In time aired and title given, this is as close to a sequel to the original classic as could be. The Peanuts brain trust was wise to allow a healthy distance between the two shows, however; 27 years. Dayum! A young man could be born, raised in a broken home, become addicted to hard drugs, blast off to rock and roll superstardom on a failing O-ring and then plummet back down to Earth causing a crater six feet deep in all that time!
AIRDATE: 11/27/92
STORY: Just like its superior predecessor, ICA features a Christmas play. However, the program is being directed by invisible teachers, not a risible blockhead, so goodbye emaciated tree and alien dancing, and hello punctuality and adherence to the script.
Some filler runs at the beginning help familiarize us with the idiosyncrasies of who will prove to be the shows main characters (and arguably the most idiosyncratic characters in the Peanuts universe): Sally, Peppermint Patty and Marcie.
Each girl has their role in the upcoming play. Sally is to portray an angel. Naturally, she frets and flits over her hardly singular role, which requires nothing more wearying than donning a pair of wings and crying out, "Hark!" You'd think she was about to audition for Lady Macbeth.
Marcie has landed the sugar plum role of Mary. Meanwhile, Peppermint Patty (who had yearned for the chance to play the mother of the Christ child) is relegated to tottering around in a bulky sheep costume that features suspiciously Snoopy-esque ears and no visible mouth hole.
A fun story that borrows liberally from the source material. 9
MUSIC: 9. Unspectacular, but still better than anything you'll hear on shows targeting the nubile demographic these days.
ANIMATION: Lots of deep reds and browns, with the more unique characters (Marcie, P. Pat, Peggy Jean) providing almost-intrusive splashes of bright hues. 10
VOICES: A weird bit here--the Wikipedia page for this special does not list who vocalized Peppermint Patty or Charlie Brown. The end credits show two names not cited on that page, Jamie E. Smith and Mindy Ann Martin. Assuming the Jamie is a boy (not unheard of), Smith may have done Charlie Brown, and Mindy Ann Martin would have handled Peppermint Patty. Of course, the opposite could be just as true.
Regardless, it is amazing to my ears how in more than a few of the latterly Peanuts specials, the kid emoting as Charlie Brown--titular character, may I remind--is so weaksauce. 7. Deanna Tello does a much better job as Peggy Jean. 8. The Van Pelts are passable in secondary roles: 8 for Marnette Patterson's Lucy and 8.5 for John Graas as Linus. In what might indicate a fascinating hidden backstory, two young girls are credited for Sally: Jodie Sweetin and Brittany Thornton. I'd sooner find an eyelash in a bowl of Grape Nuts cereal than discern the difference in Sally's voice, though; a near show-stealing 9.
Near, I say, because we still have the most innocuous lesbian idols this side of the Indigo Girls: Peppermint Patty and Marcie. They are the stars, truly; however much Charlie Brown's blah tries to enervate the proceedings, the girls are right there to push things forward with nervy irreverence. A 9 for Patty (shy perfect 'cause I hold every Peppermint Patty up to the bar set by Linda Ercoli) and 10 for Lindsay Benesk's wide-ranging Marcie.
A STOCKING HANGS, STUFFED WITH THANGS
Several themes from A Charlie Brown Christmas are gently revisited here, mainly in the segments leading up to the main story.
There is Charlie Brown's concern with the increasing commercialization of the season. Near the start, this seems a distant memory as we see the youngest existentialist walking door-to-door in the neighborhood hawking rather paltry wreaths. Goodness of his heart, direness of his straits, or has the round-headed hero just resigned himself to yet another inevitability? We later learn he is trying to save up money to buy a red-haired girl named Peggy Jean a lovely pair of gloves. (No, she's not that red-haired girl. This is the girl who mistakenly believes Charlie Brown's name is in fact "Brownie Charles", thanks to his lovestruck word-mangling.)
