I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown

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.

Linus and Lucy's younger brother Rerun likes to play with Snoopy. He has adventurous rides on the back of his mother's bike. The Van Pelt kids have a combative chemistry. Snoopy has a few brothers including Spike. "Happiness is a warm Puppy." Rerun would like a dog of his own. His mother refuses. Spike sends Snoopy a letter and in the return letter, Rerun proposes to take Spike in as his dog.

It has the charm of the Charlie Brown shows with the Van Pelts taking the lead from Charlie Brown. Rerun is actually funny and the Van Pelt kids are hilarious together. Essentially Rerun takes the lead from Charlie Brown except he's more assertive. He even says "Good Grief!" It's a charming special but it lacks a good Christmas message unless it's for the SPCA. Snoopy is funnier than ever and there is Spike in this one.

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.

Out of the four "Peanuts" Christmas specials,this is probably the best one of them all since the original "A Charlie Brown Christmas" first aired in 1965. The other "Peanuts" specials were ""Charlie Brown's Christmas Tales",and the heartwarming classic, "It's Christmas Time Again,Charlie Brown". But "I Want A Dog For Christmas,Charlie Brown" was totally different from the rest of the pack. The producers carefully went by the collection of creator Charles Schulz' "Peanuts" comic strip and animated it,and from there may a cohesive storyline from it. Produced and animated by the team of Lee Mendelson and Bill Melendez(the same team responsible for many earlier classic Peanuts cartoon specials)it originally aired as a hour-long special for ABC. ABC debuted this special in prime time on December 9, 2003 and it has aired annually ever since. This special aired three years after the untimely death of its creator Charles Schulz,who passed away in 2000.

Usually,these holiday "Peanuts" cartoon specials run no more than a half-hour,but this special was the first hour long Charlie Brown program to aired a full hour. This 2003 animated special reunites the rest of the Peanuts gang and the yuletide season. In this installment, Linus and Lucy's younger brother,ReRun(taken for the comics)is having some stress issues. He goes to Charlie Brown's faithful and resourceful beagle Snoopy for attention and fun,since ReRun doesn't have a dog of his own and he desperately wants one for Christmas. However,Snoopy has other plans,which don't include ReRun. So,Snoopy invites invites his canine brother from the Southwest,Spike to visit. After ReRun has been given the responsibility of handling his newfound pet,hijinks and hilarious situations ensumed. The voice talents are brilliant here which includes the superb performance of Jimmy Bennett as ReRun. Bill Melendez still does Snoopy's yelps and other voices,while the rest of the voice talent includes Adam Taylor-Gordon(Charlie Brown),Ashley Orr(Lucy),Nick Price(Schroder),Corey Padnos(Linus),and Hannah Leigh(Sally). ABC airs this special annually. Out of all the Peanuts specials,nothing can replace the classic "A Charlie Brown Christmas",but this one comes pretty close but comes on sweet.