perhaps - but they are certainly my top 2
I’d say they make my Top 3, along with the much-overlooked Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol.
Toldja it’s hard to read! 
The Grinch (the real one) is going to be on the WB on Dec. 14th. 8:00, 7:00 central.
Christmas Day will always be, just as long as we have we.
Also, the two girls dancing in the special are 3 and 4, 5’s little sisters.
A few years ago when the Charlie Brown Christmas special aired I was watching it (and having a few beers, ho ho ho) and came up with a theory that the other kids represent the seven deadly sins.
Lucy is Wrath; Sally is Lust, with her eternal crush on Linus; Pigpen is Sloth; Violet is Pride (“Naturally curly hair!”); and… well, actually that’s as far as I got. Maybe another Doper can fill in the blanks for Envy, Greed, and Gluttony. Snoopy is a bit of a Loki character, the anarchic spirit of the world.
Charlie Brown, of course, is the opposite of all these, the cardinal virtues. Humility, Generosity, Love, Kindness, Self-Control, Faith, and Zeal. (He’s maybe a quart low on zeal, but I’ll cut him some slack; the poor kid’s depressed.)
Just a passing thought.
oooh, WAY too deep for me, guy! 
That’s Frieda, the one with the red “naturally curly hair.” Violet has black hair, pulled back in a little bun.
In the context of the special Snoopy could represent both greed “Win Money! Money! Money!” and gluttony: the giant pile of dog bones he’s snacking on at the beginning. Come to think of it, he is always up for suppertime. And Lucy’s desire for real estate instead of stupid toys and clothes and stuff for Christmas presents is pretty avaricious, too.
Not only that, but commercial time has increased in the past 40 years. I didn’t realize by how much until a couple of years back, when CBS aired The Year Without A Santa Claus. Presumably to cut time for commercials, every song (except the title song, the two Miser songs, and Blue Christmas) ended after its first verse, and then faded to the next scene. Even though they did restore two musical numbers in the mid-1990s, CBS’s airings of Rudolph cut one brief scene towards the end that is available only on DVD. It’s interesting how much a commodity TV has become over the years.
True, but even though Snoopy took part in the general mockery of Charlie Brown, I never felt like he was really one of the mean ones. He was interested in causing mischief in a general way, but I don’t think he really cared much one way or the other about the actual case at hand. He was just having fun and being loud.
After thinking about this a bit more (because it’s not like I have a Tax exam in two days or anything…), I still don’t see an “envy character.” I suppose self-loathing is at the root of envy, and all the kids who gang up on Charlie Brown are totally secure in their smug superiority.
And you’re right that Lucy could embody several of the deadly sins, but for purely aesthetic reasons I’d like to see it map out to one sin per kid.
Just for the heck of it, here’s a complete list of (seen) Peanuts characters, as appears in 50 Years of Happiness: A Tribute to Charles M. Schulz by Derrick Bang, published by the Charles M. Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa (which is currently holding an exibition of the 40th anniversary of A Charlie Brown Christmas):
In order of first appearance…(some of these characters were seen in only one strip)
The Children: Charlie Brown, Patty, Shermy, Violet, Schroeder, Lucy, Linus, Pig-Pen, Charlotte Braun (character similar to Lucy, TALKED REALLY LOUD), Sally, Frieda, 5, 3 and 4 (5’s sisters), Peppermint Patty, Franklin, Marcie, Rerun, Eudora
Animals: Snoopy, Faron (Frieda’s cat), Woodstock, The Beagle Scouts (Snoopy is scoutmaster, Woodstock, Conrad, Bill, Oliver, Harriet, Raymond, Fred, Roy), Spike (brother of Snoopy), Belle (sister), Marbles (brother), Olaf (brother), Andy (brother), Snoopy’s mother, Snoopy’s father, “Joe Cactus” (a friend of Spike’s). Note: Snoopy was one of eight siblings, but only six of these dogs were named and identified in the comic strip.
Other children: Roy (friend Charlie Brown met at summer camp), Jose Peterson (fellow member of Peppermint Patty’s baseball team), Clara, Shirley, and Sophie (three kids Peppermint Patty met at summer camp- Clara and Marcie may be the same person), Lila (Snoopy’s original owner), Thibault (a bully), Poochie (a girl who was interesting in owning Snoopy), Loretta (Girl Scout who rescued Snoopy during an expedition), Truffles (crush of Linus), Floyd (in love with Peppermint Patty), Austin, Ruby, Leland and Milo (pee-wee baseball team coached by CB), Molley Volley, Crybaby Boobie, “Bad Call” Benny (tennis opponents), Joe Richkid (golfer), Harold Angel (result of a misinterpretation of Hark! The Herald Angels Sing by Sally), Lydia, Maynard (PP’s tutor), Tapioca Pudding, Peggy Jean (in love with CB, calls him “Brownie Charles”), Larry (believes The Great Gatsby is a Biblical character), Cormac (another camp friend of CB), Ethan (and another), Royanne (baseball player who believes she is related to Robert Redford’s character in The Natural), Emily (friend of CB), Joe Agate (marbles player), Naomi (nursed Olaf back to health).
Others/Unseen: Little Red-Haired Girl (seen only once, in shadow), School Building, Miss Hagemeyer (nee Othmar, Linus’s beloved schoolteacher), Miss Helen Sweetstory (author of the “Six Bunny-Wunnies” series), Joe Shlabotnik (baseball player and CBs idol)
…and probably more.
Erm, it seems obvious to me - Charlie Brown is Envy.
Wow, Thanks. It looked like a lot of the characters were from specials and not the strip. I forgot more than I thought.
Jim
All the characters I mentioned were from the comic strip, although some plots were often reused for animated specials. Looking back at your post, you did mention one character I forgot: World War II, the infamous cat next door. (Does the Red Baron count as an unseen character, seeing as he is just a figment of Snoopy’s imagination?)
III.
As much as the “Kite eating tree” and the “School Building” I would say. We should include all 3.
Jim