Why ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas’ Remains A Subversive, Anomalous Classic

It’s over 50 years old, but feels more modern and timely every year.

With each passing year, it feels like the Christmas season for me is defined more and more by “A Charlie Brown Christmas”, the half-hour, Peabody and Emmy award-winning animated special that became an instant holiday classic when it first aired in 1965. There’s something about its simple, hand-drawn animation and the fact that the characters are voiced by actual children — an oddity both then and now — that gives the show a refreshing, childlike sincerity that never fails to warm my heart. This is juxtaposed by the jazzy, sophisticated, yet often contemplative score by the Vince Guaraldi Trio, which was mostly improvised and was recorded in just three hours. It has replaced “A Nat King Cole Christmas” and edges out “A Christmas Gift For You From Phil Spector ” as my favorite Christmas album, playing on a loop around my house for much of December. When I began living on my own after college, I would search my neighborhood for fallen pine branches every holiday season so I could recreate Charlie Brown’s sad, drooping Christmas tree, which against all odds, has become probably the most famous and iconic Christmas tree in the world.