I don't know about you, but with just fifteen days left until Christmas, I'm getting all kinds of antsy and excited. What have you asked Santa for?
December in the 80's was a magical time of year to be a kid. Not only did we get all the fantastic toys for Christmas, but every year, throughout the holiday season, the television would segue from regularly scheduled programing to air animated holiday specials. They'd come on just late enough that it could be a family event, but early enough that we'd get to enjoy it just before bedtime.
Each half hour block was special. Perfectly crafted with just the right number of advertisements to remind us of all the toys on store shelves, the treats to be had from local restaurants and grocery stores, and all other manners of consumption in between. But at the heart of it was that cartoon which would come out of hiding just once a year, fill your eyes with wonder, bringing smiles, laughter, action, adventure, drama, but at the root of it, a classic holiday message of peace, giving, love, and joy.
It's become my own personal tradition each year to pull a holiday special off the DVD shelf each day to enjoy. It's a ritual which not only has become my way of counting down the twenty-four days of December leading up to my favorite holiday, but my way of reminding myself that no matter what's happening in the world, my day-to-day grind of work, life, health, trials, and tribulations, that for a moment, all of that can be put a side, and I can simply become a kid again, even if it's just at heart.
While I wish I could share the actual special with all of you, be it by inviting you all to my home to join me in front of the fireplace with a bowl of popcorn, sadly, that's just not feasible. However, between sites such as Youtube, Arhcive.org, Dailymotion, and Vimeo, you can probably find them to watch. Of course, for those of you so bold, you could also pick them up on DVD yourself, something I would highly recommend. If not for yourself, for your children.
It's Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown is composed of several Christmas-themed storylines, all taken directly from the Peanuts comic strip:
- Linus van Pelt tries unsuccessfully to use a cardboard box as a sled.
- Charlie Brown unsuccessfully tries to sell wreaths door-to-door before Thanksgiving. Franklin points out that Charlie Brown is adding to the commercialism of Christmas, but Charlie Brown disagrees "until I sell one." (Violet and the original Patty make cameos in this sketch, a rare 1990s appearance for the two.)
- Peppermint Patty worries about her Christmas book report.
- Peppermint Patty and Marcie attend a performance of Handel's Messiah. The following day at school, Peppermint Patty writes about the performance. Neither she nor Marcie know Handel's first name, so Peppermint Patty credits the piece to "Joe Handel."
- Snoopy becomes a Santa on the street, Lucy and Sally beg to differ.
- Woodstock and his bird friends play chamber music inside a snowman's hat.
- Charlie Brown tries to explain the true meaning of Christmas to his sister Sally, who is convinced that the true meaning of Christmas is "getting all you can get while the getting is good" when she is writing a letter to Santa, but she tunes him out. She also writes to Mrs. Claus, who she calls Mary Christmas.
- Snoopy, Woodstock and his friends dance with the candy canes that were on Charlie Brown's tree.
- Sally goes to Linus' house for the meaning of Christmas and complains to Linus about calling birds in "The Twelve Days of Christmas". Linus tells Sally about Albert Schweitzer and how he does not like Christmas presents because he hated to write thank-you notes. Sally asks who Albert Schweitzer was.
- Charlie Brown sells his entire comic book collection in order to buy Peggy Jean a nice pair of gloves, only to find that she has already bought a pair.
- The kids participate in a Christmas play, where Marcie plays The Virgin Mary, Franklin gets the role of Gabriel, Peppermint Patty unwillingly plays a sheep, and Sally, who has to say the line "Hark!" in the same play to summon a herald angel, inadvertently yells "Hockey stick!". Later, Harold (herald) Angel drops by to visit Charlie Brown, looking for Sally.
Values, morals, and heartwarming lessons fill this holiday special featuring all the classic Peanuts characters. Satisfying in every way, and the perfect cartoon to get you in the holiday spirit.
Some of you may be asking, "Where's the classic, A Charlie Brown Christmas?" There are always a specific top three I save for the final days of my countdown to Christmas, and it's among them.
Wanting to get a little more holiday joy, I pulled out a couple more DVD's and enjoyed some random Christmas themed episodes. Today's picks were:
- When S.A.V.A.G.E. Stole Santa from Rambo: The Force of Freedom
- X-Mas Marks the Spot from the Real Ghostbusters
- A Scooter for Yaksmas, and Son of Stimpy from th Ren & Stimpy Show
- The Little Drummer Boy, Book II, the 1976 Rankin / Bass classic
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