FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Pittsburgh– ToonSeum Screens Animated Holiday Classics
Wednesday December 22nd, beginning at 6:30pm
The ToonSeum wants to spread a little holiday cheer by presenting three of our favorite animated features on one special night, Wednesday, December 22st. Take a little break from the hustle and bustle and join us for the timeless masterpiece A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965), followed by A Wish For Wings That Work (1991), and finally, the feature film The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993).
Perhaps the most popular and poignant of any holiday cartoon, A Charlie Brown Christmas marked a turning point in the collaboration between Peanuts creator Charles Schulz and animator Bill Melendez. Melendez went on to direct over 70 animated Peanuts specials after meeting Schulz when directing commercials for Ford Motors in 1959. The duo fought corporate sponsors and network executives to keep the show intact, refusing laugh tracks and content edits and insisting on Vince Guaraldi's infectious jazz score, resulting in this beloved animated classic. Presented at 6:30pm.
While it may not be as well known as A Charlie Brown Christmas, Berkley Breathed's A Wish for Wings That Work is a clever, heartfelt, and hilarious adaptation of the artist's own novel of the same name. Opus the Penguin, depressed about his lot in life, becomes a 'flight vigilante" and, along with Bill the Cat, ends up saving Christmas. Featuring uncredited performances by Dustin Hoffman and Robin Williams, A Wish for Wings That Work is a underrated gem. Presented at 7:00pm.
Henry Selick and Tim Burton's hysterical collaboration is the perfect antidote for the typical saccharine-sweet holiday fare. Danny Elfman's brilliant soundtrack lends both shrieks and chuckles to this, a wildly inventive, darkly subversive, and ultimately adorable tale of two worlds colliding in a mash up of holiday conventions. Presented at 7:45pm.
You can see all three presentations for a suggested donation of $5. All features are recommended for all ages, though adult themes run through each.