Some of my favorite music this time of year comes from A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965).  Until recently, I had also never seen it.  As I have scoured the streaming services for seasonally appropriate films, this title somehow has escaped my notice.  You would think it would be an obvious choice since I often hear its soundtrack when listening to various carols.  I am also not sure how I had yet to view this one until this stage of my life.  I recall seeing it come on television many times as a child, but for whatever reason it was never a priority in our household to sit down and watch it.  What makes it even more ironic for me is the solidly Christian message to be found therein.  I have no idea how to rationalize this fact.  I suppose its age is one factor.  Yet, my incredulity is also based on how The Peanuts, the group of comic strip characters on which the story focuses, have continued to be popular until this day.  For many, watching their holiday related specials is a must whenever the calendar lands on that day.  I am being cynical, but what do the majority of those who do not share my cultural mores make of the last five minutes of this short film?  Please comment below if you are not a practicing Catholic Christian as to what you do with the conclusion to which Charlie Brown (voiced by Peter Robbins) comes to at the end.

It is not quite A Charlie Brown Christmas as our title character walks out of his house to join his friends throwing snowballs at a can.  “Friends” is probably too strong a word.  Indeed, he believes that everybody hates him, and the things they say to him seem to support this view.  Also, I suppose there is not a lot to do in the neighborhood for children that they have to throw bundles of frozen precipitation at garbage.  Anyway, in addition to his angst over how others think about him, Charlie is complaining to his companion, the blanket toting Linus van Pelt (voiced by Christopher Shea), he is also not feeling as he says he should given the nearness of Christmas.  Charlie’s peers are all anticipating a windfall of gifts, and he tells Linus that he is looking forward to this aspect, but there is still something missing.  In short, Charlie does not understand the meaning of Christmas, particularly with the amount of commercialization attached to the holiday.  This includes his famous dog, Snoopy (voiced by Bill Melendez), who decorates his doghouse in order to win a monetary prize.  The first to notice Charlie’s worries outside of Linus is Lucille “Lucy” van Pelt (voiced by Tracy Stratford).  Her first solution is to hurriedly set up a mock psychiatric booth, charging Charlie a nickel so that she can name a number of scientific names for fears, the majority of which he denies until she gets to pantophobia, the fear of everything.  He eagerly agrees to this one.  Sheesh.  No wonder the kid’s catch phrase is “Good grief!”  Lucy’s next idea involves making Charlie the director of their Christmas play.  Since nobody likes him, he says that this will not work.  She overrides his indecision.  Predictably, when he shows up to assume his role, everyone groans.  While he takes his job seriously, everyone seems more content to dance in various ways on the stage while their resident piano prodigy, Schroeder (voiced by Chris Doran), plays the film’s theme on his tiny piano.  Charlie tries to impose order, and Lucy backs up his leadership until he hesitates in naming her queen of the proceedings.  To cheer everyone up, she suggests that Charlie go buy them a Christmas tree, preferably a pink aluminum one.  Instead, he brings back a scraggly shrub.  Of course, when he presents it to the rest, they ridicule him.  Finally at the end of his wits, Charlie yells at them, wondering if anyone can tell him what is the true meaning of Christmas.  This is when Linus steps forward and delivers a Scripturally based definition of Christmas, talking about the coming of Our Savior.  So, yeah, I was not expecting to hear the actual “reason for the season,” as the saying goes.  This lifts Charlie’s spirits, as it should, as he carries his tiny pine home, hoping to put some ornaments on it and improve its disposition.  His cheer is given another blow, however, when he sees that Snoopy has won the decorating contest.  Matters are not helped when the one ornament Charlie puts on the frail branches causes the whole structure to list to one side.  He gives up and goes inside, only to be brought back outside by his friends singing “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” around a vastly improved Christmas tree.  He joins the chorus and this is where the film ends.

I mentioned in the introduction to this review of A Charlie Brown Christmas that it is a short film.  I have to confess to being a bit tired today, and its brevity is a blessing in itself, as is watching this in general.  The carol referred to at the end of the last paragraph is a good way to discuss why Linus’ short soliloquy is so important.  The first verse speaks to many of the themes of Christmas with which Christians are (or should be) familiar.  The second verse, though, talks of an aspect of Jesus’ birth that is seldom remembered in this season of joy.  “Light and life to all He brings. . . .  Born that man no more may die/ Born to raise the sons of Earth/ Born to give them second birth. . . .”  At this time of year, we give each other gifts in order to commemorate, well, something.  Like Charlie’s peers, it is Christmas and that means presents.  They need nothing more than the material items that they believe are their right because it is December 25^th.  What these gifts are actually meant to memorialize are the ones found in the lines I quoted.  Jesus came to us to ransom our lives from sin.  That second birth is found at our Baptism, when we are claimed as His own.  He wants us to be redeemed and live forever with Him in the Kingdom.  Is there any more precious gift than eternal life?  Charlie feels as he does at the beginning because, deep down, we all know that the bits and bobs stashed under our trees will one day fade.  What Linus does is reorient the holiday to the eternal, to God, who should be our focus.

Now that I have seen A Charlie Brown Christmas, I can associate tunes from the movie to the scenes in which they can be heard.  In case it is not clear from what I have already said, I would think this would be a must for this time of year.  Now all I have to do to complete the vintage holiday animated viewing is watch Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964).