I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown

Following the death of Charles M. Schultz, there can be no original Peanuts ANYTHING. So we're basically left with animating old strips. This can get tedious since pretty much all dialogue has to actually "fit" in four panels.

Anyway, as Rerun appeared relatively late in the Peanuts run, and was a minor character, there haven't been many animated skits featuring the tyke. Basically all he does is ride on his mom's bike.

In this special, I was completely drawn in by the incredible voice acting. I was close to crying for the kid when he's begging the sun "PLEASE DON'T MELT MY SNOMAN" It was so cute.

While "I Want a Dog for Christmas" has it's flaws and may not totally live up to the old "A Charlie Brown Christmas", it nonetheless manages to hold a special place in my heart and has remained a staple for my family's Christmas viewing for three years running.

I can remember being in the philosophical Rerun's position, both for wanting a dog -- for years and years until I was able to get one when I was in my teens, and also for and also for being treated as the "baby" in the family. Seeing other members of Snoopy's family was a treat.

I felt the script could have been a little tighter, but I think it is far from being dreadful.

I've been a fan of Peanuts for as long as I can remember. Every year our family has a tradition of watching the holiday specials together. Sure, we all know what happens, but Peanuts still has the ability to get you in the mood for the season.

At least until this special came along.

Rerun always had a segment on the TV show, riding on his mom's bicycle and giving his philosphies on things. For a two minute segment, it was cute. But this new special is all Rerun, all the time. There was a reason Rerun was confined to a two minute space. Any longer and he's grating.

The special (or at least the first half hour) consists of Rerun basically complaining about being the baby of the family. Nobody includes him in anything. Mom won't let him have a dog. He's not big enough to do what he wants to do, etc.

And then he gets suspended for sexual harassment! I kid you not. He tells some girl he wants to take her to Paris and he gets suspended for sexual harassment! At that point, I switched the channel. This isn't Peanuts. It's a cheap piece of trash trying to cash in on the Peanuts empire. Charles Schulz would be spinning in his grave.

This gets zero stars from me.

'I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown' is simply put, a very sweet film. Its honestly just one of the sweetest Peanuts specials released.

Starring the Van Pelt kids (Lucy, Linus, and Rerun) and Snoopy this special is really all about Rerun and his pursuit of getting a dog for Christmas. This ends up involving Snoopy so you get to see the usual luster Snoopy brings to all scenes!

From Rerun's dialogue to Snoopy and his siblings who all make some cameos, this special produces some peak adorableness of the Peanuts gang. Although the music is just average, the animation feels authentic and entertaining.

Its a good Peanuts special and worth watching as a change up to the original 1965 Christmas special.

This 40-minute TV special tells the story of Rerun, Linus and Lucy's very cute younger brother (I loved the scenes with him stuck on the back of his mother's bicycle). As the smallest child he feels left out of playing around with the other kids and wishes for a dog for Xmas. He starts a great friendship with Snoopy but Charlie Brown is reluctant to let him go. I felt so sorry for Rerun. He's just so desperate for attention, to be taken seriously. He's got a lot of love inside him and needs a best friend to let it all out. Jimmy Bennett's voice acting is spot-on and makes him so real.

It's all harmless fun, if not completely indisposable. I've made it a Xmas tradition already as well as the other seasonal Charlie Brown specials.