PEANUTS: DELUXE HOLIDAY COLLECTION
(not rated)
MOVIE: **** (out of 5)
BLU-RAY EXPERIENCE: **** (out of 5)
BY KEVIN CARR
WHAT IT’S ABOUT
To celebrate the holidays, Warner Bros. has released the Blu-ray edition of “Peanuts: Deluxe Holiday Collection.” Already available on DVD, this three-volume collection includes “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown,” “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving” and “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” Also included in each volume is the DVD of the same program.
WHAT I LIKED
I love these classic holiday specials from the Peanuts gang. The original is the last one in the set, “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” which started the ball rolling for decades of Peanuts cartoons. Equally as charming is “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown,” which is easily one of the most identifiable television specials over the years.
Rounding out the batch is “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving,” which is one of the weirdest episodes of all. Not only does Woodstock partake in eating the turkey (which still prompts cries of cannibalism from viewers), but it’s the only special in which Peppermint Patty is voiced by a boy.
Still, all three of these specials are fun to watch, and with the most current format of Blu-ray, it makes the shows available to share at any time with your kids. I make it a point to watch them with my kids, and that is one way I can share my childhood with them.
While there’s nothing new on these discs compared to the DVD box set released a couple years ago, you get both formats with one of them in animated high definition.
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE
Nothing, really. I love these animated specials, which marked the holiday season as much as the dates on the family calendar.
BLU-RAY FEATURES
Each disc includes a second related episode. “It’s Magic, Charlie Brown” is attached to “The Great Pumpkin,” which I remember most as being the only time Charlie Brown actually kicks the football. “The Mayflower Voyagers” is tagged on the Thanksgiving special, which features Linus narrating about the first Thanksgiving. Finally, “It’s Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown” is the second Christmas episode included on the Christmas disc.
The same bonus features are available on each disc, with “We Need a Blockbuster, Charlie Brown” about the bringing the Great Pumpkin to life, “Popcorn and Jellybeans: Making a Thanksgiving Classic” which chronicles the Thanksgiving episode and “A Christmas Miracle: The Making of A Charlie Brown Christmas” which tells how the first Peanuts special came to be.
The only thing missing from this box set that was in the DVD set is the CD music sampler which includes several of the songs from the Charlie Brown library.
WHO’S GOING TO LIKE THIS MOVIE
Peanuts fans and anyone who wants to share these classics with their kids for years to come.