Product: A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)
Rating: 5.0
Don't Let Commercialism Ruin Your Christmas!
A Charlie Brown Christmas was a TV special by ABC back in the mid 1960s.I have not watched this in some time. The cartoon is not just about Charlie Brown being depressed and called a blockhead (although that inevitably happens). It's a message about what Christmas is really all about.The cartoon acknowledges commercialism (Christmas is run by a big Eastern conglomerate!) but is totally okay with thumbing its collective animated nose at that and instead involves the viewer into the true meaning of Christmas.There is a jab at the psychiatric industry as well. Lucy gets her nickel from Charlie Brown and then says, "Let's see what's wrong with you and then we can put a label on it." And then she proceeds to list all kinds of phobias. Funny stuff.The Christmas play is great, with awesome jazzified Christmas music by Vince Guaraldi as composer, and Linus' speech on stage.This special had Coca Cola as the main sponsor and so some scenes were cut that had the Coca Cola parts in it.So as Linus warns Charlie Brown, don't make Christmas a problem and just enjoy it. The TV special really shows the simplicity of Christmas.Recommended:The Vince Guaraldi Collection: arranged by Phillip Keveren Phillip Keveren SeriesThe Peanuts Illustrated Songbook