Arthur's Perfect Christmas is a beautiful and colorful masterpiece in the world of animated TV specials. I don't think I've seen another special that made me feel as warmed and welcomed as this. Arthur is my favorite PBS Kids show, and has been for the last nine years. From old episodes where there are several animation errors, and plot holes to the new cleaned up ones that have crystal clear HD and sound to them, I love Arthur. And it will take a monumental thing to shatter my love for it.
Something about Arthur stuck with me since day one. I had all the books out by age five, and read them countless times. I kept watching the show on PBS, memorized all the characters full names, and printed off many episode guides which cost my mom about $100 in ink. Of course now my obsessions is turned into a "Like" on Facebook, I'm not shy to revisit Arthur on a pretty close day to day basis. Arthur's Perfect Christmas is the reason I still love the show.
Arthur wants the Christmas of a lifetime. He wants everything to go 100% perfect, and have nothing go wrong. But boy is he in for a valuable lesson this evening. Aside from Arthur's Christmas, we see how his friend Buster spends the holiday season as well. It mostly consists of his constant frustration over his mom's controlling and strict schedule in hopes to give Buster a better Christmas year after year.
Aside from the ones who do celebrate Christmas, Arthur has friends like Francine who are Jewish, and celebrate the holiday of Hanaukah. Francine loves to spend time with her friends/family, but her best friend Muffy doesn't understand that there are other holidays that coincide with Christmas. Plus we briefly see Arthur's friend, nicknamed "The Brain", celebrate Kwanza with his family.
Arthur is definitely a unique show to say the least. It isn't always about the title character. Even in regular episodes of the show it sometimes focuses on secondary characters. Sometimes Arthur doesn't even appear in the damn episode. But that's good. I think after approximately ten to eleven seasons of constant Arthur, it wouldn't hurt to let Binky, Brain, Sue Ellen, Fern, and Prunella see the viewers for once.
As far as complaining, it's a Christmas special so whether you've seen it or not, you know someone's not going to get the gift they please. Unlike Caillou's whining, DW does have her moment, but it's resolved faster than any of Caillou's dreaded whining fiascos ever.
Like a countless number of TV specials, Arthur's Perfect Christmas is a musical special, most likely so kids can sing along if they have seen the specials countless times. Many other shows utilized this format like Caillou's Holiday Movie to name one I recently reviews. This special is Oscar worthy when compared to that garbage. The songs in the movie are very well written. I do like the end reprise the best, and it's probably my favorite ending to any TV special yet.
Arthur's Perfect Christmas serves as one of my favorite Christmas specials. I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus is my favorite movie of Christmas, and this goes for the TV special category. As I stated before, kids today may not see this special, and will watch the current episodes/specials of Dinosaur Train or Word World and share their recollection of the show. Maybe they'll even write a review on it like myself...doubt it.
Based on Characters Created by: Marc Brown.
