Holiday Season 2025: A Charlie Brown Christmas - 60th Anniversary

 Tuesday, December 9, 2025 

It was 60 years ago today that A Charlie Brown Christmas premiered. It's been a part of Christmas for me for my entire life and I have such fond memories of watching it as a kid. I realize how old I sound now when I speak to people younger than myself and tell them there were only three television networks and no home video or streaming technology at the time so control over what you could watch was extremely limited. This show appeared once a year and if you missed it you missed it!

According to schultmuseum@instagram: "Today marks 60 years since 'A Charlie Brown Christmas' first aired on December 9, 1965. The 25-minute holiday classic was an immediate hit and has since become embedded in pop culture and holiday traditions around the world.

"The program went on to win an Emmy and a Peabody Award, with the latter noting:"Gentleness is a quality that is seldom understood by television writers and directors. A notable exception was a little gem of a show that faithfully and sensitively introduced to television the Peanuts collection of newsprint characters created by Charles Schultz."

Countdown to Christmas: 8 Days

Tuesday, December 17, 2024

Eight Days Until Christmas

Cigar after work. Contemplated the last couple of days at school.  The kids are getting loopy and today was the day I realized that from here on out until the end of the week we're only going to get the very minimum done.  It's like they were there but they weren't there. Visions of sugarplums...

Listened to some music while out in the garage. These playlists I made number of years ago are really quite well curated. 

Dale had quite a day too. He's leaving for Arizona tomorrow. We wound down from the day by having cocktails and dinner at Northbound. Of all of our neighborhood spots this one is Dale's favorite. I'm quite fond of it too. 

                      

When we got home Rudolph was on TV. I fell asleep however. 

It's so dated yet still fun. 

Pre-Holiday Season 2024: Cigars and Music

 Wednesday, December 11, 2024

Looking forward to getting some rest during the upcoming holidays. 

                      

That said, I'm also taking time to relax in the present. 

                     

Lit up a cigar and poured the last of my vodka left over from Thanksgiving.

After coming in I listened to music. 

And more music.

Watched Frosty the Snowman on broadcast television tonight. 

Christmas Season 2023/2024 - 3rd Day of Christmas: A Charlie Brown Christmas

Wednesday, December 27, 2023

The third day of Christmas.

After my cigar I came inside and made an Old Fashioned. We had left over beef bourguignon for dinner.

        

And pumpkin pie for dessert. 

We watched A Charlie Brown Christmas.

This special is one of my favorites. Dale mentioned that it was his favorite as a kid. I appreciate it for two very specific reasons both of which are things other children's holiday programs won't often touch. One, it acknowledges the angst which can often accompany Christmas. Two, it acknowledges the religious aspect of the holiday. 

Christmastide 2020: The 8th Day of Christmas - New Year's Day: The Little Drummer Boy (Rankin/Bass)

Friday, January 1st, 2021

It was a fixture throughout the 1970s at least but doesn't get as much airplay as it once did, possible due to the more overt religious nature of it but also more likely because some of the facial features of some of the puppets are as seen racially highly charicatured.

The titular character, Aaron, feels alienated from other human beings and his anger toward them is quite evident yet just as apparent is his love for his animal friends. 

The theme song is beautifully sung by the Vienna Choir Boys and the climax to the specially is actually very touching. I found it on YouTube. 

I haven't seen it in years. I remember having it on VHS cassette and showing it to my 4th grade class the day before winter break in the mid 1990s. This is one of my childhood favorites. 

By the way, as I wrote the date above I have to say it felt really good to write a year other than the previous one. 

Holiday Season 2020 - First Day of Christmas Vacation: Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol

Saturday, December 19, 2020

Watched Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol today right after The Year Without a Santa Claus. This is one I discovered during my adult year. The artwork reminds me of early 60s Warner Brother's animation but also the old Rocky and Bullwinkle Show. Haven't seen this one in about 10 years either. It's a well done albeit truncated treatment of the Dickens classic. Music is by Jule Styne and Bob Merrill. Highly watchable. 

