A Charlie Brown Christmas Blu-ray

A Charlie Brown Christmas

 (1965)

Animation | Comedy | Family | Short



Christmas lights may be twinkling red and green, but Charlie Brown has the Yuletide blues. To get in the holiday spirit, he takes Lucy's advice and directs the Christmas play. And what's a Christmas play without a Christmas tree? But everyone makes fun of the short, spindly nevergreen Charlie Brown brings back - until the real meaning of Christmas works its magic once again.

For more details about A Charlie Brown Christmas on Blu-ray, see the A Charlie Brown Christmas Blu-ray Review

Director: Bill Melendez

A Charlie Brown Christmas Blu-ray, Video Quality

 


Despite its inherent shortcomings -- color fill fluctuations, moderate print damage, and somewhat inconsistent clarity -- I can safely say that A Charlie Brown Christmas has never looked better. Presented with a bold, relatively beautiful 1080p/VC-1 transfer, the 1965 television classic has been granted deeper blacks, more brilliant colors, crisper lines, and a more technically proficient image, all of which deserve serious praise. A quick comparison to the standard DVD reveals a wealth of upgrades. Detail is so strong that every imperfection, every errant brush stroke, and every quaint background blip is visible. Every artistic nuance of the production is, for better or worse, on full display. More importantly, artifacting, banding, and other digital nonsense is kept to a minimum, and the animation is given the opportunity to rise and fall on its own merits. Granted, the Blu-ray edition of A Charlie Brown Christmas doesn't boast the sort of high-dollar restoration a studio like Disney affords its beloved classics, but it also isn't the rushed holiday cash-in I was expecting.

A Charlie Brown Christmas Blu-ray, Audio Quality

 


A Charlie Brown Christmas arrives alongside Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas and Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who!, and all three suffer strikingly similar sonic fates. Instead of offering lossless stereo mixes, Warner has simply repurposed the 192kbps Dolby Digital stereo tracks that appear on the animated specials' standard DVD counterparts. The tracks are passable and, considering their age and condition, altogether serviceable, but wavering music, at-times muffled voices, and background hiss are frequent issues. Though they'll undoubtedly earn a free pass from nostalgic fans focused on the cartoons' humble productions -- perhaps rightfully so -- I wanted more. A lossless stereo track, a more extensive audio restoration... something. Anything more than recycled mixes from previously released DVDs. No, its meager audio offering shouldn't prevent anyone from purchasing A Charlie Brown Christmas, but it certainly won't leave a lasting impression.

A Charlie Brown Christmas Blu-ray, News and Updates

• Today on Blu-ray - October 6th - October 6, 2009


• Three Warner Animated BDs for the Holidays - July 14, 2009

A Charlie Brown Christmas Blu-ray, Forum Discussions

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