The simple piano arrangements, the kids dancing, Snoopy, the sad little tree and all of the familiar Peanuts characters are so nostalgic, you want to snuggle up in your footie pajamas with a cup of hot cocoa.
The 1965 television special has animation that is pretty much archaic in today's Pixar world, but the themes presented in the plot of the show are still relevant to today. The thing is, after watching the show as an adult, you realize that a lot of the themes were so sophisticated that they flew straight over your head when you were little. The jokes that made you giggle as a kid are still funny, but they take on a whole different meaning now.
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Here's what we noticed as adults watching A Charlie Brown Christmas.
1. Charlie Brown belongs in Mensa
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Charlie Brown admits that he gets down during the holiday season, which the other kids chastise him for. "Charlie Brown, you're the only person I know who can take a wonderful season like Christmas and turn it into a problem!" says Linus. We remember Charlie Brown being glum (he is Charlie Brown, after all), but now it seems like maybe he was just a thinking man before his time. Maybe Charlie Brown was really a kid genius who was far too analytical for his own good.
2. Lucy could have had a PhD in psychiatry
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"The mere fact that you realize you need help indicates you aren't too far gone," Lucy says at her psychiatric help booth while attempting to treat Charlie Brown's depression. "I think we better pinpoint your fears. If we can find out what you're afraid of, we can label it." We liked to play doctor as kids, but dang, Lucy really seems to know what she's talking about. She's also an entrepreneur: She loves the cold-hard cash she earns doling out advice and she yearns for Santa to give her real estate for Christmas.
3. Pig-Pen might be a runaway
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Why don't his parents make him clean up?
4. Snowflakes are like a fine wine
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"It's too early," Lucy says as the other kids enjoy some tasty snowfall. "I never eat December snowflakes. I always wait until January."
5. Christmas is a purely commercial holiday
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This is the big one, the overarching theme of the whole special. We knew growing up that A Charlie Brown Christmas was driving home the fact that this special time of year is about the birth of Christ and giving to others, but the commercialism point wasn't really fixed into our brains, mostly because we couldn't even spell "commercialism," let alone define it. Now we know that commercialism has been booming since the 1960s, all thanks to those mad men.
6. Sally is an anticapitalist's worst nightmare
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Charlie Brown's baby sister has been good this year, so when she's getting ready to send off a letter to Santa, she makes it known that the jolly old man better pony up. "All I want is what I have coming to me," she says. "All I want is my fair share." We knew she was spoiled back in the day, but we didn't think about it much beyond that.
7. Charlie Brown was bullied
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Unfortunately, kids tend to giggle when they see another kid being teased, which is why not much thought was given when the children on the show were a little harsh with Charlie Brown. Now, they seem a little brutal.
8. Lucy was totally into Schroeder
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She was always camped out on his piano. We get it now, Lucy — chicks dig musicians.