A Charlie Brown Christmas by Charlie M. Schultz may only be a 25 minute film, but its longevity is proved by the fact it was released on TV in 1965 and still remains in the hearts and on the screens of children, elves and merrymakers everywhere – going on to win an Emmy and Peabody Award. Based on the comic strip Peanuts, it makes up for not being a full-length Christmas movie by the warm and wonderful moral of its story; reminding us of the true spirit of the holiday season and how over commercialised it has become when Charlie suffers from a bout of depression because he can’t figure out what Christmas is about.
Written in a matter of weeks, animated on a shoestring budget, voiced over by child actors, and featuring an unorthodox music score in a time when television animations would typically be backed by live audience laughter tracks – this filmmaking project was originally pipped as a disaster. Upon airing it became apparent that A Charlie Brown Christmas was in fact a Christmas movie miracle in the broadcast world. The beautiful tone and pace, along with Vince Guaraldi’s jazzy soundtrack, were a hit – in fact the latter went on to sell 4 million records in the US and still spins on record tables across the world during the festive period. Here’s the full movie to kick off your season:
Merry Christmas!
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