As an explanation of why we celebrate Christmas each year, the below video is superb and concise.
The words of Linus are of course taken from the Gospel of Saint Luke:
And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.
And the angel said unto them,
Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
When I was a boy the Charlie Brown Christmas Special was my favorite TV Christmas Special. As a man, I agree.
And we all know that Linus, who never willingly lets go of his security blanket, sets it down as he says, “Fear not…”. I call it the Citizen Kane of Christmas specials.
Brilliant Dave!
Charles Schultz is smiling upon you Dave Griffey. God rest his soul.
I heard that the Network tried to talk Mr. Schultz out of being so obvious, but he stuck to his guns and they were desperate– and it was a home run. 😀
I echo Don. Well put, Dave.
“I heard that the Network tried to talk Mr. Schultz out of being so obvious, but he stuck to his guns and they were desperate– and it was a home run.”
Even back in 1965 CBS was nervous and Schultz did insist upon the Linus/Saint Luke ending.
Even back in 1965 CBS was nervous and Schultz did insist upon the Linus/Saint Luke ending.
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He wouldn’t have 20 years later. Schulz decayed as he grew older. I’ll wager the turning point was the affair with Tracey Claudius (who refused to marry him).
Quite right Art. His later years were sordid. I wonder if undiagnosed Alzheimer’s played a role.
http://www.touchstonemag.com/archives/article.php?id=21-02-030-b
The Tracey Claudius episode was sordid. The rest was just…disappointing. Since he continued working until weeks before his death, I tend to doubt he had serious dementia. The strip pretty much ran out of gas after he separated from his first wife. The animated specials remained engaging, but none were up to the standard of the very first.
Since four of Schulz five children have said that Michaelis misrepresented their father, I would tend to doubt Michaelis’ gloss on whatever state he was in during his last illness. The sources would be family members who say what they told Michaelis in interviews was folded and spindled to fit into a preconceived thesis. (Not that I think it’s implausible that he was a tiresome melancholic much of his life; it’s just that your last illness isn’t necessarily of a piece with the rest of it).
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Some men have personal crises around age 45 and do quite regrettable things. The trouble is, they treat that as a seminal moment and double down, building the rest of their life on that bad foundation.
“Quite right Art. His later years were sordid. I wonder if undiagnosed Alzheimer’s played a role.”
That article was interesting. Though it says the Networks, not Schultz, wanted the jazz in the special. I remember an interview with Schultz years and years ago, and I seem to remember hearing him say he loved classical music, but also jazz, and wanted both of those in the special.
Beautiful
Homerun. At the bottom of the 9th in the last game of the world series.
Dear Jesus, how far away have we wandered. Have Mercy.
It is actually “peace toward men of good will” not the fuzzy, squishy “peace and good will toward men.” Big difference in meaning.