Some trivia about A Charlie Brown Christmas

Premiered December 9, 1965.

We haven't reviewed A Charlie Brown Christmas because we didn't know if there was much else to be said about it.  It's a wonderful story with classic music from the Vince Guaraldi Trio, the animation still looks great and and the voice actors are all perfectly cast.  You know the story, so what's the point in summarizing it.  

This is the 50th Christmas season that A Charlie Brown Christmas will be shown on tv.  

But here's something you may not have noticed before.  I didn't notice it until last year and I've watched it more than 30 times and owned the special on vhs and dvd for years.  

At the end of the A Charlie Brown Christmas, all the kids gather around the decorated tree.  

From left to right, you'll see 3 and 4 (the twin girls in purple), Sally, Snoopy, Lucy, Freida, Linus, Pigpen and Schroeder.  In the back row, 5 is the kid in a blue coat, followed by Violet, Shermy and Patty (who should not be confused with Peppermint Patty, she hadn't been introduced yet).  5 is wearing a blue coat, Shermy is in orange. 

    

Fast-forwarding a few seconds, the kids start singing 'Hark, The Herald Angels Sing':

Now we've got two kids in blue!  What happened?  Now there are two 5s.  Or are there two Shermys?  Or Shermy is wearing a magic coat that changes colors?  Looks like somebody goofed. 

Since we're discussing 5:

5 first appeared in the Peanuts comic strip in Septmber of 1963.  His full name is 555 95472.  The last five digits are his last name, and that was also Charles Schulz' zip code at the time.  5 says that his father was "disturbed by all the numbers being put on us these days, so he changed our name to numbers."

His sisters 3 and 4 were introduced two weeks later.  These characters are relatively obscure, but they were immortalized in this special's dance scene.

5 and 4 (or is it 3?) show off their dance moves.

You may have noticed that A Charlie Brown Christmas ends somewhat abruptly.  The kids don't even get to finish their song.  That's because an ad for Coca-Cola originally ran during the closing credits.  This was edited out of later telecasts when Coke was no long the sponsor.  Here's the way it ended when it aired back in 1965:

 

A Charlie Brown Christmas is one of the best Christmas specials of all time and it's a good today as it was when it premiered decades ago. 

J.A. Morris and RigbyMel's rating:

4 candy canes.