When Charles Schulz was approached by animator-producers Bill Melendez and Lee Mendelson about adapting Schulz's long running and much beloved comic strip "Peanuts" for a holiday-themed television special, you might have thought him likely to say, "forget it." "Peanuts" was, after all, a rather low key, "cool" sort of strip that would have a hard time keeping its head above the "hot" waters of broadcast television. But to Schulz's (and Melendez and Mendelson's) credit, no real compromises were made in bringing Charlie Brown and crew to the small screen. In fact several of the first specials' plots and actual lines came directly from the strips themselves, leaving their charm completely intact. If the shows seem almost on 16 RPM today, they did even back in the 1960s and 1970s when these three were originally broadcast--and that's an entirely good thing. A great deal of "Peanuts"' innate allure is this very unassuming character: it doesn't need to knock your socks off with fast moving dialogue or tons of action. It portrays a simpler, gentler world, filled with some very profound truths cloaked in a childlike wonder, and if that makes it steeped in nostalgia for those of a certain age, so be it. The shows also benefit immensely from being voiced entirely by children (aside from Melendez's own goofy and lovable Snoopy), and their off-kilter, halting deliveries, especially in the first two of the included specials (Christmas and It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown) simply add a neat touch of verisimilitude to the proceedings that you would never, ever get in today's pre-fab child star environment.

A Charlie Brown Christmas, from 1965, is a charming and heartfelt little show with some very deep pronouncements about over-commercialization and the "true" meaning of the holiday. Despite the patently unconstitutional plot point of a school putting on a Nativity play (something perhaps more redolent of the un-PC 50s than the mid-60s), the show is a loving homage to the season of good will to all men. Hapless Charlie Brown can't figure out why the holiday doesn't cheer him up, and it's up to child philosopher Linus to provide the reason, right out of the book of Luke. It's surprisingly unsyrupy, despite its obvious religious undertones (and how could it be otherwise, really). The animation in this first outing is pretty basic, with few of the more adventurous touches that augmented subsequent outings in the series.

Extras: It's Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown is a 1992 effort that revisits some of the themes of the first Christmas special, with a holiday play again at the center of the proceedings. There are also subplots of Charlie Brown attempting to sell wreaths to make money to buy a present and Peppermint Patty stressing over a book report. The animation style is considerably more advanced, if still basic, in this relatively late effort, and it's helped by the return, after a long absence, of Guaraldi's melodies, adapted and played by smooth jazz keyboard guy David Benoit. There's also a making of featurette on A Charlie Brown Christmas, which details the kind of insanely fast production schedule the show was put on after it was quickly greenlit a mere six months before broadcast date, as well as its lasting cultural impact through the intervening decades. There's also a bonus CD featuring six songs from the original Guaraldi score.

Though it actually came third in the series, It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown may well be the best-remembered of all the "Peanuts" specials, and for good reason. This incredibly charming 1966 show took an unlikely premise, Linus' belief in the mythical "Great Pumpkin," who would supposedly arise from the "most sincere" pumpkin patch in the world to gift any child waiting there with toys galore, and wove it into a neat little treatise on what it means to persevere in the face of staunch opposition from everyone around. There are also Halloween preparations all around as the other kids go Trick or Treating and get ready for a big shindig that night with apple bobbing and the like. Pumpkin is also notable for its clever and visually spectacular segment featuring Snoopy as the World War I flying ace. The whole show sports a very unique color palette, especially in the night skies, which are beautifully dotted with purples and deep blues, perfectly evoking a spooky autumnal environment. If there are occasional brief fumbles along the way (Charlie Brown's treats all turn out to be rocks, a gag that is overplayed), they don't keep this wonderful glimpse into fantasy and belief from having a surprisingly hefty emotional impact.

Extras: The bonus episode on this disc in 1981's It's Magic, Charlie Brown, a somewhat slight if enjoyable outing that is notable for being perhaps the only time Charlie Brown (albeit invisible) finally gets to kick that darned football that Lucy keeps pulling out of the way at the last moment. This episode also features some of the later inhabitants of "Peanuts"-land, like Franklin. Again, there's a nice featurette on the making of Pumpkin, with animator-producers Melendez and Mendelson having come to the realization by this time that they have an enormous franchise hit on their hands and that their careers are basically planned out for them now for the foreseeable future.

1973's A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving may be the slightest of the three main features offered in this set, but it still has its share of classic "Peanuts" moments as Charlie Brown attempts to fashion some sort of "feast" for the friends he has invited over for a meal. It of course turns into a fiasco of sorts, with popcorn and toast taking the place of turkey and stuffing. There's a cute little fantasy segment with Snoopy "dueling" with an errant deckchair he's trying to fold up, as well as some not so subtle statements about what it means to be "family," whether genetically linked or not. There's also a very sweet final scene between Snoopy and Woodstock, where they enjoy a traditional Thanksgiving turkey feast (which Lee Mendelson in one of the extras thinks is a little creepy, what with Woodstock being a bird and all).

Extras: Probably the most unusual bonus episode in this set is The Mayflower Voyagers, the first episode of the 1988-89 series This is America, Charlie Brown. This show is unusual in that it's largely narrated, and includes many adults, as the Peanuts gang enact the roles of children along for the ride of the Pilgrims to their new land. While it's a bit on the static side due to its format, it actually does impart a wealth of information (I had no idea that the Pilgrims continued to live on the Mayflower for months after finding America, as they searched for a proper port and place to build their first village, nor that so many of them succumbed to illness during this long wait). As usual, we also have a making of featurette on the original Thanksgiving special.

The DVD

Video:
For the most part, these full frame color transfers look quite appealing, with a minimum of damage and excellent color throughout. Christmas and Pumpkin are, understandably, the least pristine of the included specials, and you'll note occasional specks of dirt. Unfortunately Christmas is still offered in its slightly edited form, deleting the references to original sponsor Coca-Cola. The newer episodes look very sharp indeed, though you'll again see occasional smudges and other blemishes dotting the animated landscape from time to time.

Sound:
The only real problem throughout these DD mono soundtracks is the piano on Christmas, which is unfortunately quite distorted and "wobbly" sounding, especially toward the end of the show. Throughout the various episodes, voices are all clear, with no distortion or dropouts. All of the main episodes feature Spanish, Japanese and Portuguese language tracks, as well as subtitles in the soundtrack languages, as well as Chinese, Korean and Thai.

Final Thoughts:
The Charlie Brown specials are simply some of the sweetest, most heartfelt and simply crafted pieces to ever grace American television. They also sport my favorite credit ever: "graphic blandishment by." I won't blandish you to run out and buy this, but this is obviously a great collector set for the upcoming holiday season. The only reason I'm not giving this a Collectors Series rating is I'm waiting for the complete 65 episode set to be released in the future. Otherwise, this is about as Highly Recommended as they come.

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"G-d made stars galore" & "Hey, what kind of a crappy fortune is this?" ZMK, modern prophet