DAILY CALL SHEET: AUGUST 9, 2025

Snoopy, Come Home (1972) Snoopy's life is turned upside down when he receives a letter from his sickly first owner begging the beagle return to her. Believing his presence will help the little girl regain her health, Snoopy breaks the bad news to Charlie Brown and hits the road with Woodstock, but only after a tearful farewell party with all of his friends… and Lucy. To Snoopy's consternation, however, he discovers the world outside his old neighborhood is unjustly prejudiced against dogs… and birds. Among the better Peanuts movies and one that might just bring a tear or two to all pet owners.

TIL: What would do without pets? Even popes have had them. Pope Benedict XVI had his cat Chico, of course, who received his own book. Pope Pius XII had a goldfinch named Gretel which he rescued from the Vatican Gardens after the bird was found with a wing injury. Pope Pius II had a dog named Musetta whom he mentioned frequently in his memoirs. Pope Leo XIII kept a whole menagerie in the Vatican gardens which included ostriches, gazelles, and goats. The oddest, however, was probably Pope Leo X's pet elephant, Hanno. A gift from King Manuel I of Portugal, Hanno was much loved by the Holy Father, who was at his side when he passed in 1516. 

Mothra (1961) Scientists discover the supposedly uninhabited island they've been using for atomic tests actually houses a tribe immune to radioactivity, a jungle full of mutant plants, and two singing women the size of Barbie dolls. When the diminutive duo are kidnapped and taken to Tokyo to serve as entertainment, their gargantuan guardian, Mothra, arises to rain destruction on the Land of the Rising Sun until her charges are returned. Sure, a giant moth doesn't really strike terror into the heart the way Godzilla and Rodan did, but this lighthearted effort from Toho is a blast anyway, and Mothra herself is an irresistible sweetheart.

TIL: Perhaps moths aren't the most fearsome of monsters, but they do have their dangers. Speaking during the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus advised, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and decay destroy, and thieves break in and steal. But store up treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor decay destroys, nor thieves break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be." It's a pretty clear warning to eschew the material in favor of the spiritual. Given her good nature, Mothra would likely concur.