How to Stream A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS for Free
By Movieguide® Contributor
Though A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS is normally locked behind an Apple TV+ subscription, the beloved holiday classic will be available to everyone this weekend.
Apple acquired the rights to all of the Peanuts specials in 2018. While the tech giant allowed A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS to continue to air on linear TV in 2021 and 2022, starting last year, it still made the special available during the holiday season but only through its streaming service. This year, A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS will be available for everyone to stream on Saturday, Dec. 14, and Sunday, Dec. 15.
A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS is an excellent watch for people of all ages as it entertains while also promoting the true meaning of Christmas. The special has become even more relevant as time has gone on as during the show, Charlie Brown and the gang come to realize that Christmas is not about consumerism but about coming together as friends and family to celebrate the birth of Jesus — a reminder people could use now more than ever. A portion of Movieguide®’s review reads:
A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS contains much of the wonderful spirit of the PEANUTS comic strip created by Charles Schultz. The music fits the onscreen action to a tee, and the animation is priceless. The voice actors are perfect. The animated short has many Christmas carols and stresses the value of serving others during Christmas. A few times, characters call each other stupid, and Lucy and Snoopy get into a tiff, but these elements are comical and don’t cast a shadow on the sweet story. Best of all, A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS has a very strong Christian, biblical worldview that focuses on celebrating the birth of Jesus.
READ MORE: A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS REVIEW
Though the Christian aspects of the special are what make it so special, Charles Schultz, the creator of Peanuts, had to fight tooth and nail with executives to keep it present and prominent in the final version of the movie.
“I said, ‘Sparky, this is religion. It just doesn’t go in a cartoon,’” Lee Mendelson, a producer against the inclusion of religion recalled, telling Schulz. “He looked at me very coldly and said, ‘Bill, if we don’t do it, who will? We can do it.’ He was right. That’s been the most commented-on little sequences of that show — Linus telling the true meaning of Christmas.”
“When [Schulz] said, ‘You know, we’re going to have Linus read from the Bible,’ Bill and I looked at each other and said, ‘Uh oh, that doesn’t sound very good,’” Mendelson continued. “But then Schulz said, ‘Look, if we’re going to do this, we should talk about what Christmas is all about, not just do a cartoon with no particular point of view.’”
READ MORE: WHY A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS STANDS THE TEST OF TIME
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