How to Watch Charlie Brown Holiday Specials for Free
By Movieguide® Contributor
All three Charlie Brown holiday specials will be available for everyone to stream on Apple TV+ this year!
Apple will be streaming IT’S THE GREAT PUMPKIN, CHARLIE BROWN, A CHARLIE BROWN THANKSGIVING and A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS, “and once again, the streamer will be offering free access to nonsubscribers for each animated favorite for a limited window of time,” TV Insider reports.
A description of IT’S THE GREAT PUMPKIN, CHARLIE BROWN reads, “The Peanuts gang celebrates Halloween while Linus waits for the Great Pumpkin.”
It will be available for nonsubscribers to stream Saturday, Oct. 19, and Sunday, Oct. 20.
A CHARLIE BROWN THANKSGIVING “finds Peppermint Patty inviting everyone to Charlie Brown’s home for Thanksgiving, despite the fact that he’s got plans to be at his grandmother’s home,” a synopsis reads. “Meanwhile, Snoopy decides to make his own holiday feast with his pals.”
Non-subscribers can stream the special Saturday, Nov. 23, and Sunday, Nov. 24.
Lastly, A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS sees Lucy recruiting Charlie Brown to direct the group’s Christmas play.
“Can he overcome his friends’ preference for dancing over acting, find the ‘perfect’ tree and discover the true meaning of Christmas?” a description of the movie asks.
It will be available to stream on Saturday, Dec, 14, and Sunday, Dec. 15.
Movieguide® previously reported on Charles Schultz’s insistence on incorporating faith into A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS:
PEANUTS creator Charles Schulz had a strong Christian faith, something he did not shy away from sharing through A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS.
Among Schulz’s most beloved works is A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS, which includes a reading from the Gospel of Luke that explains that Jesus is the Savior of the world. Schulz insisted on including this overt religious explanation of the true meaning of Christmas despite major pushback from others working on the project.
“There were actually quite a few things in the special that the executives and some of his creative partners were not too sure about, from the jazz music to the children voice actors and including the religious reference, that got quite a bit of pushback,” Lind explained.
Producer Lee Mendelson revealed what that conversation between him, Schulz and animator Bill Melendez looked like.
“I said, ‘Sparky, this is religion. It just doesn’t go in a cartoon,’” he said, using Schulz’s nickname. “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.”
He told Huff Post, “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.’ 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.’”
Despite what the executives believed, the inclusion of religion was well-received and remains one of the most iconic parts of the special. The reading of Luke at the end of the story helps refocus viewers on the true meaning of Christmas.
“I think people look forward to it every year; I think it centers people,” Batura said. “You know our first impressions make a big impression, and for most of us, we saw A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS when we were three, four, five years old, and that sticks with us.”
“And we’re reminded when we hear that voice when we hear the reading of the Gospel of Luke we’re reminded why we celebrate Christmas. And so I think it has had a very much net positive impact on the world,” he continued.
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