The Peanuts, one of the best cartoon characters of all time. They're memorable, funny, subtle, and above all very lovable characters. Since I'm counting down the days of Christmas through my Christmas reviews, I think the best start to reviewing any of the Peanuts cartoons is to start with the famous and timeless Christmas Special and perhaps the best Peanuts cartoon of all time...
The plot is as basic as it gets. Charlie Brown gets depressed by the commercialism of Christmas and is curious in understanding what the true meaning of Christmas is. As he looks for it, he gets to direct a Christmas play to hopefully get him into the spirit, but no one listens to him. Feeling that a tree will set the mood and bring that feeling of Christmas, Charlie Brown gets the only real tree that he can find which is very small and unhealthy looking tree. But despite how ugly it looks, Charlie Brown feels that once it gets decorated, it will look beautiful. The Special's themes on commercialism taking over Christmas is not just an eye opener for the younger audience, but it does indeed really show and tell us what the true meaning of Christmas is. That Bible quote that Linus recites; Charlie Brown's intentions of making the tree look nice; and the ending where the gang helps our protagonist are all very powerful moments that expose the true meaning of Christmas. The Special also provides many memorable moments which have been referenced and parodied countless times in various Christmas Specials. You have the opening scene with the kids Ice Skating. A little subplot with Snoopy decorating his dog house. The kids catching snowflakes on their tongues. Charlie Brown writing a letter to Santa for his little sister Sally. Charlie Brown getting therapy from Lucy. Lucy and Schroeder arguing about what kind of music that should played at the Christmas Pageant. And all the characters singing "Hark! The Herald Angels Sings" to close out the Special. The funny thing is, while you can cut most of those scenes out for how pointless they are to the Special's overall story, those little scenes and moments just leave a huge impact on you for how fun and cute they are that really exploit the Special's Christmas atmosphere. The music also plays a huge role in why this Special is so great. It really brings you that strong feeling of Christmas as well as creating the tone, the mood and atmosphere for the Special that's very laid-back. What's also amazing and makes the special one of a kind, is how simple it is! The animation is nothing incredible, it actually looks pretty cheap and basic. The voice actors don't at all sound like professional voice actors. They all sound like just kids putting on a school play. But the crazy thing about the simpleness of the Special is, that's what makes it so unique. The cheap animation is still colorful and has a charm to it in terms of design and movement. And the voice acting while sounding unprofessional, makes the characters seem more real and likable. This is one of those rare Specials that proves that you don't need a big budget to make something great as long as you put lots of heart and effort into what you're creating. And just by watching this Special, you can tell that there was a lot of passion put behind it. Trying to review this Special would be like trying to tell you what the feeling of Christmas is like. You can't describe it, you can't analyze it, but you can defiantly feel it, and that's how I think most of us feel when watching this Special which is what makes it so great. Throw in some memorable characters; great music; a basic but morally themed story; animation with a style of its own; plenty of memorable moments that are fun, cute, and subtle; and you get one of the greatest Christmas Specials of all time.
RATING 5/5
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