When Charlie Brown complains about the overwhelming materialism that he sees amongst everyone during the Christmas season, Lucy suggests that he become director of the school Christmas pageant. Charlie Brown accepts, but it is a frustrating struggle. When an attempt to restore the proper spirit with a forlorn little fir Christmas tree fails, he needs Linus' help to learn the meaning of Christmas.
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Reviews
Very best movie i ever watch
Simply A Masterpiece
Expected more
Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.
I find this to be very calming, relaxing, almost meditative. It is a pure, uncluttered plot, subtle, almost muted, and most importantly, it makes its points without getting preachy. The animation is perfect, it has a child-like innocence about it, not perfect or polished, but only slightly unrefined and rough around the edges. The same can be said about the child actors supplying the voices, the all have a sincerity to them. The lisps, stutters, difficulty in getting some of the words out, all seem genuine, and that probably would not have been, if adult actors had done the voices. Vince Guaraldi's jazzy score is one of the best scores I can think of. I can listen to the score by itself anytime.
I recall watching this on B&W television in 1965. I was spellbound, since Peanuts had captured my curiosity and attention as a 5th grader. I'm still astounded by its simplicity, its innocence, and the departure from Christmas commercialism which is what Charlie Brown was depressed about.Well, now I must add additional lines (10) to qualify as a legit posting. I often listen to the 6-minute Youtube instrumental from the movie. The music relaxes me and I can recall sitting in an old barber shop that had a coal-fired stove in the very center of the barber shop. Must have been 1960 or so. Walking through a small forest of Xmas trees, searching for an affordable Blue Spruce tree. My family ended up using the aluminum tree and the four-color light wheel.
One year away from the 50th anniversary of A CHARLIE BROWN Christmas and it's continuing relevance it's impressive. I'm always (even just a little) surprised at how strongly I identify with Charlie Brown's struggle with the meaning of Christmas. He's trying to get at the fundamentals of the holiday, and it's increasingly difficult in our world to hold onto those. And even Linus' quoting of scripture at the end feels right (and I'm not a religious person). There's a purity of message here that's extremely refreshing. That said, this annual special is just another reason to hear Vince Guaraldi's iconic score. That guy's a national treasure and his work has only enriched the holiday music this country has to offer.7/10
This was one of my personal favorites of the season. The story is about Charlie trying to do something right for a change when he has always been told he's good for nothing. When told to go buy a tree for a pageant at his church, he picks a small tree that is struggling to survive. He doesn't give up on the tree even when all his friends believe the tree is hopeless until he believes that he has killed it by placing one glass orb on it. The only point that bothers me is that sometimes the story becomes a little slow, and the jokes kind of fall a bit flat.The artwork is actually rather good for when it came out and who it portrays. You can almost never go wrong with the classics most times and this is no exception. It doesn't have to be fancy to get the point across that all people or things need is a little love to become something special. Sure there may be a couple little parts that seemed low end, but when you put it all together, it just works.The voices are done really well, and are actually pretty close to what I thought the characters would sound like from reading the comic strips when I was little. From Lucy's know-it-all attitude to Linus' philosophical quotes, each one makes the characters really stand out. Peter Robbins does a excellent job of giving Charlie Brown that wishy-washy town to his voice up till the point that everything goes wrong and giving him the all to familiar 'UGGGGGG' he's known for.