A series of Noel vignettes with the Peanuts gang: Snoopy works as a bell-ringer to raise money and tries to make peace with the ferocious cat who lives next door, Linus develops a crush on a weird classmate in school and makes faltering efforts to write an appropriate letter to Santa Claus, Lucy attempts to be nice, but still tries to convince everyone to buy her presents for Christmas, and Charlie Brown and his sister Sally stay up late to see Santa Claus. Granted, this show doesn't have the warmth or resonance of the classic 1965 TV special, but it does possess a certain sweet charm and an innocuous sense of good-natured humor that's impossible to either resist or dislike. Best gags: Sally takes a Christmas tree from a local kid's yard after it falls down (she doesn't know how to cut said tree down!) and Snoopy making off with a plate full of cookies while dressed as Santa Claus. The smooth animation does the trick while the pleasantly bouncy and melodic light jazz score by Vince Guaraldi and David Benoit keeps things bubbling along throughout. A nice lightweight diversion.
Review of Charlie Brown's Christmas Tales
Charlie Brown's Christmas Tales
(2002 TV Short)
Enjoyable Peanuts yuletide TV special
24 December 2010
Warning: Spoilers