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Peanuts:Charlie Brown Christma
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| Editorial Reviews: | | |  | | This television classic features the Peanuts characters in the story of Charlie Brown's problematic efforts to mount a school Christmas pageant. Everybody's on board: Lucy, Snoopy, Schroeder, Pig-Pen, but the biggest impression is surely made by Linus, who stops the show with his recitation from the gospels of the story of Christ's birth. --Tom Keogh | |
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| I can tell you what Christmas is all about | |
| | Everybody gets that feeling -- the disillusionment with Christmas' glitzy, soulless commercial barrage.
The antidote to that can be found in "A Charlie Brown Christmas," where everyone's favorite round-headed kid tries to find out the real meaning of Christmas. Simply animated and told, this special little story reminds us why we have Christmas, without resorting to sentimental goop or silly humor. It's both funny and heartwarming.
Charlie Brown is depressed. It's Christmastime, and he knows he should be happy, but instead he feels let down. Even worse, everyone is into the commercial aspect of it -- even his dog! When he asks Lucy for help, she offers him a job as a pageant director. He agrees, hoping it will get him in the spirit.
Of course, it's a disaster -- Snoopy mimicks and licks Lucy, Pigpen grosses out his onstage "wife," and everyone dances to Schroeder's piano. Finally Charlie Brown goes out to buy a big glitzy Christmas tree, but he ends up buying a tiny scraggly one instead. As the others laugh at him and his poor little tree, he cries out, "Isn't there ANYONE who can tell me what Christmas is all about?" And Linus tells him.
This DVD also contains a sequel special, "It's Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown." Instead of a real storyline, it's a series of light subplots and vignettes, based on the comic strips by Charles Schultz. It's not as striking as the original, but it is lots of fun.
As the story goes on, Peppermint Patty struggles with her holiday book reports, and Linus tries unsuccessfully to tell Sally about the meaning of Christmas. Charlie Brown tries unsuccessfully to peddle wreaths door to door ("It isn't even Thanksgiving yet!"), and sells his comic book collection so he can buy his crush a pretty pair of gloves.
And finally, there's an upcoming holiday pageant -- Sally has been cast as an angel, with only a one-word line: "Hark!" She messes up, of course. And Peppermint Patty hopes to be cast in the role of Mary, but is shocked to find out that Marcie has been cast instead ("Mary never wore GLASSES!")... and that she's gotten the role of a sheep.
"Charlie Brown Christmas" is sort of an antidote to those wretched Christmas specials they trot out every year . It was made with a shoestring budget and a jazz soundtrack, and after seeing it, the network executives believed it would be a massive flop. Well, shows what they knew.
There's something in Charlie Brown's search for yuletide meaning that really yanks the heartstrings. Not to mention the climactic moment when Charlie Brown cries out for the meaning of Christmas -- Linus calmly announces that he can tell him. He goes up to the podium, and quietly reads from a relevant Bible passage. "Fear not, for behold, I bring unto you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people..." Its simplicity is what makes it so beautiful.
But there's lots of humor too -- birds dancing with candy canes, Sally's Christmas demands, and disastrous holiday pageants ("Woof! Meow! Moo! Whatever!" yells Peppermint Patty in her sheep costume). One of the most entertaining subplots is poor Linus repeatedly trying to tell Sally about the meaning of Christmas, only to have her say angrily, "If I get socks again for Christmas, I'll get even MORE crazy!"
Whether it's for the nostalgic value or the message, "A Charlie Brown Christmas" is sure to entertain. An absolute must-have.
| | | I loved A Charlie Brown Christmas growing up, but didn't know if it would truly hold up for the next generation - my daughter. Well, she's 19 months old now and she's been watching it since her first birthday - she asks to see it a couple times a week! She absolutely adores it, so even though it's summer - it's Christmas with the Peanuts gang in our house! You MUST let your little one's experience the magic of this wonderful show.
| | My favorite Christmas special | |
| | | 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.
| | | | Christmastime is officially here, and while everyone is having fun decorating, and putting together their Christmas wish lists, Charlie Brown is having doubts about the whole holiday. He seems to be having trouble finding the true meaning of Christmas, so he visits Psychiatrist Lucy who presents him with one solution to his problem. Be the director of the Christmas play! Charlie Brown happily accepts the job, but when he sets out to find the perfect Christmas tree to use as a stage prop, everyone is disappointed in his decision. As the tree is small, and scraggly. But this one little tree is exactly what Charlie Brown and everyone else needed, to realize what the true meaning of Christmas is. After all, it's a beautiful tree who just needs a little love. Fans of Charlie Brown will relish in this holiday tale that will help anyone, even the most grinchiest of people, find the true meaning of Christmas, and realize that the holiday doesn't have to be so commercial. With beautiful animation, and a wonderfully inspirational storyline, A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS, is a must-see for all fans, young and old. Erika Sorocco
| | Not just for the holidays. | |
| | I know, I know. It's a Christmas movie. But the themes are solid and the beloved characters are enjoyed by children year-round. We have had this movie for over a year now- and the children watch it at least a couple of times a month. (And yes, they were doing this even in our 100 degree July and August weather.) It's a tradidional favorite that everyone should have.
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