Charlie Brown's Christmas Tales

Product Description Charlie Brown's Christmas Tales is a series of Christmas-themed animated stories, in which each of the beloved PEANUTS characters star in his or her own charming animated vignette. Bonus episode: Is This Goodbye, Charlie Brown - New-to-DVD! Linus must break the devastating news that his family is moving. Charlie Brown and the gang make their goodbyes and prepare for Linus and Lucy's departure. Amazon.com A series of short animated scenes about Christmastime, Charlie Brown's Christmas Tales runs only 18 minutes, but this 2002 production shows just how differently Snoopy, Linus, Sally, Lucy, and Charlie Brown approach the holiday season. While Snoopy rings a bell on the street corner to collect money and makes an effort to pacify the cat next door, Lucy works hard to convince all her friends to give her presents. Linus struggles to find the right voice for his letter to Santa and tries to figure out how to get to know the elusive girl who sits behind him in class. Sally discovers a novel way to bring down a Christmas tree, and she and Charlie Brown wait for Santa Claus and make a surprising discovery about his stature in the process. The bonus 1983 television episode Is This Goodbye, Charlie Brown? is a bit longer, at 24 minutes, and deals with the melancholy departure of Linus and Lucy when their father gets a job in another city. The reactions of Charlie Brown, Sally, and their other friends run the gamut from denial to anger and sadness, but the van Pelt family's departure also inspires some surprising actions and confessions from Peppermint Patty, Schroeder, and Snoopy. While the DVD run time is admittedly short, these lesser-known Charlie Brown specials are entertaining and hard to find, a combination that makes this compilation a worthy addition to every Peanuts collection. (Ages 3 and older) --Tami Horiuchi