Christmas Tales consists of a series of Christmas-themed vignettes, each one dedicated to a different character. There are five of these segments in all, lifted from the original comic strips:
- Happy Holidays from Snoopy: Snoopy goes ice skating, works as a bell ringer to raise money, and attempts to befriend the ferocious next-door cat.
- Yuletide Greetings from Linus: Linus befriends a girl at school who repeatedly changes her first name.
- Season's Greetings from Sally: Sally tries to get a Christmas tree the easiest way she can.
- Peace on Earth from Lucy: Lucy tries to be nicer during the holiday season (keyword being "try").
- Merry Christmas from Charlie Brown: Charlie Brown prepares for Christmas alongside his sister Sally.
Having been created as a companion piece to the iconic A Charlie Brown Christmas, Christmas Tales aired annually on ABC from 2002 to 2019.
Charlie Brown's Christmas Tales contains examples of:
- Achievements in Ignorance: Sally, not knowing how to cut a tree down on her own, believes that she can make one fall by simply staring at it and hoping it does. To her credit, this somehow actually works.
- Answer Cut: Near the end of the special, Charlie Brown tells Sally he ordered her a toy bicycle for her dolls, but that it never came. She says she hopes whoever got it enjoys it. Cut to Woodstock gleefully riding on it.
- Comically Missing the Point: After Lucy shoves Snoopy's hat over his body, he waddles back home with only his feet visible, to which Sally replies as such.Sally: There's a stocking cap coming down the street!
- Constantly Changing Name: This special marks the animated debut of Lydia, the girl who keeps changing her name. Linus struggles with what name to address her Christmas card to, eventually settling on just "her".
- Christmas Special: The third Peanuts one, following A Charlie Brown Christmas and It's Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown. And Christmas Tales would itself be followed by I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown.
- Diegetic Soundtrack Usage: One scene has Snoopy playing a little music, only for Lucy to pass by and comment that "O Susanna" wasn't very Christmas-y. In response, Snoopy switches to "Christmastime is Here" from A Charlie Brown Christmas.
- Exact Words: When the "ugly kid" comes to the Brown household to complain about Sally taking his tree, she reminds him that he said she could have the tree if she could make it fall down on its own, which she did.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: If you look closely at one of the letter envelopes in the special, the town the characters live in is listed as "Sparkyville, USA".
- Hypocritical Humor:Lucy: I feel different this year. Somehow, I feel that I have more of the real spirit of Christmas this year than ever before.
Linus: Why do you suppose that is?
Lucy: BECAUSE I SAID SO, THAT'S WHY! - "I Can't Look!" Gesture: While Woodstock is riding Sally's toy bike down the sidewalk, Snoopy is watching, before he covers his eyes with his paws expecting Woodstock to crash.
- I Gave My Word: When the rude boy comes by Charlie Brown's house saying that Sally stole his tree, she points out how he said she could have it if it actually fell, which it did. Sally eventually decides to return it out of guilt, but he lightens up and says she can keep it because he did say what she told him.
- Insane Troll Logic: Sally's method of "falling" down a Christmas tree. Amazingly, it actually works.
- Less Disturbing in Context: In-Universe; when Rerun rants at Snoopy dressed as Santa how he never gave Rerun what he wanted last year, Snoopy growls at him. When Lucy asks Rerun what he said, it apparently translates as wishing Rerun a good Christmas, albeit not above calling Linus a weird kid with a blanket and Lucy crabby.
- No Name Given: The rude boy whose tree Sally took is only listed in the credits as "Ugly Kid".
- Shared Family Quirks: A segment of the special has Linus ranting about Sally calling him "My Sweet Babboo", then noticing that Charlie Brown signed a Christmas card to the Little Red-Haired Girl "Your Sweet Babboo".Charlie Brown: (sheepish) It's a... family expression.
- Soundtrack Dissonance: Snoopy plays "O Susanna" on the accordion while dressed as Santa Claus, to which Lucy lampshades how it's not very Christmas-sounding. Snoopy promptly stops upon hearing this.
- Tempting Fate: When Sally sets out to "fall down a Christmas tree" because she doesn't know how to cut one down:Boy: Hey, kid, what are you doing in our yard?! You weren't thinking of cutting that tree down, were you?!
Sally: I don't know how to cut a tree down! What if it just falls down?
Boy: HA! If it falls down, you can have it!
(tree promptly keels over)
Sally: I'll take it! - Verbal Backspace:Lydia: Today, my name is Jezebel.
Linus: Jezebel was the evil wife of King Ahab in the Old Testament. In II Kings, it says that her servants threw her out the window, and she landed on her head.
Lydia: Today, my name is Susan.
