A Charlie Brown Christmas - NR

The Peanuts gang in a classic Christmas special.

Rating: NR for Not Rated Studio: Paramount Home Entertainment Directed By: Bill Melendez Cast: Bill Melendez, Tracy Stratford Running Time: 30 minutes Release Date: 12/09/1965 Genre: Family and Kids

Common Sense Note

Parents should know that this heartwarming classic focuses on the religious aspect of Christmas. At the story's climax, Linus quotes one of the nativity stories from the New Testament and the Peanuts characters join in singing religious carols.

Families who watch this movie can ask their kids' about the movies message. Does the true meaning of Christmas get lost in materialism? Can you think of real world examples of how that is true? How could you work against that -- either in your family or in society?

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Common Sense Review

Reviewed By: Common Sense Media

Charlie Brown discovers the true meaning of Christmas when he buys a forlorn little tree.

Charlie Brown is depressed by the Christmas season because it's so commercial. He cheers up when Lucy asks him to direct the holiday pageant. But the bossy Lucy doesn't allow him to do much directing and sends Charlie off to buy an aluminum Christmas tree. Instead, he's drawn to a sad little fir tree, which everyone mocks. Linus makes a speech about the true meaning of Christmas, and the Peanuts are moved by his words. The gang then transforms the little tree by adding beautiful decorations, and Charlie Brown finally celebrates a merry Christmas.

A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS communicates a timeless message brimming with holiday spirit. The first of Charles Schultz's television specials based on his long-running comic strip, this episode set the standard for those that followed. Simple drawings, a gently meandering story, Schultz's beloved characters, and Vince Guaraldi's lively musical score combine to make this something the entire family will want to watch every year. The image of the pathetic but endearing Christmas tree, unable to support even one decoration, cleverly parallels the Charlie Brown character. That sad fir springing to life at the end, as Charlie's melancholy dissipates, resonates with young and old alike.

Filled with humor, A Charlie Brown Christmas, is a wonderful antidote to the holiday blues. Another annual cartoon staple for the Christmas season, also originally produced in the mid-1960s, is the animated The Grinch Who Stole Christmas.

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