Christmas Review - Charlie Brown's Christmas Tales (2002)

      Hey guys, Chuck here. One of the most iconic Christmas specials is A Charlie Brown Christmas. Well, in 2002, the special was complimented with a new collection of Yuletide shorts packaged together under the title of Charlie Brown's Christmas Tales. 

       The shorts included such instances of the Peanuts gang in various Yuletide situations. For instance, in the short "Happy Holidays from Snoopy," Snoopy tries to get Lucy to skate with him, but she only want to skate with Schroeder, who rejects her. Later, Snoopy dresses as a bell ringing Santa Claus, and winds up getting accosted by Lucy and Linus' little brother Rerun. Also,.while playing the accordion, Lucy calls out Snoopy's choice of playing the song "Oh Susanna" for not being a particularly good fit for Christmas, which leads him to change songs. 

       In the short "Yuletide Greetings from Linus," Linus looks to send a Christmas card to a girl who changes her name every day. But, when she gives her address to him, it later turns out to be a fake address. In the short "Seasons Greetings from Sally," Sally attempts to write a letter to "Samantha Claus," but later gets upset with Charlie Brown for not telling her she was thinking of Santa Claus. Later, Sally attempts to "fall down" a tree by staring at it until it falls over. However, she goes into another kid's yard and attempts it, and he tells her that if it works, she kan keep the tree. Somehow, Sally's efforts to "fall down" a tree works. The kid attempts to reclaim the tree, but when Sally attempts to return it, he lets her keep is as "a deal is a deal." 

     In "Peace on Earth with Lucy," Lucy attempts to convince both Linus and Schroeder to get her a Christmas present. And, finally, we have "Merry Christmas from Charlie Brown." In this short, we get Charlie Brown trying to send a Christmas card to the Little Red Haired Girl, and Linus, who gets annoyed with Sally calling him her "Sweet Babboo," is shocked when Charlie Brown uses the same phrase, which is a family expression. Later, Charlie Brown and Sally prepare for Christmas, and Sally thinks she sees Santa, but it's just Snoopy in a Santa outfit. And, finally, Charlie Brown tells Sally that he got her a small bicycle for her dollhouse for Christmas, but it got lost in the mail, which she is okay with. The special ends with Woodstock riding on the tiny bike. 

      So, while not as classic as A Charlie Brown Christmas, the shorts from Charlie Brown's Christmas Tales were pretty fun, and each felt like a self-contained story akin to the classic Peanuts comic strips. I enjoyed it, I had fun with it. But, in terms of a tried and true yuletide classic, I think that I'll stick to A Charlie Brown Christmas. But, if you can find Charlie Brown's Christmas Tales, definitely give it a watch. 

       Alright guys, this is Chuck signing off, and I'll see you in the next review.