 A
Charlie Brown Christmas
Charlie
Brown finds himself depressed at Christmas time, searching for the
true meaning of the holiday amidst the glitz and commercialism of
the modern age. He finds his answer in the passage below:
"And
there were in the same country shepherds, abiding in the field,
keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the
Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about
them! And they were sore afraid ... And the angel said unto them,
"Fear not! For, behold, I bring you tidings o great joy, which shall
be to all my people. For unto you is born this day in the city of
David a Saviour, which is Christ, the Lord."
"And this shall be a sign unto you: Ye shall find the babe wrapped
in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger." And suddenly, there was
with the angel a multitude of the Heavenly Host praising God, and
saying, "Glory to God in the Highest, and on Earth peace, and good
will toward men."
"That's
what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown." -
Linus Van Pelt
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Classic
Scenes From The TV Special:
(These clips require the latest version of Real
Player G2) |
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The
Songs:
(Click For Lyrics, MIDI Files, etc.) |
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 The
score for "A Charlie Brown Christmas" was anything but
traditional. Vince Guaraldi's jazz renditions of traditional Christmas
melodies have become synonomous with the Peanuts characters.
Featured
in this classic soundtrack: O
Tannenbaum, What
Child Is This, The Little Drummer
Boy, Linus And Lucy, Christmas
Time Is Here, Skating, Hark
The Herald Angels Sing, Christmas Is Coming, Fur Elise, The
Christmas Song, Greensleeves
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| Other
Charlie Brown Stuff: |
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 The
Making of A Charlie Brown Christmas - A great behind the scenes
look from the web site of Bill
Melendez Productions, the original producer of the cartoon special.
The
Official Peanuts Website (www.snoopy.com)
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Video
Review:
This
half-hour Christmas show is one of the truly lovable animated specials
in TV history, a status proved by its annual network telecast since
1965. A Charlie Brown Christmas was the first, and best, of a series
of programs based on the Charles M. Schulz cartoon strip "Peanuts."
Hapless hero Charlie Brown finds himself depressed at Christmastime,
searching for the true meaning of the holiday amidst the glitz and
commercialism of the modern age. Appointed director of the school
holiday pageant, Charlie Brown ventures out with Linus to buy "a
great, big, shiny aluminum Christmas tree." Instead they bring
back a miserable tree--a real one. A Charlie Brown Christmas shows
off the "Peanuts" gang doing what they do best: Lucy is
bossy, Snoopy is crazy, Linus is sweet, and Pig Pen is, well, filthy.
Instead of using adult actors trying to sound like kids, the production
features real children providing the voices, an endearing effect.
The jazz music score, composed by Vince Guaraldi, has become a classic
in its own right; like so much about this program, it's an unexpected
but perfectly right choice. --Robert Horton |
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