It is Christmas time but somehow Charlie Brown still cannot relax and be happy. All he sees around him is the commercialisation of the season and this only serves to stress him out more. While he carries on his search for the real meaning of Christmas, Lucy pressures him into becoming the director of the doomed Christmas play.
I was preparing some Christmas films for Christmas day and recorded this off TV. The plan was to have festive films running in the background of the flat while we went about our day but we ended up watching this while waiting for the turkey to finish. This short film is highly praised on its IMDb page but the first thing that hits you is how dated it is. The animation is of course old but the delivery is the most telling aspect as it has pauses between sentences and doesn't have the fast pace one would attribute to modern animated films. This is not a criticism though, just an observation because this is part of the film's charm and also part of it having the nostalgia value that I suspect it will have to the vast majority of those that praise it on this page.
It is never a hilarious film, which again is part of it being dated, but it is occasionally amusing, my favourite line being Lucy's desire for Christmas gift being real estate. So what makes it worthy of note then, other than it being part of Peanuts? Well, for me what makes it a great piece of my Christmas Day was how refreshingly clear of cynicism it all was. With its snowy scenes and its simple message of Christianity as the reason for Christmas it does feel clean and warming. While many modern films would hint at the Christmas story, this film comes out and delivers it as the reason for the season again without a hint of irony or postmodern wryness that it would be delivered with today. OK I can understand this will not be to everyone's tastes but it is warming and makes one nostalgic on a day that really is all about nostalgia and childhood memories.
The music is good as well, for both Peanuts fans and also viewers of Arrested Development as it reminds of a joke in the latter. It does look dated and certainly the content is far from modern but this is all part of the charm as it is an amusing and cynicism-free seasonal tale.
I was preparing some Christmas films for Christmas day and recorded this off TV. The plan was to have festive films running in the background of the flat while we went about our day but we ended up watching this while waiting for the turkey to finish. This short film is highly praised on its IMDb page but the first thing that hits you is how dated it is. The animation is of course old but the delivery is the most telling aspect as it has pauses between sentences and doesn't have the fast pace one would attribute to modern animated films. This is not a criticism though, just an observation because this is part of the film's charm and also part of it having the nostalgia value that I suspect it will have to the vast majority of those that praise it on this page.
It is never a hilarious film, which again is part of it being dated, but it is occasionally amusing, my favourite line being Lucy's desire for Christmas gift being real estate. So what makes it worthy of note then, other than it being part of Peanuts? Well, for me what makes it a great piece of my Christmas Day was how refreshingly clear of cynicism it all was. With its snowy scenes and its simple message of Christianity as the reason for Christmas it does feel clean and warming. While many modern films would hint at the Christmas story, this film comes out and delivers it as the reason for the season again without a hint of irony or postmodern wryness that it would be delivered with today. OK I can understand this will not be to everyone's tastes but it is warming and makes one nostalgic on a day that really is all about nostalgia and childhood memories.
The music is good as well, for both Peanuts fans and also viewers of Arrested Development as it reminds of a joke in the latter. It does look dated and certainly the content is far from modern but this is all part of the charm as it is an amusing and cynicism-free seasonal tale.