If you're old enough to remember a time without videos and DVDs, then you're probably old enough to remember how special it was when your favorite movies came on television. Unlike now, when you can pop a favorite film or television show into your player at a moment's notice, you used to have to wait for a network television station to bring your favorite back into rotation. Some movies and shows were special enough that they became annual events -- and I do mean events, since you knew this was your one and only chance to catch it until the following year.
During my childhood, two such annual events always caused great excitement at our house. One was the yearly watching of The Wizard of Oz. The other was the annual Christmas tradition of watching A Charlie Brown Christmas. They both had magical moments: who could help but catch their breath when Dorothy opened the door after the storm only to find the landscape changed from black and white to breathtaking technicolor? But I think I looked forward most to celebrating Christmas with Charlie Brown and his friends.
And although the ease with which I can watch it has changed dramatically, nothing much else has. It's still a terrific blend of simplicity and humor, with just a dash of nostalgia thrown into the mix now. Based on Charles Schulz' Peanuts comic strips, directed by Bill Melendez and first airing in 1965, A Charlie Brown Christmas was the first of literally dozens of Peanuts television specials. Several of them became favorites, but in my humble opinion, this first remains the best.
There really is something beautiful in its slightly less than half hour (there had to be time for commercials) simplicity. There remains that odd Schulz-like mix of child characters with time-worn sophisticated adult attitudes, and yet the kids are still recognizably kids, especially in the way they tease one another (sometimes fondly, sometimes cruelly) and in their capacity for joy. My six year old loves it, and so do I. I'm fond of it all, from the opening charm of falling snowflakes set to Vince Guaraldi's jazzy-wistful piano tunes to the silliness of Snoopy putting lights and ornaments on his dog house to the joyous ending when all the kids who have been razzing on Charlie Brown throughout the show suddenly do something kind and even a bit magical for him and then bellow out Hark the Herald Angels Sing at the top of their voices. Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown!
There also remains the astounding fact that the reason that we celebrate Christmas is actually stated, in as clear and lovely a fashion as you could possibly wish. Considering network television's long-standing aversion to promoting anything religious, it still seems sort of wondrous that Linus can stand on a cavernous school stage in a spotlight and proclaim the good news of Jesus' birth as written in the gospel of Luke.
That moment doesn't feel forced either. It fits naturally into the story-line, which follows a stressed out Charlie Brown who's feeling a bit discouraged by the rampant commercialism he sees all around him at Christmas (not to mention the lack of Christmas cards in his mailbox). His little sister Sally dictates a letter to Santa in which she informs the jolly old elf he can just send cash if it's easier. Snoopy has entered a lights and display contest hoping he can win some cash. Lucy, the self-elected Christmas queen of the neighborhood, is despondent that people keep giving her clothes and toys when what she really wants is real estate. It's all driving Charlie Brown a little crazy but he isn't sure how to tap into the real meaning of the season. He's not even sure he knows what Christmas is "really all about."
Following Lucy's counsel to get involved, Charlie Brown steps in as the director of the kids' local Christmas play. In true Schulz fashion, there are no adults anywhere around (not even invisible ones speaking horn-like noises...that would come later). Charlie Brown is eager to make this a success, but most of the kids aren't too eager to follow his direction, primarily because they're convinced he's a "blockhead" and will mess things up. Plus they've got their own ideas about what constitutes a fun Christmas play, mostly involving boppy 60s' style dancing. Charlie Brown is a traditionalist at heart and wants to put on a real nativity play, but he can't seem to get or keep the kids' attention.
He finally heads out to pick up a Christmas tree, thinking this will lift everyones' spirits. He bypasses all the shiny fake trees of various colors (this was 1965 remember) and goes for a tiny, live tree with just a few branches and hardly any needles on it. It's an inspired bit of story-telling here because it doesn't take a genius to understand that the droopy little tree, which "just needs a little love" stands in for Charlie Brown, and perhaps for all of us. He takes the tree back to the play rehearsal only to see it ridiculed by the children, and even by his dog.
If you've watched the special a hundred times, like many of us have, then you know the rest. If you haven't, I won't spoil it for you. Suffice it to say, it's an iconic moment in children's animation. Coming as it does in the midst of a slightly eccentric and really quite simply drawn cartoon, the moment feels tinged with real grace.
My six year old no longer has to wait for this remarkable little television show to come on once a year. We've seen it three times this season already, and she's found it delightful and funny every time, giggling with glee when Snoopy glides gracefully around the frozen pond and marveling over the end along with her nostalgic old mom. Some traditions are just meant to be shared. A Charlie Brown Christmas is one of them.
One of the most endearing of all Peanuts' specials finds Charlie Brown nurturing the thinnest scraggliest Christmas tree ever. At first the gang makes...More at Family Video
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