I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown

Starring:Jimmy Bennett (III), Hannah Leigh Dworkin, Adam Taylor Gordon, Kaitlyn Maggio, Bill Melendez, Jake Miner, Ashley Rose Orr, Corey Padnos, Nick Price (II)
Director: Bill Melendez, Larry Leichliter
Studio: Paramount
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown might otherwise be called "Peanuts: The Next Generation" for its sprightly emphasis on Linus and Lucy's younger brother, Rerun, and his quest to be worthy of a pet pooch. Like a, well, dog with a bone, Rerun is intent on forging a happy friendship with a canine as cool as Charlie Brown's Snoopy--in fact, he keeps coming around to see if Snoopy wants to play. (Of course, Snoopy's idea of playing is making Rerun his co-pilot in the imaginary cockpit of his imaginary World War I bomber.) This holiday season television special is not the wise, enduring classic that is 1965's A Charlie Brown Christmas, but it is charming and sweet, particularly when Snoopy's brother, the desert-dwelling Spike, comes to stay. Schroeder fans will enjoy the usual shtick between love-struck Lucy and the piano genius' detachment. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews:

Cute, with great extras.......2007-02-25

After reading some of the negative reviews posted here on Amazon, I decided to first watch this DVD myself before allowing my kids to see it. I found it to be delightful, even as I watched it a second time with my kids. The documentary on the making of A Charlie Brown Christmas is a nice extra, and I especially enjoyed the animated short "Christmas Tales".

I feel the need to address some of the other reviews. Yes, Rerun gets suspended for "harassment", but the word "sexual" is not used, for starters. I was worried I would have to explain that word to my kids. Wasn't an issue. The "harassment" consisted of Rerun suggesting, innocently and jokingly, to a disillusioned girl in his kindergarten class, that they run off to Paris. That's it. Not only does Rerun not know where Paris is, he doesn't have the first clue what it would mean to "run off" there. For her part, the girl thinks it's funny, so she tells her mom about it. Presumably her mother was the one who took issue with it and reported it to the school, who then took action (though it's possible that the mother thought it was funny and the school just over-reacted, who knows).

As for the comments regarding the "PC agenda", obviously those viewers either are new to Peanuts or they never understood what Peanuts was all about in the first place. It is exactly the OPPOSITE. Peanuts has always managed to weave social commentary into the fabric of what, on the surface, were always simple, charming tales of the everyday lives of a group of children. It was obvious to me that Rerun's being suspended was a swipe at today's sometimes ridiculous political correctness. And it was a subtle reminder that kids are often the "mature" ones in this world, and it's the adults that mess everything up. Indeed, when Rerun tells big sister Lucy that he got "fired" from school for making the suggestion to the little girl, Lucy says "Let me guess: harassment?" with a tone of cynicism that indicates that she understands fully the occasional stupidity of political correctness. Again, it was exactly the opposite of "pushing a PC agenda"; it was ridiculing political correctness. Was it a little less subtle than usual? Yes. If I were advising the makers of the program, would I have told them to leave that part out? Probably. But did it upset me? Not at all.

One last thing. Smart people know better than to attempt to compare this to "A Charlie Brown Christmas". It's completely different, and it wisely doesn't attempt to recapture the magic of that classic special. Watch this video and judge it solely on its own merits. You may love it, you may hate it, but give it a chance.

Must have for any kid.......2007-01-12

Adorable show, even teaches a less on what dogs can be like. Bonus feature is great, was featured on TV this past holiday season....never seen before.

I didn't know that Linus had a brother named Rerun???.......2006-03-01

I first saw this and I have to say that it doesn't have the Charles Shultz touch to it, but it will be another Charlie Brown classic. It shocked me to learn that Linus had a brother named Rerun??? You learn something new every day. Even thou others were rating this very low, this is better than some of the other cartoon garbage that is on TV for children these days.

This isn't your traditional Peanuts special.......2005-12-17

Each year, we anxiously await the airing of "A Charlie Brown Christmas". That's one of our holiday highlights. Last year, we were curious about the new "I Want a Dog for Christmas" and tried to sit through it. We made it about halfway through, and couldn't stand to watch the rest. Rerun getting sent to the office for sexual harassment?? C'mon, give me a break. It's too bad that the writers of the new piece felt that they had to slide in such a PC agenda. Just watch the original instead.

Terrible.......2005-12-15

Saw this on ABC. My daughter loves the Charlie Brown specials just as I did, and still do. This one is a newer production, 2003, and it falls way short of the originals. This one is overly PC and lacks the charm of the original. My daughter lost interest almost instantly. I lost interest just as quickly. My reaction 5 minutes into the show was, "What is this crap?"

Watch any other Charlie Brown special instead of this.

I Want a Dog For Christmas, Charlie Brown!

Average customer rating:

If you don't like this movie, you're just flat wrong!!
Who doesn't like this movie?
A Timeless Holiday Classic!
Who doesn't like charlie Brown?
PEANUTS FOREVER

I Want a Dog For Christmas, Charlie Brown!

ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

3-6 Years | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

7-9 Years | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

10-12 Years | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

( I ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (50th Birthday Deluxe Remastered Edition)
The Original Television Christmas Classics (Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer / Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town / Frosty the Snowman / Frosty Returns / The Little Drummer Boy)
The Year Without a Santa Claus / Nestor, The Long-Eared Christmas Donkey / Rudolph's Shiny New Year
Miracle on 34th Street (Special Edition)
A Christmas Story (Two-Disc Special Edition)

ASIN: B0002XOYXE

Amazon.com

This television classic features the Peanuts characters in the story of Charlie Brown's problematic efforts to mount a school Christmas pageant. Everybody's on board: Lucy, Snoopy, Schroeder, Pig-Pen, but the biggest impression is surely made by Linus, who stops the show with his recitation from the gospels of the story of Christ's birth. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews:

If you don't like this movie, you're just flat wrong!!.......2007-07-02

Christmas is about more than santa and presents. It's more than just the biggest tree with the best decorations. It's about a babe in a manger, three wise men and eternal salvation. In an innocent way only Charles Shultz and the crew can do, Charlie Brown (And Linus, et al) deliver this message loud and clear. I say everyone needs to buy this DVD before everything related to God and Jesus and the true meaning of Christmas is removed from the world... It's sad when a cartoon such as this may very well be one of the last strongholds Christians have on our own identity.

My own personal soapbox aside, this movie is great. It's timely, even today. It's meaningful and it's truth personified. It teaches about the things that really matter in life, not the superficial garbage most people tend to worry about during the holidays.

God Bless Charlie Brown!

Who doesn't like this movie?.......2007-06-28

Christmas isn't complete unless you watch this movie at least once during the holiday season.

A Timeless Holiday Classic!.......2007-05-11

As every die hard Peanuts fan knows, when A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS first premiered in 1965, CBS was absolutely certain the show would be a disaster for several reasons. First, unlike other cartoons at the time, there was no laugh track. The characters were all voiced by actual children (save for producer and director Bill Melendez, who voiced Snoopy), and of those children, only two had previous acting experience. The music for the show was a jazz soundtrack, atypical of children's programming at the time. And since TV and music executives were very touchy at the time about having God's name even mentioned, CBS despised the idea of Linus reciting his famous speech of "what Christmas is all about" from the King James Version of the Bible. Also, even though Peanuts was already one of the most popular comic strips in America by 1965, history had shown the success rate of adapting comic strips to the small screen was hit-or-miss. All these aspects, combined with the decidedly choppy animation and poorly enunciated vocal track, prepared CBS for a total flop. Which, of course, A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS was not.

The special could be considered an example of a show that succeeds in spite of itself. But then again, as has been pointed out many times before, the shortcomings with the animation and vocal track work to the overall show's benefit, making the overall theme of the true meaning of Christmas resonate even more. This is also due in part to the decision to focus on the plot rather than the characters. While all of the characters stand out in some form or fashion- especially Charlie Brown, the character wrapped around the true meaning of Christmas theme- it's the plot that is the main attraction here, and it's the reason why the show is not just one of the best Christmas shows ever made, it's a timeless classic. The loose plot of the story- which is pretty much several little stories weaved together- as well as Vince Guaraldi's wonderful jazz soundtrack contribute just as much, if not more, to A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS's influence. This was the show that put the Peanuts characters onto the small screen periodically for the next 25 years, and even though a fair share of excellent specials were created, none of them could quite match the innocent charm of this masterpiece.

[This 2000 DVD edition marked the first time A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS was released on DVD. Of course, no remastering will change the quality of the animation, but the picture is very good, and the music has never been better presented than it is here. The only bonus feature on the DVD is the 1992 Christmas special IT'S CHRISTMASTIME AGAIN, CHARLIE BROWN, which is a very different beast than A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS. Watching the feature once, it's easy to see why it's often been criticized- true, the several small stories featured are merely thrown into the show, not unlike how A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS was created, but here, the small stories are not tied together at all, making for a very herky-jerky viewing. (If you want more information about the special, see my VHS review of the special.) Nevertheless, this DVD is an excellent way of getting A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS, but if you have a little extra money, a better recommendation is the PEANUTS HOLIDAY COLLECTION, which also includes IT'S THE GREAT PUMPKIN, CHARLIE BROWN and A CHARLIE BROWN THANKSGIVING, two of the better Peanuts specials.]

Who doesn't like charlie Brown?.......2007-03-29

My boyfriend loves Charlie Brown so this was a great gift for him.

PEANUTS FOREVER.......2007-03-13

This is so fantastic words really can't describe,I have to say
after buying this from AMAZON I had to buy another,than another.
Now I am waiting for Paramount to put them all out,A Charlie Brown
Christmas is perhaps one of the best if not thee. The voices are
fresh and delightful the story fantastic and the piano breathless
You can view this really at anytime not just for x-mas.Everyone
in the world should be a PEANUTS fan for everyone of us have a
Charlie Brown,Lucy,Linus,Peppermint Patty,Franklin,Marcie,Sally
Snoopy and of course Woodstock in them.PEANUTS FOREVER!!!

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