Christmas means something different to everyone, but one thing that many people agree on is that the season has always drifted toward the “bigger and better” mentality. This is the dilemma that Charlie Brown is faced with in A Charlie Brown Christmas.

He feels that the holiday season has been completely taken over by commercialism and he wants to change that. Despite how much he wants to change the feel of Christmas, he’s met with many obstacles and constant reminders that Christmas has become the focal point spending and getting.

The animated movie opens on a snowy day at a frozen pond, where the Peanuts gang have all come to go skating. The antics of Snoopy on the ice are sure to make audiences laugh.

Charlie Brown is walking to the pond alongside Linus – and you can tell by the expression on his face that he?s unhappy. On the way to the pond, he stops to lean on a wall and tells Linus that he?s not excited about Christmas. He goes so far as to tell Linus that he?s even feeling depressed.

Charlie Brown discovers that Snoopy has decorated his doghouse and when he questions it, he?s handed paperwork for a lights and display contest. This further drives home Charlie Brown’s point about commercialism.

After he sees the doghouse, Sally asks him to write her Christmas wish list and her demands are quite specific. Then she suggests that Santa can just give her money and Charlie Brown groans, realizing that his sister has also gotten caught up in commercialism.

Lucy (the acting “psychiatrist”) dispenses her wisdom after demanding her payment of five cents and telling him he?s not “too far gone.” She tells Charlie Brown that he should be in charge of the Christmas play. Her reasoning is that by handling the play as the director, this will supposedly make him feel happier about the holiday.

When Charlie Brown reaches the auditorium where the kids are gathered to rehearse for the play, the kids are dancing and jamming and won’t really listen to Charlie?s instructions. Going to get a Christmas tree, he chooses one that he thinks embodies Christmas – but the other kids laugh and poke fun of the scrawny tree.

One of the most touching moments in the movie is when Linus steps center stage and begins to quote the Christmas story. This movie is a classic that will reunite you with all of the loveable Peanuts gang as they learn to focus on the true meaning of the holiday.

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