PEANUTS HOLIDAY COLLECTION
PEANUTS HOLIDAY COLLECTION – This particular DVD compilation has less than what you’d like (no extras whatsoever), and more than what you need (lots of sub-par holiday Peanuts specials. But the two dazzling gems here, 1965’s A Charlie Brown Christmas and 1966’s It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, are two of the best animated holiday TV specials ever made – especially the first one, which has never been equaled, by cartoonist Charles Schulz or anyone else. The animation and direction by Bill Melendez, the infectious music by Vince Guaraldi, and the “true meaning of Christmas” speech delivered by Linus – what a gift, Christmas or otherwise. – DB