When I was little, I attended a church with a bell choir. I always loved
listening to their anthems, and when we switched churches, I missed
those melodious performances. Both of my parents played the bells; I
have a particularly vivid recollection of them playing Now the Green Blade Rises.
Over the years, my parents have participated in several choirs, and Mom
has led the children’s choir on several occasions. So when I saw
Ringing In Christmas, a 2007 ornament in which Snoopy directs a bell
choir containing Linus, Sally, Peppermint Patty, Charlie Brown and Lucy,
it seemed a very fitting gift for Mom.
This keepsake is
labeled as a “Christmas ornament,” but I wouldn’t recommend trying to
hang it on the tree. There is a swooping hanger apparently available for
this purpose, but it’s an extremely heavy ornament, and it really does
seem to be built to lie flat. During last year’s Christmas season, we
kept it on the piano; I expect that we’ll do the same this year, finding
a spot that is out of reach for inquisitive cats but allowing easy
enough access so that we can wind up the ornament when we want to,
because that’s when the fun really begins.
Ringing In
Christmas comes in an attractive cream-colored box, the back of which
contains a verse suitable for the occasion: “Early Christmas morning, /
You can hear the choir bells ring, / As Snoopy leads the carol / ‘Hark!
The Herald Angels Sing.’ / The Peanuts gang has practiced / So their
timing is just right / And their bells can tell the story / Of that
blessed Christmas night.” Filling the box are two pieces of molded
plastic, into which the Peanuts ornament fits.
The ornament is
set up like an ornate choir loft. The loft, which stands four and a
half inches tall and is nearly three inches deep and wide, is white with
gold accents. Behind the bell players is a latticed archway. They stand
on a red floor, with Snoopy, Sally and Linus on one level and the other
three a step above them. Tiny, smiling Woodstock sits perched in the
middle of a wreath that hangs above the rest, and he too carries a bell,
though it does not move as the others do when activated.
Snoopy, about half the size of the children he conducts, stands with his
back to the audience. Along with everyone else in the group, he wears a
thin, painted-on smile. His eyes are small curved lines, while the
children have dots for eyes. Each of them faces the congregation holding
a golden bell in each hand. The bells match the accents on their green
robes; it’s just as well that they aren’t silver, or they might wind up
looking like a bunch of shifty Slytherins.
Although the
presence of the choir robes means that none of the kids can wear their
signature garb, the differences in their faces are distinct enough.
Patty is freckly, with a shock of reddish hair. Charlie is essentially
bald, with just a little curlicue of hair on his forehead. Lucy’s black
hair sits in his typical position, and around her eyes are lines,
perhaps from stress. Linus has the same lines, so I suspect that the Van
Pelts have been picking on each other a bit. His hair is the usual mess
of stringy strands, while Sally’s is thick and yellow, with that goofy
hornlike formation and what looks like a bow on the top of her head. The
figures are about an inch and a half tall and are firmly attached to
the loft floor.
This is a beautiful decoration just to look
at, completely stationary. But if you wind the golden key at the back,
you will find that the bells in each hand will chime (or, rather, the
arms will move in order to create the illusion of bells playing) as
Snoopy sways back and forth to conduct. As indicated by the verse, the
tune is Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, a tune that played a
prominent role in two different Peanuts Christmas specials. The music
really does sound like bells ringing, and the effect is lovely. The
sound is as high-quality as the visual elements, and there are no
batteries required.
Naturally, such an elaborate ornament is a
bit on the pricey side. It’ll probably cost you upwards of $40 to get
your hands on this one, but if you’re a fan of Peanuts or bells, I
heartily recommend it. It’s just as neat as the one ornament I’m keenest
to add to my Pooh collection: Pooh Bells, from the previous year, which
features a crank that activates the audio-visual spectacle of the
characters playing Carol of the Bells. Apparently bells are a
particularly useful ingredient in the crafting of an exceptional
Christmas ornament. Snoopy seems like such a natural up there, perhaps
he should set aside his writing for a while and focus all of his energy
on being a choirmaster. There’s so much to love about Ringing In
Christmas, I wish they would do an encore!
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