A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)
Posted on | October 20, 2009 |
This half-hour Christmas show is one of the truly lovable animated specials in TV history, a status proved by its annual network telecast since 1965. A Charlie Brown Christmas was the first, and best, of a series of programs based on the Charles M. Schulz cartoon strip “Peanuts.” Hapless hero Charlie Brown finds himself depressed at Christmastime, searching for the true meaning of the holiday amidst the glitz and commercialism of the modern age. Appointed director of the school hol (more…)
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October 20th, 2009 @ 8:48 pm
5.0 out of 5 stars
Sure, Charlie Brown, I can tell you what Christmas is all about
Everybody gets that feeling — the disillusionment with Christmas’ glitzy, soulless commercial barrage.
October 20th, 2009 @ 10:05 pm
Perhaps the most endearing of all the Charlie Brown specials is “A Charlie Brown Christmas”, the first in a long series of made for t.v. half hour films portraying the famous Peanuts Gang.
For almost forty years, watching “A Charlie Brown Christmas” has been an eagerly anticipated event for millions of households. I recall watching it as far back as twenty-two years ago, and have watched it every Christmas since.
“A Charlie Brown Christmas” was made in a time when commercialism was running rampant all over the country. Stores advertising to shoppers what they ought to buy, long before Thanksgiving had come and gone. Unfortunately, we still see this blatant commercialism today, which makes this short film so very poignant and all the more special.
Charlie Brown is assigned to direct the school Christmas pageant, much to his glee; for he feels accepted and worthy. When Lucy tells him to go out and get an alumminum tree, he takes Linus along with him. What Charlie Brown ultimately gets is a small, sickly looking tree, which is rapidly loosing its needles. But, Charlie can see how much the tree “needs him”, somebody; something which he can identity with.
When he returns, he finds the gang dancing to un-Christmas like music, instead of rehearsing their lines. They stop to take a look at the tree he brought, immediately burtsing out in mocking laughter. Apparently Charlie Brown has failed again. In disgust and humiliation he flees, taking the tree with him. And when he comes upon Snoopy’s dog house, all decked out in Christmas lights, not to celebrate the joyous holiday, but to win money in a contest, Charlie Brown has had enough, and almost loses all faith in Christmas.
Linus saves the day, somehow able to bring the tree back to life, and make it look much healthier and stronger. But it is when he explains the meaning of Christmas that the “gang” gets the point of Christmas, and what Charlie Brown was trying to do.
“A Charlie Brown Christmas” ends with newfound meaning for Christmas, hopefully not soon forgotten by either the Peanuts Gang, or, more importantly … us.
October 21st, 2009 @ 12:11 am
I realize that I am writing this several weeks after Christmas, and this is a Christmas DVD, but this is the first year that I missed watching “A Charlie Brown Christmas” on television, so I rented the DVD. Ever since I was a little boy, this has been my favorite Christmas special, and one that I always looked forward to watching every year. I grew up reading the Peanuts comic strips and I grew up watching the Peanuts Christmas special.
Charlie Brown is depressed. He can’t seem to get himself into the Christmas spirit. He doesn’t like the commercialism of Christmas and scarcely knows the true meaning of Christmas. Lucy selects Charlie Brown to be the director of their Christmas play and he decides to get a Christmas tree for the production. The other kids tell him to get a “nice shiny aluminum tree, maybe a pink one”, but Charlie Brown and Linus bring back a sad looking real tree. Charlie Brown is almost laughed out of the auditorium, but when he asks if anyone knows what Christmas is all about, Linus has the answer. Linus recites a passage from the Bible telling of the birth of Jesus. Charlie Brown is cheered and leaves with the tree. He tries to decorate the little tree, but even that is ruined. Linus and the gang follow behind, fix up the tree, and at the end, they show the true spirit of Christmas.
