I thought I have seen all or most of the Peanuts cartoons, but I just saw the New Years one a few minutes ago, and am now watching this.
Maybe they always come out on cable, which I've never had.
These are both really good and true to the earlier ones.
For the last few years they've shown this special with the Charlie Brown New Year as a kind of package deal. I guess the networks don't want to split up the hour.
shareI, too, thought I had seen all of the Peanuts specials growing up. I didn't know this existed until I saw it in the same airing you did. Not sure why it was never or rarely shown in the mid to late 80's, when the cartoon special was a big thing.
The special was a bit disappointing. I was excited to see a special where Charlie Brown was both a minor character and the show wasn't focused on Snoopy. But it wasn't outstanding.