A Charlie Brown Christmas
Good Grief!
(“Do they still make wooden trees?”) One of the reasons this special appeals to me so much is that we share something- the belief that Christmas is getting too commercialized. Charlie Brown holds the true spirit of Christmas, such as when he gets that scrawny tree because, as he puts it, “It needs me.” All of those other trees were too commercialized and didn’t hold any spirit at all. (Pink Christmas trees?) Another character in A Charlie Brown Christmas that shows some true Christmas spirit throughout this special is Linus. He is the only one who sticks by Charlie Brown, though he did advise that he should do what the group wanted. One classic television moment is Linus’s annual Christmas speech, answering Charlie Brown’s yearly question as to what is the meaning of Christmas. I did think Lucy had a little Christmas spirit when she allowed Charlie Brown to be the director… but then she blew it by her insulting comments about that tree. More moments in this special showing the commercializing of Christmas is when Sally was going to have her poor brother write down that long Christmas list saying “I only want what’s coming to me,” and when those kids (and even Snoopy!) laughed at Charlie Brown because of his choice of getting that small tree. They may have shaped up some after Linus speech, (“He did pick out a good Christmas tree.”) but they still called him a blockhead. Truly it is not Charlie Brown that is the blockhead, but all those moronic kids that have called him that throughout this special. (And throughout the years.)
The Christmas Play
What the heck were those kids thinking? They put together a Christmas play, about the birth of Jesus, but the whole time they just dance to Schroeder’s piano playing? Charlie Brown had some good ideas as a director, but unfortunately no one else participating has the capacity to listen. Would anybody come to a play where all of the play is just dancing kids, and listen to music that isn’t even Christmas music? Saying that Charlie Brown would be a bad director was just plain stupid. At least he tried to keep order. And what was Lucy thinking when she was talking about being an ice queen in a religious play? (Also I don’t get the jingle bell bit she had with Schroeder.) I have to wonder how they fixed up that tree at the end. It had very little branches to begin with, but when they fixed it up it became a full-fledged (but still small) Christmas tree. Not to mention the fact that they tore down all of Snoopy’s work on his doghouse.
Is it just me…
Isn’t it amazing seeing the whole cast from that time period? Some of those characters disappear and some fade away into background characters. How often do you see Shermy, Patty, or Violet anymore? (And they were some of the originals too!) I find this classic is different from other holiday specials for many reasons. One is that it focuses around the fact that Christmas shouldn’t be commercialized- instead it should be a time where you better yourself. Many holiday specials say that if Santa Claus can’t deliver presents than Christmas would be canceled. That is not true… Christmas is there no matter what. (Also well shown in the How the Grinch Stole Christmas holiday special.) It also isn’t the normal cheery holiday special- it shows Charlie Brown’s depression about the holiday season and his questioning of what we think of first when we think of Christmas. It also shows that Christmas is a religious holiday at heart. Some funny things I see in this special are how their number of fingers keeps changing. Sometimes it’s four. Sometimes it’s five. At one time I even saw six! Then sometimes it looks like Lucy has a uni-brow! Despite those animation problems I find this is a special I cannot miss… year after year.
(“Do they still make wooden trees?”) One of the reasons this special appeals to me so much is that we share something- the belief that Christmas is getting too commercialized. Charlie Brown holds the true spirit of Christmas, such as when he gets that scrawny tree because, as he puts it, “It needs me.” All of those other trees were too commercialized and didn’t hold any spirit at all. (Pink Christmas trees?) Another character in A Charlie Brown Christmas that shows some true Christmas spirit throughout this special is Linus. He is the only one who sticks by Charlie Brown, though he did advise that he should do what the group wanted. One classic television moment is Linus’s annual Christmas speech, answering Charlie Brown’s yearly question as to what is the meaning of Christmas. I did think Lucy had a little Christmas spirit when she allowed Charlie Brown to be the director… but then she blew it by her insulting comments about that tree. More moments in this special showing the commercializing of Christmas is when Sally was going to have her poor brother write down that long Christmas list saying “I only want what’s coming to me,” and when those kids (and even Snoopy!) laughed at Charlie Brown because of his choice of getting that small tree. They may have shaped up some after Linus speech, (“He did pick out a good Christmas tree.”) but they still called him a blockhead. Truly it is not Charlie Brown that is the blockhead, but all those moronic kids that have called him that throughout this special. (And throughout the years.)
The Christmas Play
What the heck were those kids thinking? They put together a Christmas play, about the birth of Jesus, but the whole time they just dance to Schroeder’s piano playing? Charlie Brown had some good ideas as a director, but unfortunately no one else participating has the capacity to listen. Would anybody come to a play where all of the play is just dancing kids, and listen to music that isn’t even Christmas music? Saying that Charlie Brown would be a bad director was just plain stupid. At least he tried to keep order. And what was Lucy thinking when she was talking about being an ice queen in a religious play? (Also I don’t get the jingle bell bit she had with Schroeder.) I have to wonder how they fixed up that tree at the end. It had very little branches to begin with, but when they fixed it up it became a full-fledged (but still small) Christmas tree. Not to mention the fact that they tore down all of Snoopy’s work on his doghouse.
Is it just me…
Isn’t it amazing seeing the whole cast from that time period? Some of those characters disappear and some fade away into background characters. How often do you see Shermy, Patty, or Violet anymore? (And they were some of the originals too!) I find this classic is different from other holiday specials for many reasons. One is that it focuses around the fact that Christmas shouldn’t be commercialized- instead it should be a time where you better yourself. Many holiday specials say that if Santa Claus can’t deliver presents than Christmas would be canceled. That is not true… Christmas is there no matter what. (Also well shown in the How the Grinch Stole Christmas holiday special.) It also isn’t the normal cheery holiday special- it shows Charlie Brown’s depression about the holiday season and his questioning of what we think of first when we think of Christmas. It also shows that Christmas is a religious holiday at heart. Some funny things I see in this special are how their number of fingers keeps changing. Sometimes it’s four. Sometimes it’s five. At one time I even saw six! Then sometimes it looks like Lucy has a uni-brow! Despite those animation problems I find this is a special I cannot miss… year after year.
posted by Johnlocke108 at 3:49 PM
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