“a-charlie-brown-christmas” by 22860 is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

The holidays are upon us once again. Now is the time for chestnuts roasting on open fires, hopes and dreams of Saint Nicholas’ annual visit, and objective terror for those who believe Krampus. One such tradition that many people take part in, myself included, is the watching of holiday specials and movies. Whether it’s special holiday themed episodes of different shows (The Simpsons, Family Guy, Spongebob Squarepants, etc.), specific movies made specifically for the season (Miracle on 34th Street, Elf, It’s a Wonderful Life, etc.), or alternate films that have been embraced as holiday movies (Die Hard, Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang, etc.) everyone has their own choice of holiday movies and entertainment to chose from. (Ed. Note: The all-time best Christmas film, hands-down, is Gremlins, though I would also accept The Nightmare Before Christmas) One of the most popular, if not the most popular, is the Peanuts holiday special, A Charlie Brown Christmas. And while I have nothing against anyone who enjoys watching this special come Christmas time, there are some issues that have kind of soured my opinion of the film as I have gotten older.

For the few of you who do not know who or what Peanuts is, allow me to bring you up to speed. “Peanuts” is a comic strip that was created by Charles Schultz and ran from 1950 to 2000, with current strips being reprints and reruns of previous material. It tells the story of prepubescent boy Charlie Brown, who suffers from depression and views himself as a failure. The strip also follows the various children that Charlie Brown interacts with, and his dog, the ever popular Snoopy. The strip is regarded as the most influential strip of all time, inspiring numerous cartoonists, including Stephen Pastis, creator of the much more adult oriented Pearls Before Swine. Given the popularity of The Peanuts strips, numerous other works have been made featuring the characters, from holiday specials about Halloween (It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown) and Thanksgiving (A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving) to historical supplemental material (This is America, Charlie Brown) and even a play (You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown). Currently, the Peanuts gang are starring in their own movie that is making a decent amount of money at the box office. With that kind of reputation, you might be wondering what it is about this strip and its legacy that rubs me the wrong way.

“Snoopy Gets In The Spirit” by John Flannery is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

Well, the fact is, Peanuts has sold out. That may seem like a harsh reaction to the expansion of its brand, but it’s true. Turn on the TV, view an advertisement in a magazine or billboard, or observe the simple fact that the strip is still being printed day-in and day-out in thousands (probably more) of newspapers every day, despite the fact that the last new strip was released fifteen years ago and its creator, Schultz, is dead. And while Peanuts is not the only comic strip to sell out for merchandising rights and profits (*cough* Garfield *cough*), there are much better comics that have not. The difference between Peanuts and comics like Calvin and Hobbes or The Far Side comes down to the merchandising and commercialization that has taken over Charlie Brown and his pals. While Snoopy and Woodstock appear in numerous commercials, neither Calvin or Hobbes appear anywhere outside of book collections of their old strips or the occasional newspaper reprint. The same can be said of any of the numerous characters and humor found in The Far Side. This is because creators Bill Watterson (Calvin & Hobbes) and Gary Larson (The Far Side) wanted to keep their characters fresh and original, and avoid creating character or style fatigue. And truth be told, Watterson and Larson have been proven right. I highly recommend picking up any of the books and collections of Calvin and Hobbes comic strips that can be found in Barnes & Noble or Amazon. The same thing is true of The Far Side, as its unique sense of humor has not gotten stale over the years. (Ed. Note: I myself was a student at Midvale School for the Gifted)

So how does A Charlie Brown Christmas fit into this conversation? Well, during viewings of this special, I find the material to be highly hypocritical. One of the themes of A Charlie Brown Christmas is the idea of the commercialization of Christmas and its negative effects (a view that many people feel). And yes, the special does have a point when it brings this up; Christmas has become almost more of a commercial holiday than it is maintaining its original religious and moral origins (though that’s a topic for another article). The hypocrisy I find in this comes whenever I watch the special. The way that I watch the special, for the most part, is when it airs on whatever local ABC substation can be found where I am. And during showings of the special, it is not that uncommon for some of the commercials breaks to feature advertisements from a company like MetLife. What does MetLife, a life insurance company, have to do with Peanuts, you ask? Because Snoopy is their spokesperson. Whether it is in live action animation hybrid commercials or the MetLife blimp seen at football games, Snoopy (and other Peanuts characters) is plastered all over their advertising. So that message of speaking out against the commercialization of Christmas falls flat for me, given that there is a good chance that I will see them in their own commercial during said special. While there is nothing wrong with focusing on overall profit (entertainment is a business after all), the fact that Peanuts lectures against commercialization while they are selling products for other companies feels more than a little disingenuous.

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