Have you ever heard the story of the Charlie Brown Christmas Tree? This little-animated segment from the comic “Peanuts” which originally aired during December 1965 has a rich legacy within the United States.
Even though I’m not as familiar with the story as many others I’ve recently watched the comic and thought it would make a nice “story” blog post.
A short story summary of Charlie Brown’s tree
As the story goes, Charlie Brown (the main character in the worldwide popular show Peanuts) is feeling down even though it’s Christmas time. He feels that the holiday season is way too much commercialized and struggles to understand what this time of year is really about.
While Charlie Brown’s depression seems to continue, Lucy advises that he does something to combat it like producing a play for Christmas.
This helps Charlie to feel a bit better, only to see his dog (Snoopy) busy decorating his doghouse for the local Xmas light competition. The dog is even more aware of the commerciality of the holiday than the meaning itself.
Further distractions and discouragements include his sister asking him to write a letter to Santa on her behalf with the notion of being willing to accept a lot of money as a present. This, of course, does not sit well with Charlie Brown.
At the rehearsal, things don’t go as the plan with much bickering between actors, playing parts, Lucy, Linus, and Snoopy. This is where the first proper mention of Charlie Brown’s Christmas tree comes into play as he thinks the play needs a nice tree to create the right atmosphere.
Lucy asks him to get an aluminum tree, yet when arriving at the market Charlie decides to focus on a tiny sapling which seems to be to the only real tree out of all there. Although Linus isn’t sure about the tree, however, Charlie thinks he can make it work.
As you would expect, not all welcome Charlie’s choice of a tree. This leads to him asking everyone if they really know what Xmas is all about? Linus responds by speaking the word from the Gospel of Luke from the Bible.
The rest is best described by watching the clip below:
One can’t help but appreciate a Christmas story with roots from the Bible. It is true, Xmas is very much commercialized, but at the end of the day, we all have to remember the real reason for the holiday in the first place.
It is all about the birth of the baby Jesus who came as a savior for the whole world.
Read the full story here: https://www.whychristmas.com/story/birth.shtml
How to make a Charlie Brown Christmas Tree?
If you would like to reenact the Charlie Brown tree scene within your own family to teach them the meaning of Xmas you can make a copy of the tree from the comic. You don’t need much, just some tools, a pine branch, red bauble and piece of wood for the base.
Find full instructions over at Instructables here: http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-a-Charlie-Brown-Christmas-Tree/