It is a sweet little Christmas special, filled with memorable moments that will always make me smile. The one thing that amazes me is that Charles Schulz was able to include Linus’s speech near the end about the birth of Jesus. I don’t imagine that would have been able to be included today, but I think the special is all the stronger for it. I have a hard time imagining that any new Christmas show will ever hold as special a place in my heart as “A Charlie Brown Christmas”.
This DVD also includes “It’s Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown” (1992). This Christmas feature is lacking the overall charm and emotion of the older special, but it has a lot more humor. It is also different from the first Christmas special in that this one is more a series of vignettes (perhaps based on Schulz’s comic strips) than a complete story. There are sequences with Charlie Brown trying to sell Christmas wreaths before Thanksgiving, and of Sally rehearsing for a Christmas play. Sally’s sole line is “Hark!”, though I think she missed the rest of her lines where the herald angels sing. It is a cute cartoon, but ultimately it does not quite live up to “A Charlie Brown Christmas”, but it my mind, nothing can live up to that one.
October 21st, 2009 @ 3:14 am
5.0 out of 5 stars
What Christmas is REALLY about
Not only a classic, but a classic in our home! We enjoy watching this DVD every Christmas season and LOVE that Charlie Brown learns the TRUE meaning of Christmas…
October 21st, 2009 @ 3:27 am
There really were aluminum Christmas trees back then. There were also pink frosted trees with some really psychedelic decorations, too.
I’ve watched this every year since I was a child. I used to stare up at the TV while CBS played that “SPECIAL” graphic and music and then . . . there it was: The Charlie Brown Christmas special!
Now that I’m an adult, my schedule has almost made me miss the show each Christmas season. But now that I have the video, I will never miss it! A friend of mine even gave me the cassette of Vince Guaraldi’s musical score to go along with it. Hooray!
I’m always touched by the message in the story. Christmas is too commercial. It pains me to see Christmas stuff in the stores before school starts, or to see commercials pandering to children so their parents can buy more stuff. But watching Charlie Brown and the gang reminds me of a simpler time.
Snoopy, with his gaudily decorated dog house, represents all that’s commercial and greedy about Christmas. Charlie Brown tries to overcome that with his involvement in the school play and his search for the right Christmas tree to set the mood for the play cast members.
I love this show. I heard that ABC bought the rights away from CBS for all the Charlie Brown specials. But I’m glad I have my video copy so now I don’t have to worry about whether it airs or not.
October 21st, 2009 @ 4:30 am
4.0 out of 5 stars
Commercialism vs Compassion
As with most of the Peanuts episodes, we may find this to be more profound than we were expecting it to be.
October 21st, 2009 @ 8:58 am
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Christmas Classic
I loved this movie as a kid and still enjoy it. With the remastered deluxe edition the color is great.
October 21st, 2009 @ 9:32 am
3.0 out of 5 stars
Great for Memories… but too expensive
Remember, this is only a half hour video that you’re paying $13 for. Aside from that it brought back great memories, and my children enjoyed it.
October 21st, 2009 @ 3:45 pm
5.0 out of 5 stars
Classic Christmas
This is a gem of a production of a Christmas classic, sure to please children and adults alike.
October 21st, 2009 @ 5:33 pm
5.0 out of 5 stars
Holiday classic
The quality of the remastered edition is very good. There are additional holiday cartoons that I did not enjoy, but that children should enjoy.
October 21st, 2009 @ 11:54 pm
5.0 out of 5 stars
Very happy with this Christmas Classic
I bought this for my son for Christmas and was surprised to find out it had another Peanuts Christmas special on the DVD. I was very happy with the product and the remastering.
October 22nd, 2009 @ 2:15 am
5.0 out of 5 stars
An all time favorite.
I was so excited that Amazon had this series on Charlie Brown.
I have been a Charlie Brown fan for many years.
October 22nd, 2009 @ 3:47 am
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Christmas classic
A delightful Christmas classic, beautifully restored. The bonus “making of” video is also well worth watching.