Very well executed

It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

"I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown" is an animated short film from 12 years ago and adds another successful chapter to the long-running Peanuts franchise. Now given that even back in 2003 this franchise already existed for approximately 40 years, it was quite a challenge to make this one a triumph. But Larry Leichliter did a good job overall. Charles M. Schulz was already dead at this point, but Bill Melendez was still alive and is also credited with co-directing this film and voicing Snoopy as usual. And actually, they made it even more daring as there are crucial differences to other Peanuts films. First of all, this one here runs roughly 15 minutes longer than they usually do. And the main character, the one who says the quote from the title is one that has not really appeared too frequently in the franchise. However, Rerun van Pelt is a worthy addition and carries this film nicely. I still don't know about the name. I guess there's a super-smart or super-funny story behind it, but I just don't like it. Anyway, that's my only criticism. Charlie is really just a minor character in this film for the most part as the van Pelts are the center of it. And we also find out a bit about Snoopy's family. All in all, a good watch, not only during the holidays. The child actors do a good job and some of them are actually semi-famous today. Some pretty funny moments in here and I recommend it. I think I even liked it more than many of the older films. They truly managed a nice combination of tradition and new elements here, some even politically incorrect jokes. Love it. Thumbs up.

Out of the four "Peanuts" Christmas specials, this is probably the best since the first. Like the other two, it's mainly a collection of strips taken straight from the comic and animated. This time, though, they've actually taken strips they can form a cohesive story out of. The focus this time is Rerun, younger brother of Linus and Lucy, and his desire to get a dog for Christmas. Rerun is a sweet character (sometimes almost too sweet), but he's genuine in his affection.Some viewers complain about the segment where Rerun makes a joke about taking a girl to Paris and winds up getting accused of harassment. (The word "sexual" is never used.) Other reviewers actually said this would cause Charles Schulz to spin in his grave -- since Schulz himself wrote the strips that this segment is based on, I highly doubt that.Nothing will ever approach the greatness of the original "Charlie Brown Christmas," but out of the ones that have come out since then, this is the cream of the crop.

While "I Want a Dog for Christmas" has it's flaws and may not totally live up to the old "A Charlie Brown Christmas", it nonetheless manages to hold a special place in my heart and has remained a staple for my family's Christmas viewing for three years running. I can remember being in the philosophical Rerun's position, both for wanting a dog -- for years and years until I was able to get one when I was in my teens, and also for and also for being treated as the "baby" in the family. Seeing other members of Snoopy's family was a treat.I felt the script could have been a little tighter, but I think it is far from being dreadful.

Peanuts still makes me smile after all these years. This new animated feature was very good. For the big Peanuts aficianados, you'll recognize a lot of the gags are from the weekly strips themselves, some dating back to the 1960s. It was done very well and I very much enjoyed it.