Movie review
A Charlie Brown Christmas
1965 · Musical / Animation · Reviewed Sep 19, 2026
Watched on DVD
7 / 10
Solid watch. Worth your time.
Jeff’s final score for A Charlie Brown Christmas — one man, one couch, one honest number.
Content advisorySuitable for all ages. Scenes depicting depression, mild scenes of bullying and brief scenes of animal cruelty.
Plot summary
This holiday short follows Charlie Brown as he tries to overcome his lack of holiday spirit despite feeling sad during the Christmas season.
Jeff’s take
I don’t have much to say in regard to this film.
While I will admit that Charlie Brown is old school, I never really cared for this franchise, even as a child.
I felt like this movie would put me in the holiday spirit, which is usually what happens to me around this time of year.
I believe Charlie Brown has a lot of the same problems as I have around Christmas.
He is shown to not be sure of how to celebrate, and this makes him upset.
The beginning of this film is very sad and almost made me cry.
Due to this somber storyline, I will not be able to give this movie a passing grade.
However, I will say that there are a couple of aspects of this film that will prevent me from giving it a failing grade.
First of all, I have always been a fan of Snoopy.
I never really cared for most of the human characters in this franchise, and I have also always wondered why only the children in this film have any discernible dialogue while the adults are blocked out by the sound of “WAWAWA!”
I don’t know how to pronounce this, but that is the sound heard whenever any adults speak. I never understood why that occurs.
Another thing I will give this movie credit for is the fact that one of the characters is named Lucy, which is my mother’s name.
As I have a great relationship with my mother, any movie, or in this case an animated short, that has a character by that name will automatically save it from a complete failing grade, even if the rest of the film was a complete flop.
When I combine this fact with the fact that Mom loves Snoopy, it is enough for it to get pretty close to a passing grade.
Unfortunately, it will not quite make it to that level due to the emotion I felt in the first five minutes of this movie.
This was good enough to pass as a classic, but one that definitely could have been better.
Jeff-O-Meter final score: 7/10
Verdict
Watch if curious
This was good enough to pass as a classic, but one that definitely could have been better.
7 / 10
Solid watch. Worth your time.
Jefferson Bert’s personal author message
This film will be the first of many holiday movies I will review this holiday season.
I will be starting my Halloween reviews as the month of October and Halloween draw nearer.
This movie has the distinction of being the oldest movie I’ve reviewed so far, as it was released in 1965.
I chose this movie due to my mother’s admiration for the character of Snoopy. I knew she would enjoy reading a review on this.
I find this movie hard to watch at times due to its somewhat emotional nature and its portrayal of mental health issues such as depression and loneliness.
I would say that there is a personal connection between Charlie Brown and myself in this film, as I have sometimes felt depressed as the holidays have come around.
However, I have always found myself enjoying the holiday in the end.
Also, it has been a while since I have been able to watch a holiday short. This was something that I did as a child.
I remember watching classics such as Frosty the Snowman and Frosty Returns. Now I can add this one to the list.
This movie serves as a little bit of nostalgia for me!
This is what makes it so good despite its few shortcomings.
By: Jefferson Bert
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