Product: A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)
Rating: 5.0
Sure, Charlie Brown. 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.