removes Janice's hat, which covered her baldness, and then loudly mocking her baldness until she cried. Linus then proceeds to ''verbally destroy him''.

* TookALevelInBadass: Linus.

* TheBully: A subplot has Linus confronting one of these.

On an autumn day, Linus notices his classmate Janice is getting a lot of bruises and feeling tired, so he convinces her to see the nurse. When he learns about Janice and her cancer diagnosis, Linus starts to go through a change. As Janice's treatment for cancer progresses, the seasons changes to symbolize this, and Linus becomes stronger for being emotionally affected by the issues, even going as far as to grow a pair and chew out Lucy and a schoolyard {{bully}}.

[[caption-width-right:320:"...Are you going to die?"]]

On an autumn day, Linus notices his classmate Janice is getting a lot of bruises and feeling tired, so he convinces her to see the nurse. When he learns about Janice and her cancer diagnosis, Linus starts to go through a change. As Janice's treatment for cancer progresses, the seasons changes to symbolize this, and Linus becomes stronger for being emotionally affected by the issues, even going as far as to grow a pair and chew out Lucy and a schoolyard bully.

First aired on Creator/{{CBS}} in 1990, this ''ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}}'' special (the 33rd overall) is notable as the first animated cartoon to tackle the subject of cancer. Strangely, ''Peanuts'' creator Charles Schulz [[HarsherInHindsight would lose his own battle with the disease a decade later]], but his approach to the topic was a brave move.

[[caption-width-right:350:"...Are you going to die?"]]

* EveryoneHasStandards: The normally weak Lunis find it in himself to defend Janice from Lucy and a bully when they mock her, yelling at the former and almost getting into a fight with the latter.

** Charlie Brown asks Janice, "Are you going to die?" and [[WhatTheHellHero Linus calls him out for it]]. Janice [[SubvertedTrope then says it's okay]], since she asked the same question

* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Linus, all the way! You know he's way out of character when he finds it in himself to actually yell at Lucy, a person who he is usually intimidated by.

* BewareOfTheNiceOnes: A bully removes Janice's hat, which covered her baldness, and then loudly mocking her baldness until she cried. Linus then pproceeds to ''verbally destroy him''.

* BewareOfTheNiceOnes: The bully learns this the hard way after removing Janice's hat, which covered her baldness, ''and then loudly mocking her baldness until she cried''.

* MoodWhiplash: Following Linus's visit to the hospital and him calling out Lucy, we get a cute scene of Snoopy taking Woodstock and his friends sledding.

* RageBreakingPoint: Linus throughout Janice's treatment has demonstrated TranquilFury at best when people show insensitivity towards her condition. But when a bully mocks her for being bald? He ''loses'' it.

First aired on Creator/{{CBS}} in 1990, this ''ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}}'' special (the 33rd overall) is notable as the first animated cartoon to tackle the subject of cancer. Ironically, ''Peanuts'' creator Charles Schulz [[HarsherInHindsight would lose his own battle with the disease a decade later]], but his approach to the topic was a brave move.

* LittlestCancerPatient: Janice Emmons

* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Linus, all the way!

On an autumn day, Linus notices his classmate Janice is getting a lot of bruises and feeling tired, so he convinces her to see the nurse. When he learns about Janice and her cancer diagnosis, Linus starts to go through a change. As Janice's treatment for cancer progresses, the seasons changes to symbolize this, and Linus becomes stronger for being emotionally affected by the issues, even going as far as standing up to people.