As it turns out, the generous spirit has not flown from Charlie Brown. Minutes later he sits by as his sister churns out a letter to Santa full of unblinking, malice-free greed. "Christmas", she states repeatedly, "is about the joy of getting." Her disbelieving big brother tells her, equally repeatedly, that the true essence of the holiday is "the joy of giving." Sally finally brings the debate to a halt: "Like wow."
Linus' infamous Christmas speech also reappears, albeit completely tossed on its ass. As he sits on an armchair with Bible in his lap and Sally at his side, he starts to read from the sacred text. "And there were in the same country shepherds, abiding in the field..." But instead of a rapt audience temporarily stripped of their earthly trifles while they stand in the midst of immortal wisdom delivered by a mortal being, Sally speaks over Linus, lobbying complaint after complaint at the great expenses incurred at Christmas. Overwhelmed, Linus finally faints.
Sally's shining moments involve her worry over the play. She approaches her brother with her concern that she will forget her single line as he twiddles with his hockey stick (oh, give it a rest, pervs). When the spotlight finally casts over the littlest cherub, she promptly blurts out: "Hockey stick!"
However, the bulk of what is truly awesome about It's Christmastime Again comes from the interaction between Patty and Marcie, a top-notch comedy duo to rival Abbott and Costello or, even better, French and Saunders.
"Sweetie, don't be mad because my bean bag is styling on you! Additionally, the calibrations are in my possession as well!"Among the stories borrowed from the comic strip is a segment in an opera house, which many fans will note was fodder for some of Schulz' funniest later-period material, as he had no shortage of witty, goofy, almost-incidentally sublime dialogue for the girls to share. Here, Marcie explains how the "Hallelujah Chorus" is the most exciting part of the opera, a climactic event for which the audience is expected to stand. A nonplussed Patty responds: "Standing is exciting?"
More than just a li'l simple, the Peppermint Gal is resolute in her quest to avoid intellectual activity on her Christmas vacation. In this case, she's ducking a book report on War and Peace. Seems her grandfather (unwittingly? Heh) put the fear of millions into her by passing along the following "truism": "If you read too many books, your head will fall off!" Friend to the end, Marcie puts the tome in Patty's hands and steps behind her, hands firmly placed on either side of her head to prevent tragedy.
The friction caused by their wildly varying roles in the school play is even riper for laughs. Take the scene where Marcie informs Patty that the teacher has selected the bespectacled girl for the lead role. Patty is completely oblivious, yammering on and on about how much she wants to portray Mary, and how ideal she would be for the part, sandals and all.
"I like the part where the angel Gabriel talks to me."
"Why would Gabriel talk to you? You never listen."
Gut-busting as Marcie's burn is, Patty's protestations once the teacher informs her of the decision are just as breathtaking ("Mary didn't wear glasses!")
Backstage, Peppermint Patty's recalcitrance towards her meager part practically bleeds through the absurd get-up. Can she be blamed for having Sally-like panic? (As Marcie reminds her, in a patient trill that cracks me up every time I hear it, all a sheep has to say is--"Baaaaa".) Inevitably from a girl who wears shorts in the winter, she fails spectacularly. Once the sheep takes centerstage, she blurts out every noise made by every animal but the sheep.
The blanket of "HA"'s is never not funny. It is as reliable a Pavlovian tool for laughter as Redd Foxx falling backwards or the Kenneth character from 30 Rock.
UNDER YOUR TREE, A BUCKET OF PEE
Not much to bitch incoherently about here, folks. Just an unfortunate paucity of Snoopy (oh, I hear the applause of the purists! Is that Ken Tucker leading the room?)
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For me to tell you that this is one of the great "lost" Peanuts specials, a consistently funny joy to sit through, but yet it's only ranked third among the four Christmas programs--well, that should hep you to the awesomosityness of the remaining pair. So check back tomorrow for the runner-up and please, dress weather-appropriate!
It's Christmastime Again Charlie Brown Charles Schulz Peanuts Snoopy Charlie Brown
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