Of all the great old Christmas specials — and there are many — my favorite has always been A Charlie Brown Christmas. It’s quite extraordinary how well the printed comic translated to animation, in my view surpassing anything Charles Schultz pulled off with paper and pen.

From the amazing voice work of the young characters and the famous ‘waah-waah’ voices of the parents to Vince Guaraldi’s delightful score, the Peanuts specials hit on all cylinders. They also tapped into a bittersweet melancholy that I never quite got from the comic strip (though I admit I haven’t been an avid reader of the series).

My favorite character has always been Linus. He’s such a winning combination of worldliness and naiveté. Security blanket in hand, thumb in mouth, you could always count on Linus to come through with just the right bit of wisdom at just the right time.

We have a Linus ornament on our tree that I received as child 25 or 30 years ago. I hope I’m giving my kids the sort of Christmas memories that little ornament stirs in me.