Happy Holidays

A Charlie Brown Christmas is streaming on Apple TV+.
Apple TV+

Here’s How To Watch A Charlie Brown Christmas In 2023

The 1965 television special is a classic.

by Jen McGuire
Updated: 
Originally Published: 

What would the holiday season be without angst-ridden Charlie Brown trying to find the true meaning of Christmas with his friends? A Charlie Brown Christmas has become such an integral part of our holiday season, we all know it deep in our marrow. Some of us can probably even quote it verbatim from having watched it so many times. But still, it’s a must-watch every single year. And this year, here are all the ways you can watch A Charlie Brown Christmas because the classic won’t be on television anywhere.

A Charlie Brown Christmas is the perfect length with the perfect soundtrack.

Clocking it at a slim 25 minutes long, A Charlie Brown Christmas should be lauded for being the exact right length for a holiday movie with the family. There are no spare parts in this 1965 animated classic based on the Charles M. Schultz comic strip. The television special moves seamlessly from Charlie Brown trying to figure out how Christmas got so commercial to his five cent therapy session with Lucy to the school dance to Schroeder’s piano recital to Linus’ amazing speech to Charlie Brown’s diminutive Christmas tree. Also Snoopy skating and decorating his dog house as the Vince Garibaldi Trio’s moving, beautiful soundtrack plays in the background. There, now you remember why you should want to watch it. Here’s how you can actually watch it this year.

Where can you stream A Charlie Brown Christmas?

Streaming platform Apple TV+ bought the rights for all of the Peanuts properties back in 2020, including (and perhaps especially) A Charlie Brown Christmas. Those clever minxes made it so that the only way you can watch A Charlie Brown Christmas in 2023 via Apple TV+.

If you haven’t yet shilled out your $6.99 per month for Apple TV+ but can’t miss your yearly dose of A Charlie Brown Christmas, you’re in luck. You can get a seven-day free trial and watch it that way.

A Charlie Brown Christmas will stream for free for a limited time in 2023.

Don’t want to sign up for a free trial or don’t have Apple TV+? A Charlie Brown Christmas will be free to stream for two days, on Dec. 16 and Dec. 17 this year. You just need your Apple ID to sign in and access it.

Can you buy A Charlie Brown Christmas?

If you want to watch the old school holiday classic in the most old school of ways, you can buy A Charlie Brown Christmas on DVD or Blu-Ray online at places like Amazon and Walmart for around $10. Which feels like you’re cheating the system in 2023 because once you own it, it’s yours for good. And you know you’ll be watching it every year, so you can look it at as an investment.

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