Arthur, the hapless, hugely popular star of his own TV series, probably knows on some subconscious level that by anticipating the perfect Christmas, he's setting himself up for a fiasco. That's just the sort of world-weary... more » 8-year-old aardvark he is. Nevertheless, he and his pals are hopeful that this year, even though it's already the 22nd and there's no snow on the ground, heavy-duty wish fulfillment, or at least a good time, will be had by all. Well-heeled classmate Muffy is hard at work on the good time part, but she's too busy broadcasting the news of her pull-out-all-the-stops party to pay attention when the increasingly frustrated Francine begs off because of Hanukkah commitments. Buster Baxter, meanwhile, has his hands full getting his guilt-ridden divorced mom to mellow out. And Arthur's knee-deep in his own predicaments: DW demands he draft the perfect letter to Santa; his dad deserts the annual turkey in favor of a historically correct Christmas dinner; and he feels like a dufus, as he puts it, when, on Christmas morning, he drops and breaks the perfect present he bought for his mother. Fortunately, there's nothing a few well-chosen words from a grownup like his Uncle Fred can't fix, and the others also finagle a way around their differences--the holiday spirit sneaks up and smiles on everybody. The one-hour video is pleasantly paced and gets extra spice from a handful of original songs and a few far-fetched, genuinely funny Arthur fantasy segments. Guaranteed to make any Arthur fan's spirits bright. --Tammy La Gorce« less
""What a wonderful kind of day when we can learn to work & play & get along with each other!"
Arthur is a rare kind of cartoon that is made for everyone; it is about a community of very different characters that live together peacefully and are accepting of one another. No matter how different they are from each other, they "get together and make things better by working together," with open eyes, ears, and minds, knowing that "every day when you're walking down the street, everybody that you meet has an original point of view." The Arthur Christmas special does exactly what is expected of it: it applies the cartoon's main theme to the holiday season & places it in a story told from the point of view of a little boy who always tries to understand others' points of view. It may not be everyone's perfect Christmas, but it is "ARTHUR'S Perfect Christmas."
On this page we have another case of people reviewing their religion instead of the DVD. Don't be turned off by the reviews that say Arthur is anti-Christian; all of my family and friends, both Christian and non-Christian, love watching the Arthur special with their kids every year. (Contrary to the popular misunderstanding, the holiday now known as Christmas was not invented as a Christian holiday; it was only adopted by Christians in the 1800s, so there is no reason that all Christmas specials have to be Christian Christmas specials.) Also, consider the source of a critique before letting it affect your decision to see the movie. For example, puremorals4ever over-criticized Arthur in his review in the name of his religion, though he gave 5 stars to SpongeBob SquarePants, which had a Christmas special that was very much less catering to the reviewer's fundamentalist Christianity than the Arthur special was.
After reading all of the reviews, I STILL don't know if it this DVD is good enough in quality to replace my old VHS copy. Reviewers, tell me about the special features; tell me about the sound and picture quality; tell me if it doesn't work in some DVD players. Each shopper has a different idea of what a "puremoral" is; shoppers don't care if the storywriters' values are different from those of one individual buyer. What shoppers want to know about is the quality of the DVD, not whether or not you agree with the Arthur writers' message that a community works best when each person works together and realizes that others have views that are different from their own.
"
A wonderful holiday movie
Min | Montreal, Canada | 09/04/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"We have watched this Arthur movie countless times. We celebrate Chanukah and enjoy watching Francine celebrate with her family...it is always a beautiful moment when the menorah is lit for everyone to see. You can be of any religious faith to enjoy this movie...the kids and I love it(and I'm 40!) We highly recommend it."
A great holiday movie
Min | 12/01/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"My kids love this movie. It's the perfect length, only an hour. The movie includes all the main Arthur characters, with the typical doses of lessons learned, just like the PBS cartoon. Arthur hopes for the perfect Christmas. But will it snow? Will DW get the over-advertised toy she wants? Will Mom like Arthur's present? Best of all, Hannukah and Kwanza are celebrated along with Christmas. This movie is a joy through and through."
Boogie Woogie Christmas
Min | 12/11/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"We watch this movie all year long. My 4 year old refers to it as boogie woogie christmas due to the theme song which he sings along with the video, while in the bath tub, just about any place. I wish Marc Brown would provide us with another full length feature Arthur movie. I have sat through this movie dozens of times with my son, and haven't gotten bored with yet, I'm almost 40! Buy it!! I love it and your children will too."
It's won't be the Christmas without watching it!
Min | 12/26/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"What a warm and cozy Arthur show!!
Nice songs and great drama.
My kids love to watch it on the Christmas day.
I love this specially episode when I first saw it on TV 2 years ago. I purchased a VHS so I can watch it whenever I want!"