A Charlie Brown Christmas

Charlie Brown’s despair is akin to that of George Bailey in Pottersville, the Christmas message comes to him much as it does to Capra’s John Doe.

The feat of style is in small increments of facial expression that give a rapid emotional suite, the varied manner of setups, the brilliant layout, the vocal characterizations and the score.

I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown

Man’s best friend gives out rejection notices, to Rerun’s astonishment.

Spike travels to Snoopy for a visit and befriends Rerun, but can’t take the whizzing excitement and danger of riding in the carry seat on the back of Rerun’s mother’s bicycle.

Snoopy is finally persuaded to indulge Rerun on a sled pulled by the latter, when Spike has gone home to a desert Christmas.

Such a superb composition is correctly deployed in the best ink-and-watercolor, with a wry means of underplaying in the actors.