A Charlie Brown Christmas

If I can be very honest, I only vaguely remember watching Peanuts episodes on Boomerang or Cartoon Network when I was a kid, so it didn't really leave that much of an impact despite this being considered a hallmark classic in Christmas specials! And just by saying that I had never watched the special growing up, I'm sure that there's a lot of people out there thinking that I'm an idiot for waiting so long to watch it! Still, I do remember characters like Snoopy, Shempy, Lucy
 & of course, Charlie Brown himself! Now tht I've FINALLY seen this, does it deserve to be known as a hallmark in Christmas specials, or is it just really overrated? Let's find out!

Story: I don't think I even need to go into the story because pretty much everyone knows what it's about (hey, just cos I had never seen it, it doesn't mean I didn't know the story!) & what really surprised me was how depressing a lot of it was. That doesn't mean it's bad at all cos Charlie has every reason to be sad despite it being in the holidays! The segways into the plot with the pageant is handled well & it was actually kinda heartbreaking to see Charlie feel like he always screws up (didn't help when the other kids ridiculed him for getting a tiny tree not living up to their materialistic standards!)! One part I absolutely love is the commentary on the commercialisation of Christmas as this special finally brings up the Biblical side of the meaning of the holiday along with the typical family, love & peace on earth & goodwill to all men. This aspect alone makes the special memorable & heartwarming to watch especially since it comes from the least expected character in it! And even the comedy is also really good as it comes from the characters & their personalities (in particular from Snoopy when mocking Lucy or acting as other animals)! Despite the rather bleak set-up for this special, the message & heart is really what makes it stand out from other Christmas specials & I can understand why it's still so beloved today after nearly 50 years!

 

Animation: Yeah, it pretty obvious that the animation definitely is not the best out there considering it's a Charlie Brown Christmas short! It all has a very rough quality to it with very basic cartoony character designs & character animation although it can be good like in the scenes involving Snoopy due to the fast pace. And the factor of the many animation glitches doesn't really help either or the fact that they tend to loop bits of animation However, oddly enough, this type of animation actually works for something like this & somehow makes it more memorable! I know, you could argue it's like The Christmas Tree, but the difference between that & this is there was competent people behind this & everyone clearly put effort in despite (yeah, I forgot to mention that NOBODY was convinced this would be a success during production! Boy, were they proven wrong!) the VERY low budget. It may definitely not be the best animation out there, even by Saturday morning cartoon standards or even Hanna Barbera standards, but it still manages to be memorable!

 

Characters: I don't think I even need to tell you who the characters are because they're the kind that everyone knows. Charlie Brown is depressed over the commercialisation of Christmas even after Lucy offers him to be the director of the pageant & you can really feel for him throughout as he always feels like he screws up. His dog, Snoopy, may not appear as much as you'd expect, but he still manages to be very funny in his scenes rather it be doing his famous dance. Linus, his best friend that's pretty much a wimp carrying a blanket around, is pretty surprising given that he's the one to tell Charlie the meaning of Christmas & always sticks by him even if the others make fun of him. Lucy is pretty much a brat that gets Charlie to be the director of the Christmas pageant & has materialistic standards over Christmas trees (yeah, she wanted a pink aluminium tree which he obviously doesn't get!), yet is still enjoyable as it's mostly played for laughs. Charlie's little sister Sally is just really the annoying little sister type to him & is also involved in the pageant as a shepherd to Linus' annoyance. The other characters like Shermy, Violet, Patty, Schroeder, 5, 3 & 4 all have their fun personalities intact, but don't really contribute much to the plot besides either being involved in the pageant or making fun of Charlie! Overall, all I can really say is the characters are very likeable & funny with their personalites & are really what give the special it's heart other than the story!

 

Songs: There isn't really much in the songs since it's mostly carols or traditional Christmas songs like Hark The Herald Angels Sing or Jingle Bells, but for what they are, they're pretty good mostly for the way they're executed, especially the many versions of Jingle Bells by Schroeder in one scene. Oh yeah, and the jazz soundtrack is also pretty good & fun throughout! Sorry there isn't much to say about the songs, but they're all pretty memorable despite being known in the public domain!

 

OK, now I get why A Charlie Brown Christmas is considered a holiday classic! Despite the cheap animation, that can easily be glossed over thanks to the very heartwarming & fun story showing the true meaning of Christmas, fun & memorable characters & great songs to put you in the Christmas mood! Just go & watch it if you haven't already & I am so glad that I have finally seen it & understood it's legacy after nearly 50 years of airing on CBS or ABC every year in the US! Oh yeah, and the animation will not contribute to the overall score as the other aspects are so so good!
Story: 10/10
Animation: 2/10
Characters: 10/10
Songs: 9/10
Overall: 10/10