Peanuts Deluxe Holiday Collection (It’s The
Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown/A Charlie Brown
Thanksgiving/A Charlie Brown
Christmas/Warner DVD + CD)
Picture:
C+ Sound: C+/B Extras: B- Main Programs: B+
Though it
turned out to be an uphill battle at first, the Peanuts Gang/Charlie Brown franchise (before everyone started
thinking of commercial works as assembly-line product instead of good
entertainment) was a classic before finally making their way to TV and along
the way, created some of the best animated works in the history of the medium
by way of holiday specials. They have
gone into other programming and even several feature films were made, but it is
the specials that are all-time iconic staples of world pop culture. Now, as part of the remastered DVD reissues
by Warner Home Video, here comes the first box set simply dubbed the Peanuts Deluxe Holiday Collection.
Like the
paperboard on the single DVDs sold separately, there is decorative, colorful
metallic ink in the design of the slipcase that contains three of the best-ever
Peanuts shows. They include It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown,
which we already reviewed at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/7443/It’s+The+Great+Pumpkin,+Charlie
And that
leaves two other great shows in A
Charlie Brown Thanksgiving and A
Charlie Brown Christmas.
A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving has the ever hilarious story of
how Peppermint Patty invites herself to a dinner Charlie Brown has not even
planed, then she invites all her friends, including
Marcy and Franklin. At the same time,
Snoopy and Woodstock whip up a dinner of their own that includes popcorn, candy
and buttered toast, while Charlie Brown has to prepare for an actual dinner he
is going to.
Unlike
the horrible and many sappy Thanksgiving specials that would follow, this one
is smart enough to deal with the true point of the holiday and constantly
reminds us with great wit and heart that there are always those who do not have
as much around the holiday as well as those who may be alone. No special on the subject since has come
close.
A Charlie Brown Christmas has even more competition, but is
so great anyone of any religion (or no religion) could enjoy it as Charlie
Brown deals with two problems he cannot take anymore. He is disliked and rejected by all around
him, but now, the holiday has become nothing but a time of money, contests and
greed. As the moral center of the piece,
he reflects a problem with the holiday that has only become worse since its
original broadcast in ways too many to go into here and after trying to do a
play to get his massage across, culminates into his purchase of a tree that has
become the most famous Christmas Tree ever bought.
At a time
when the holiday and its religion have become hijacked, A Charlie Brown Christmas has become the ultimate Christmas classic
even far and above It’s A Wonderful Life and is the true successor to the
original Miracle On 34th
Street. It arrival for 2008 in a
fresh new edition could not have arrived at a better time!
The 1.33
X 1 image on both remasters look very colorful, color rich and color accurate
without overdoing it, balanced and a real pleasure to watch. All of these shows were made on film and if
they look good here, imagine how good they will look on Blu-ray when that time
rolls around. Some have noted the simple
animation, but that is the point; it should be simple and beautiful like the
actual strip. These two reissues have
Dolby Digital 1.0 Mono that sounds good, but could be better, with even the
simple soundtracks sounding like some sound is being lost.
That is
more apparent with the bonus CD included in the Christmas edition, with six PCM
2.0 16/44.1 Stereo tracks from the best-selling album, now on CD from Fantasy
Records. The tracks include:
1)
My Little Drum
2)
Linus & Lucy
3)
Hark, The Herald Angles Sing
4)
Christmas Is Coming
5)
Fur Elise
6)
Greensleeves
It should
be noted that Fantasy has the full album and more on CD, plus A Charlie Brown Christmas has been
issued in the high-definition audio-only Super Audio Compact Disc/SACD format
serious audiophiles would enjoy.
Extras
include trailers, the CD noted and bonus shows on the Thanksgiving disc (The
Mayflower Voyages) and Christmas
disc (It’s Christmas Time Again, Charlie Brown)
that are nice companions to the original shows, but cannot compete with them. This set should be very popular and
deservedly so, but all are also sold separately.
- Nicholas Sheffo
