I watched this last night…gearing up for Christmas…it’s not Christmas without The Peanuts and watching them all dance to “Linus and Lucy.”
The Peanuts were my favorite cartoon growing up and I would never miss their Thanksgiving, Halloween, and Christmas specials. Everyone can relate to Charlie Brown because we all lose more than we win in life. He doesn’t get to kick that football, his dog has more things than he does, and he is forever trying to get the elusive little redhead girl to notice him.
The Peanuts inhabit a kids world where grownups are felt but not heard. At least not in English. I’ve said this before but… Charlie Brown, one day when you grow up… I hope you end up with the little red head girl that you like so much and win just for once…for all of us.
This 1965 special has everything good about them in one show.
The gang is skating and Charlie Brown is telling Linus that despite Christmas being a happy time he is depressed. Linus tells Charlie that is normal and Lucy pipes in with “Of all the Charlie Browns in the world, you’re the Charlie Browniest.” That sums it all up.
Charlie gets to direct the Christmas play and his main job was to get a spectacular Christmas tree under Lucy’s orders. …He picks the only real tree there…more like a branch but he is sure it will do the job. Most of the gang do not agree when he comes back with the tree but Charlie persists. Linus gets up and reads from the Bible and the inflection he lends to the reading is great.
After that, you will need to watch because it will be worth it.
Aluminum Christmas trees were marketed beginning in 1958 and enjoyed fairly strong sales by eliminating pesky needles and tree sap. But the annual airings of A Charlie Brown Christmas swayed public thinking: In the special, Charlie Brown refuses to get a fake tree. Viewers began to do the same, and the product was virtually phased out by 1969. The leftovers are now collector’s items.
Actors and Actresses The early Peanuts specials made use of both untrained kids and professional actors: Peter Robbins (Charlie Brown) and Christopher Shea (Linus) were working child performers, while the rest of the cast consisted of “regular” kids coached by Melendez in the studio. When Schulz told Melendez that Snoopy couldn’t have any lines in the show—he’s a dog, and Schulz’s dogs didn’t talk—the animator decided to bark and chuff into a microphone himself, then speed up the recording to give it a more emotive quality.
Love the Christmas Dance.
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The Peanuts cartoons are just amazing. How can you not love them! And that Christmas dance just rocks and instantly put me in a good mood – well done, Max and Charlie!
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Oh it is great….the music the dance…the whole combination of it all.
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All those Peanut holiday specials were must see tv as a kid!
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I always thought that it would have been better if Pig-Pen had played the keyboard instead of the stand-up bass, as that is what Pigpen played for the Grateful Dead.
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Oh yea! That would have been a cool connection.
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An awesome one that stands the test of time in every way. I have to see it still this year; it’s been a tradition since I was little.
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Out of all the Christmas specials…I like this one the best…The Great Pumpkin is a close second.
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Carnivals and holiday specials on TV were the highlights of my childhood life. Charlie Brown holiday specials were at the top of the list. I loved the fact that the adults never spoke, and if they did it came out as “wah wah wah.”
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Yes that is why I loved it. It was OUR own world…no fighting adults allowed.
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❤
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Probably good for the environment to not have all those aluminium trees around.
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Awesome stuff Max. This takes me back to a simpler time…
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My pleasure Deke…I’m ebarassed to say it…but I still watch them lol
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Nothing to be embarrassed about Sir. Keeps ya young!
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Harken back to the good old days, or back in the day. It’s not Christmas, Thanksgiving or Halloween without a Peanuts special. The grandkids love them.
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I HAVE to see this every year. Every time Linus says, “That’s what Christmas is all about Charlie Brown…” I choke up.
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Yes…this one is a must. It’s so perfect and now if we get a skimpy tree…it’s a Charlie Brown tree.
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I bought one of those decorative Charlie Brown trees, but didn’t have anywhere to put it this year…
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Yes…we bought one a few years ago and someone gave us one the same year lol.
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Classic. Simply a classic.
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One of my favs!
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