A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS (1965) ***1/2 I don't know if they'll be watching this three hundred years from now, but for a lot of people, my generation, Christmas preparations can't feel complete until the Snoopy gang sticks their noses straight up into the air and sings to the little tree. Like Charlie's quest for the meaning of Christmas, the film is spirited, brief, to the point, and a spectacular success. Vince Guaraldi's musical score may be the single most perfect musical accompaniment ever set to moving pictures. The children's dances are of a magnitude of Isadora Duncan (or the unchoreographed Mick Jagger stuff of the 'day), but sweet and good, unquestioning, satisfied. Several exchanges from Charles M. Schulz' comic strips are worked into the script, but they only enhance the sense of comfort. A masterpiece of simplicity.
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