45 years later: A Charlie Brown Christmas

Every year as kids, we eagerly awaited holiday specials, including A Charlie Brown Christmas.  Did you know that A Charlie Brown Christmas originally aired on December 9, 1965?  As in 45 years ago today?  This video is so iconic.  I even saw a Facebook friend mentioning that they were watching it the other night because it just wasn't Christmas without seeing Charlie Brown and his sad little Christmas tree.

A Charlie Brown Christmas can be purchased as part of the Peanuts Holiday Collection, released by Warner Bros. and available in a DVD/BluRay pack since October 5.

What did we think?

This arrived a bit late for Halloween, but that didn't stop us from enjoying It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.  We had seen part of this DVD at a party and my son was so upset he didn't get to see the whole thing.  He wanted to see Snoopy dressed up as the Red Baron.  Linus keeps a vigilant look out for the Great Pumpkin in this holiday favorite. Is the Great Pumpkin real or is someone feeding into Linus' fantasy? 

We watched A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving shortly before Thanksgiving.  What kid doesn't want to eat jelly beans for Thanksgiving dinner?  In this animated feature, Charlie Brown is unable to stop Peppermint Patty from inviting herself and others to Thanksgiving dinner, though Charlie has plans to eat dinner with his grandma.  He and Snoopy cook up a bunch of junk food for Thanksgiving, only to be met with unhappy feast attendees!  The bonus on this video was the one that my kids enjoyed the most.  It featured Peanuts characters as they made their way to America on the Mayflower.



Since the Peanuts Holiday Collection came as both DVDs and BluRay, we were able to watch them in both formats.  The car was where the kids first watched A Charlie Brown Christmas on the way to my sister's on Thanksgiving Day.  Twice!  By the time my son asked to watch it a third time, I had to intervene on his sister's behalf.  I can't tell you how many times I wished we had some of our Blu-Rays in DVD format because you can play a DVD in a Blu-Ray, but not vice versa.  It is nice to have the option of watching in both formats.

The sad Christmas tree gets a makeover by the Peanuts gang!

These videos and their extras are digitally remastered and they look awesome on the TV.  I did enjoy the extras, which included a bit of back story for each special.  Was the voice of Peppermint Patty a girl or boy?  Why did the producers worry that  A Charlie Brown Christmas would be a failure? The Peanuts Holiday Collection has these answers and other interesting trivia that Peanuts fans will love just as much as watching the digitally remastered cartoons.

Buy it!  You can purchase the Peanuts Holiday Collection and other favorite Peanuts cartoon specials by visiting www.peanutsdvd.com. The DVD/Blu-Ray Combo Pack is also available at other retailers, such as Amazon.com.

Disclosure:  I received the Peanuts Holiday Collection at no cost to me for review purposes.  This review is not paid.  The opinions stated herein are 100% my own or are derived from my family's experience with the product.  Many thanks to Warner Bros. PR for providing me with this holiday collection.

Note:  The Amazon.com link above is an affiliate link.