I'm going to indulge in a little sacrilege, here: I fucking hate the Charlie Brown Christmas special. When I was a kid, it represented the boring, obligatory side of the holiday season: the side that had me spending every Saturday morning in December at church practicing recitations with the other Sunday School kids, the side that had to endure family photographs in coordinating sweaters. There are just certain things you did, and watching Charlie Brown was one of them. I looked forward to it like I looked forward to the dentist: once it was over, it would be a while before I'd have to endure it again.
Modern kids have access to more holiday television options, and better ones. And they know it, too: when I Tivo'd Chuck and his pals in a misguided fit of nostalgia, my kids got up and wandered out of the room before the opening credits finished rolling. But thanks to easy and inexpensive software and the magic of YouTube, they won't totally miss out on having the Peanuts gang as part of their childhood experience. Enjoy.
The below clip marries scenes from the show with Outkast's "Hey Ya"--the song isn't nearly as tired to my preschoolers as it is to me, even after they watched it approximately ninety-six times in a row:
This version is narrated by the cast of Scrubs--and not really kid-friendly, but let's be honest with ourselves, is the original show kid-friendly? What about to kids who aren't in a persistent vegetative state?
Charlie Brown: Jihad Christmas has been flagged as offensive by several Youtube users, and they're right. But at least it's not offensively boring!
Definitely not for kids without a passing familiarity with satire.
