Awesome / A Charlie Brown Christmas

• It's not often that total and utter silence can count as a CMOA, but the reaction by the cast, who had been wrapped up in the commercialism of the season, after Linus gives his sermon is an almost physical entity.
  "That's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown."
  • There is the powerful scene when Linus gives his recitation of the Shepherds' vision of the angels' announcement of Jesus' birth. The scene has a moving power that rivets you to the screen regardless of your beliefs, regardless of the fact it's a Talking Heads scene.
    "Lights, please..."
    • This is also Charles Schulz' own Moment of Awesome, because he put his foot down when Executive Meddling kicked in and said that if he couldn't have that part in the special, he would not allow it to be aired. As it turned out, that very scene was singled out from the beginning as the most powerful part of the special.
    • It's even more awesome in the eyes of anyone who reads the Peanuts comics, and therefore knows that Linus has crippling Stage Fright and Lucy, every holiday season, without fail, signs him up to perform in front of the PTA, and then proceeds to drag him there under protest. He once spent an entire week sitting in a tree to avoid reciting publicly, and yet seeing Charlie Brown in such a state of despair makes him drop all that without a second thought.
  • Doubling as a bit of Fridge Brilliance pointed out by a few sharp-eyed viewers, Linus drops his blanket just as he gets to the words “Fear not” and continues gesturing with both hands free. The kid who can’t go anywhere without his security blanket, who has a panic attack whenever it’s taken away, suddenly doesn’t need it for a moment when he thinks of the true meaning of Christmas.
  • Many Christians interpret Linus dropping his blanket, and later giving it up to wrap around the little tree, as Linus realizing that, with Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior, Linus doesn't need to cling to a material object to feel safe. Christian faith is bigger than anything else in providing feelings of safety and security, and it's needed more than ever in nations where many citizens are rejecting Christianity and Christmas keeps getting more and more secular.
• Linus showing off his Improbable Aiming Skills by using his blanket as a sling for throwing snowballs (a scene that was cut from a lot of reruns, and only recently appeared on the DVD and in the ABC cut).

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