Holiday Season 2020 - First Day of Christmas Vacation: The Year Without a Santa Claus

Saturday, December 19, 2020

First day of Christmas vacation today. Dale and I had a nice long talk this morning about this crazy year finally coming to an end. We also talked about how 2020 will be a before-and-after reference point for just about everyone on the planet for a while. I really began to feel the emotion behind all of it a couple days ago in a way that you only allow yourself to when the potential end is in sight. 

I watched The Year Without a Santa Claus this morning. The special dates from 1974 although I don't remember seeing it as a kid however everyone else I know seems to. I don't know where I was when it was first broadcast. 

I've seen it a couple of times as an adult, the first time being about 10 years ago. It's actually quite good and it was fun to see it again. Shirley Booth is the voice of Mrs. Santa Claus. I remember her from reruns of the old Hazel TV show which I always liked. Her distinctive voice was perfect casting for Santa's wife. Mickey Rooney provided the voice of Santa Claus, also a great choice for the role. 

What many peer remember most about the show are the characters of the Heat Miser and the Snow Miser. The only reason I'm 100% positive I never saw this program as a kid is that the characters are so memorable there's no way I could've forgotten them. Their musical numbers are trippy to say the least. 

Anyway, it was a load of fun watching it this morning. It's highly watchable and although I never saw it as a youngster it's so similar in look and style to other children's Christmas specials of the era it brought me right back to being a kid again. 

Also watched 'Twas the Night Before Christmas this morning. Although one of my favorites as a kid it really doesn't hold up to well. The title is taken from the famous poem by Clement C. Moore. Although the opening credits claim that it is narrated and sung by Joel Grey it's really told by George Gobel who plays Father Mouse. 

Santa takes issue with a letter that appears in the town's newspaper claiming that Santa doesn't exist. It's signed by "all of us." Turns out it's Father Mouse's eggheaded son, Albert, who wrote the letter. Santa decides to skip over the town on his midnight run which is rather passive aggressive if you ask me. If Santa knows who's naughty and nice you'd think he'd know who actually did it. 

Anyway, the rest of the show is about the town sorting out how they're going to solve the predicament they're in. 

Christmas Eve 2019 - Kalle Anke

Tuesday, December 24, 2019

Settled in for Kalle Anke at around 2:15 which is a little earlier than usual. 

I put in a DVD called Disney's Merry Christmas Songs which is a sing-a-long. I used to show it to the kids at a school a worked at a number of years ago. Great fun and lots of memories.

Didn't finish the DVD before heading to the Christmas Eve service but we watched some more of it afterward and before heading over to Mom's for fondue. 

There's been some concern in recent years that the tradition in Sweden may eventually go away as younger folks are used to on-demand watching due to DVDs and now streaming. It's my understanding that viewership, once at a height of around 50 percent of the population, has dipped to "only" a third of the population. However, home video has been around since the early 1980s and the tradition is still strong. I read that as recently as 2016 cell phone use dropped 28 percent and calls to emergency services fell 16 percent during the broadcast of the show. 

I find that my own version of Kalle Anke on the 24th provides a nice transition from the more secular aspects of the season to the more religious. 

Click on the link below for an article from Slate magazine on Kalle Anke.

https://slate.com/culture/2009/12/sweden-s-bizarre-tradition-of-watching-donald-duck-kalle-anka-cartoons-on-christmas-eve.html

Christmas Eve 2018 - Kalle Anke

Monday, December 24, 2018

Settled in with Dale and Athena for a 3:00 p.m. Kalle Anke start time. In the recent special we watched, Donald neglects to fly south so he can experience Christmas with Mickey and friends. Unfortunately it's at great expense to his well being and health. Fear not. Santa arrives just in time and life lessons are learned. 

I find that Kalle Anke at 3 p.m. helps make a nice transition from the more secular aspects of Christmas that are hard to ignore even during Advent to the religious aspect of the imminent evening activities and upcoming 12 days.