It is no wonder why Charles Schulz’s classic A Charlie Brown Christmas remains the annual tradition it does today.
The award winning holiday special connects with everyone, even to those who don’t celebrate Christmas. It is the probably the best and harshest critique of commercialism, especially when it comes to holidays (any holiday, take your pick).
For those that do celebrate Christmas, it is the most honest and sincere reminder of what the holiday season really is about. No matter how many times you watch it, the scene of Linus reciting the Gospel of Luke still sends the chills and a brings a tear. An incredible, groundbreaking scene that is just as resonant and meaningful now as it was then.
And for everyone, the innocence and intelligence of children, so eloquently depicted in the Peanuts comic strip by Schulz, is always fun.
For millions of families, the Peanuts specials (any holiday) have been engrained into their own traditions. Whether it be sitting down to watch The Great Pumpkin rise out of the pumpkin patch with your bags of treats or watching Snoopy whip up a makeshift Thanksgiving dinner, the specials still touch children of all ages.
After this year’s annual airing of It’s the Great Pumpkin, I was saddened to read comments saying “That again?” or “There are people who still watch Charlie Brown?” I don’t know, everyone has their own tastes of course, but the Peanuts specials are so universal, it’s pretty tough to find someone with rocks as hearts.
But for every mean kid, there are millions and millions of people who have fallen in love with Peanuts and the specials over the last 60 years. And A Charlie Brown Christmas is the gold standard, for the franchise and for holiday specials in general.
There have been countless holiday television specials produced since then, but few have come close to having the timeless, honest and meaningful sincerity of A Charlie Brown Christmas.
Thank goodness for CBS, ABC and NBC for continuing to broadcast it and the other Peanuts specials nonstop.
Add A Charlie Brown Christmas to your own collection and enjoy it anytime you want! @
