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. ****

I was born about two weeks before this first aired so you could say I have watched this my whole life. I still get a very nostalgic feeling watching this that I just love. It's a permanent part of my life it seems. Me and my wife have two children who are both adults now and they've watched along with me every year and I hope they'll do the same with their own children someday. This will also help me get into the holiday spirit when everything else happening in my life may be pulling me the other way. I'm sure it does the same for many others! I love all of the Charlie Brown specials but this has to be my favorite. Next would be the Great Pumpkin and then the Thanksgiving one. I'm sure these will all be enjoyed until the end of time.

This was one of my personal favorites of the season. The story is about Charlie trying to do something right for a change when he has always been told he's good for nothing. When told to go buy a tree for a pageant at his church, he picks a small tree that is struggling to survive. He doesn't give up on the tree even when all his friends believe the tree is hopeless until he believes that he has killed it by placing one glass orb on it. The only point that bothers me is that sometimes the story becomes a little slow, and the jokes kind of fall a bit flat.The artwork is actually rather good for when it came out and who it portrays. You can almost never go wrong with the classics most times and this is no exception. It doesn't have to be fancy to get the point across that all people or things need is a little love to become something special. Sure there may be a couple little parts that seemed low end, but when you put it all together, it just works.The voices are done really well, and are actually pretty close to what I thought the characters would sound like from reading the comic strips when I was little. From Lucy's know-it-all attitude to Linus' philosophical quotes, each one makes the characters really stand out. Peter Robbins does a excellent job of giving Charlie Brown that wishy-washy town to his voice up till the point that everything goes wrong and giving him the all to familiar 'UGGGGGG' he's known for.

Repelled by the commercialism he sees around him, Charlie Brown (Peter Robbins) tries to find the true meaning of Christmas.The story goes that when this cartoon was first made, it ran into issues because of the lack of canned laughter and the religious overtones. Despite some apprehensions, it went forward as planned. And guess what? It became one of the most successful Christmas specials ever aired.I could not even imagine this with laughter. I mean, Charlie Brown is something of a sad sack -- we should not be laughing at him, but feeling sympathy for him. And how can we not appreciate his message of commercialism gone too far? I was not alive in the 1960s, but I think it would be a fair assumption to say that the commercialism of Christmas has not decreased... not one bit.