The greatest movie ever made..!

not as good as all the hype

The movie is wonderful and true, an act of love in all its contradictions and complexity

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

I almost never review stuff that I've already seen before but I will make an exception if it's something that I rewatch because this is the only thing that I consistently rewatch. In fact, given my current state of movies, it might be the only thing period that I watch over and over. I am so glad to have kept this VHS all this year and I'll never let go of it. This is my pick for the all time best Christmas movie ever. Okay, it's not really a Christmas movie as it's only 25 minutes long. It's a Christmas special or whatever. Christmas related media, I think that works too. It's the only thing I consistently watch every year, at Christmas.This actually wasn't quite the first animated appearance of the "Peanuts" characters. They actually first appeared in the late 1950's in Ford commercials. This is obviously the first TV special they ever did. I think this even set a record for most follow ups on this entire website. I counted 51 last time! Well, none are direct sequels, but you get the idea. I've seen this dozens of times and can probably repeat the entire thing word for word. If real life is ever like "Fahrenheit 911" and we burn stuff, this is the work I'm able to recite. It's gotten to the point where I've noticed every single detail about it.I can even point out every animation error! When we see Lucy's psychiatrist stand, the word "Real In" is sitting on the bottom of the screen in a closeup. When the screen changes, we clearly see that the sign is right next to the other words. When Snoopy first appears on his doghouse, he isn't wearing his collar! I know every inch of this cartoon and am proud of it. What makes this so amazing is that there's just no attempt to be elaborate. Looking at most Christmas specials, they're big with Santa Claus imagery and the like. Instead, we get the most sincere Christmas related thing ever created. Charlie Brown even himself complains about the commercialism that we see relatively little of in the whole thing! Having seen nearly all the other "Peanuts" cartoons, this is the best as the first and it will never be surpassed.The best part is obviously when Linus talks about Jesus' birth. That is the true meaning of Christmas. Even if you don't believe it, just remember that it's all done for the sake of love. It's weird looking back at all the "Peanuts" comics and realizing what jokes they took from them. We're so familiar with this version. They did however invert it when it actually had Linus' famous speech being reused in a 1966 comic strip, actually. The weird thing is that if you think about it, we never really do find out what happens to the Christmas play. I guess we've reached the point where we don't care. Everyone has seen this already, but I'll never get over how great it is. It will last forever. ****

This has been part of my annual Christmas viewings since I was eight! And year after year it never stops being touching, funny, off-beat, and wholesome. Also, who among us can't relate to the frustrations of one Mr Charlie Brown? His disillusionment with the Christmas Holiday, was a theme rarely seen in a show in the 1960's, let alone in a kids show. The supporting characters are all so vibrantly different. From the self absorbed Lucy, to the quiet and introspective Linus, to the imaginative and irreverent Snoopy. The voice actors are so young and innocent sounding that it gives the show an innocence that matches up well with the offbeat humor that comes from Charles Schultz. The animation is a bit crude, but the magic of the writing and voice acting somehow makes the crude animation seem charming. And who can forget the amazing musical score by Vince Guaraldi? The songs from this show "Linus and Lucy", and "Christmas Time Is Here" have gone on to be Christmas standards. The Jazz music score gives the show a hip feel that contrasts well with the childish feel of the voice acting and the animation.Also, if you are of a religious nature, you will find that particular spiritual aspect of the show to be moving. But even if you aren't, and just enjoy the Holiday season for it's traditions rather than it's Religious nature, you will still find lots of things about this show that you will like.So keep up the tradition of families watching this show every Christmas by showing it to the young ones in your life, they won't be disappointed.

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.

This Emmy-Award-winning Charlie Brown Christmas special has its 50th birthday this year and it's the beginning to a very successful franchise.. I have to say I have never been that big on the Peanuts. I like the animation style and Snoopy is usually fun, but the interactions of the gang rarely do a whole lot for me. So it should be no surprise that I am actually underwhelmed by this short film, one of their most famous. The subject is the contrast between traditional and commercialized Christmas and Charlie struggles with the commercial wishes of the other Peanuts here. This film has one massive flaw: Charlie stands for the traditional idea of Christmas and yet he joins in in the Christmas tree idea. Trees are a consequence of commercialism as well, even without bright colorful ornaments on them. Apart from that, Lucy is as annoying as always and I always thought the whole gang was fairly unlikeable: no friends I would like to have as a child really as almost all they do is disagreeing with each other or even bullying (especially Charlie Brown). Another problem I have with this particular episode is that the middle part centered around the play really almost entirely loses the Christmas reference. Humour was certainly something entirely different back in the 1960s as there was hardly any scene I found funny in this movie, maybe the closest was Lucy's reference between bubblegum and Beethoven. And some of the music was okay too. But other than that, it was pretty underwhelming. Also the whole message does not make sense as this film implies that you cannot find a healthy mix of commercialism and tradition, which is absolutely the right way to go in my opinion. Strict differentiating between Black and white is never good. Stay away. Schulz and Melendez worked on an uncountable number of Peanuts films. i hope most of the other ones are better than this beginning.