Peanuts Holiday Collection DVD & Charlie Brown's Christmas Tales DVD Review

Growing up, I remember watching Charlie Brown with my brothers...especially around the holidays. They would run on TV and it was a special time we all looked forward to spending together every year. Now that I have kids of my own, I'd love to continue this tradition with them. Thankfully, I now can with the new Peaunts Holiday Collection and Charlie Brown's Christmas Tales.


When they arrived, Kaelyn caught a glimpse of the Peanuts Holiday Collection and couldn't wait to watch it. We start watching Christmas cartoons early around here, so of course, I couldn't say no. In fact, I was just as excited to sit down with her and watch them. Although we've seen some Charlie Brown episodes before...she is at an age where she can enjoy them more now.

We had a great time watching this collection. It features a set of three of the most popular and memorable Peanuts seasonal classics: A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, A Charlie Brown Christmas and It's a Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown. We've probably watched the A Charlie Brown Christmas more than anything. It's so wholesome and fun...something the entire family can sit and enjoy watching together.

From the Press Release:

* A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving – In this Emmy® Award-winning special, Peppermint Patty invites herself to Charlie Brown’s house for Thanksgiving dinner. Marcie and Franklin are soon added as dinner guests. Charlie Brown admits that his culinary skills are limited to “cold cereal and maybe toast.” Snoopy and Woodstock transform the ping-pong table in the backyard into a dinner table. As the guests arrive, they are each served two slices of buttered toast, some pretzel sticks, popcorn and jelly beans. Patty is outraged at the meal and berates Charlie Brown until embarrassed and dejected, he leaves the table and goes back into the house.

* It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown – This Emmy® Award-nominated special, finds the Peanuts gang outfitted in costumes, ready for trick or treating and crashing Violet’s Halloween party. Charlie Brown is in a ghost costume (with more eyeholes cut out than needed), Lucy dressed as a witch and Snoopy in a World War I flying ace costume. Linus decides to steadfastly hold vigil in the pumpkin patch as he awaits the Great Pumpkin.

* A Charlie Brown Christmas – In this Emmy® and Peabody Award winning classic, Charlie Brown is upset by how commercial the Christmas holiday has become. To coax him out of his holiday blues, Lucy suggests he direct the school’s Christmas pageant and decorate a glorious tree. Charlie Brown concedes. The tree he finds however, is puny, prompting everyone to ridicule him.

Not only does this DVD include the classics, there are also lots of great bonus features as well that we've really enjoyed.

From the Press Release:

* The Mayflower Voyagers – In this bonus episode from the This is America, Charlie Brown series, the Peanuts kids become pilgrims sailing to the New World aboard the Mayflower and endure the first hard winter on Plymouth Plantation.

* It’s Magic, Charlie Brown – This bonus episode finds Snoopy putting on a show after he checks out a book on magic tricks from the library. With Marcie and Sally as his assistants, he performs many tricks (some that work and some that don’t) before an audience. The grand finale features the biggest trick of all, making Charlie Brown disappear. To everyone’s amazement, Snoopy makes him invisible but doesn’t know how to bring Charlie Brown back. Will Snoopy find a way to reverse the trick?

* It’s Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown – This bonus episode is the second Christmas-themed Peanuts episode since A Charlie Brown Christmas. Holiday preparations include Charlie Brown selling wreaths door-to-door to make extra money, Peppermint Patty sweating out an important book report and the entire crew appearing in a Christmas pageant.

We have really enjoyed Peanuts Holiday Collection. It brings back fond memories of my childhood and has been so much fun sharing Charlie Brown and the gang with my own kids. I am very glad we have this on hand now, as I know it will get pulled out often to watch (especially around the holidays)!

I was also excited to receive Charlie Brown's Christmas Tales DVD to review.

This is a special that originally premiered in 2002. It is comprised of a series of 5 delightful animated vignettes, each of which showcase a different member of the Peanuts gang. Snoopy works as a bell-ringer, Linus strives to strike the right tone in his letter to Santa, etc. I have really enjoyed watching this with the kids...it's such a great way to get in the Christmas spirit. The rarely seen Is This Goodbye, Charlie Brown? is also featured on this release. Charlie Brown and pals face the departure of Linus and Lucy, who must move when their father is transferred to a job in a different town.

We have been very happy with both DVDs. In my opinion they're a must for any family who loves Charlie Brown!

Buy It: Peanuts Holiday Collection DVD is available for $42.93 SRP. Charlie Browns Christmas Tales retails at $14.97 SRP.