Moments pages are Spoilers Off. You Have Been Warned.
- An assembly is held in honor of Charlie Brown making a perfect score on the standardized test. This seems like the high point of his life. He has recognition, he's being praised for his efforts, and the Little Red Haired Girl is in the audience with a smile. And then he discovers that his perfect score is actually not his test, but Peppermint Patty's. Clearly crushed by this, Charlie Brown reveals the mix-up, rescinds the award, and leaves the stage.
- Adding onto this, there's Sally's reaction to that revelation. Especially after her complete adoration of Charlie Brown and proudly telling someone that he's her brother.Sally: Can a brother and sister get a divorce? [lets go of her Charlie Brown balloon; it floats off to the ceiling]
- Moreover, in many, many children's movies that set up similar situations, the protagonists tend to let others believe the mistake rather than own up to the truth, which isn't revealed until the end of Act Two. It is genuinely moving that Charlie Brown has the moral fiber to do otherwise and accept the loss of prestige, even as no one seems to appreciate this in-universe. This adds immeasurably to the effectiveness of the ending.
- Adding onto this, there's Sally's reaction to that revelation. Especially after her complete adoration of Charlie Brown and proudly telling someone that he's her brother.
- Charlie Brown being utterly devastated when Linus' runaway toy plane shreds the book report he had written while the Little Red-Haired Girl was away. For context, Charlie Brown read and wrote a book report for War and Peace in one weekend. He's in elementary school and pulled off something that would make a grad student cry.
- It's very hard not to get tearful when Charlie Brown finally catches up with the Little Red-Haired Girl before she leaves for summer camp and she explains to him how great a person he is. Even Lucy is in tears. That last-minute speech of hers is heartwarming because it sums up Charlie Brown's entire character beautifully. Yes, he might always lose, but he is not a loser. The Tear Jerker comes from seeing someone in-universe besides Linus and Schroeder not only see this, but be willing to say it to him and make him see it.
- It may only be an Imagine Spot, but it's pretty sad to see the Red Baron destroy Fifi's plane and carry her off—with Snoopy completely powerless to help her. His reaction is also this, in-verse, to the point of actively searching for her. What makes this even more of a Tearjerker is how this aptly parallels Charlie Brown's situation with the Little Red-Haired Girl. Snoopy finally works up the nerve to approach her, they seem to meet eye-to-eye, and then she's gone, again.
- It's mostly heartwarming, but seeing the Schulz signature at the end of the movie is equally tearjerking, similar to the Jim Henson picture in The Muppets (2011).
- Charlie Brown's Despair Event Horizon. He begins to give up on everything, throwing out his kite, putting his baseball gear in his closet and shutting the Little Red Haired Girl's pencil in a drawer. To put things in perspective, Charlie Brown, throughout the entire run of the series, has never given up on anything before, and after a string of humiliating defeats, he just quits on his longtime goals. As if to add insult to injury, he looks out of his bedroom window at a star he has always thought of as "his" star, and says that he knows that however bad things get, his star will always be there, shining its light on him. The second he finishes this hopeful thought, "his" star promptly falls out of the sky.
