A Charlie Brown Christmas

A Charlie Brown Christmas
Genre	Animated TV Special
Created by	Charles M. Schulz
Directed by	Bill Meléndez
Voices of	Peter Robbins Chris Shea Tracy Stratford Kathy Steinberg Chris Doran Geoffrey Ornstein Karen Mendelson Sally Dryer Ann Altieri Bill Meléndez
Theme music composer	Vince Guaraldi
Composer(s)	Vince Guaraldi
Country of origin	USA
Language(s)	English
Production
Producer(s)	Bill Meléndez Lee Mendelson
Running time	30 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	CBS
Original airing	December 9, 1965
Chronology
Preceded by	A Boy Named Charlie Brown
Followed by	Charlie Brown's All-Stars

A Charlie Brown Christmas is the first prime-time animated TV specials based upon the comic strip Peanuts, by Charles M. Schulz. It was produced and directed by former Warner Bros. and UPA animator Bill Meléndez, who also supplied the voice for the character of Snoopy. Initially sponsored by Coca-Cola, the special aired on CBS from its debut in 1965 through 2000, and has aired on ABC since 2001. For many years it aired only annually, but is now telecast at least twice during the Christmas season. The special has been honored with both an Emmy and Peabody award.

A Charlie Brown Christmas is also one of CBS's most successful specials, airing annually more times on that network than even MGM's classic motion picture The Wizard of Oz. Oz was shown thirty-one times on CBS, but not consecutively as the Charlie Brown special was; between 1968 and 1976, NBC aired the 1939 film.

Plot

On their way to join the rest of the Peanuts gang all skating on a frozen pond, Charlie Brown confides in Linus that even though Christmas is approaching he still feels depressed despite all the presents and cards and tree decorating. His depression and aggravation only get exacerbated by the goings-on in the neighborhood. Though his mailbox is empty of Christmas cards, he tries sarcastically to thank Violet for the card she "sent" him, though Violet says she didn't send him a card.

Charlie Brown (shouting after Violet as she walks away):
Don't you know a sarcasm when you hear it?

Ultimately, Charlie Brown visits Lucy in her psychiatric booth. On her advice, he gets involved in directing a school play about the Nativity. She also sympathizes with Charlie Brown about holiday depression, always getting "a lot of stupid toys" instead of what she really wants: real estate.

On the way to the auditorium, Charlie Brown is drawn to Snoopy, who is frantically and gleefully busy decorating his doghouse. After Charlie Brown demands an explanation, Snoopy hands him a flier about a neighborhood lights and display contest.

Charlie Brown walks away in frustration at his own dog being bitten by the commercial bug. He then gets accosted by Sally, who wants Charlie Brown to take dictation for a letter to Santa, in which she ultimately asks him (Santa) to "just send money", particularly tens and twenties, causing Charlie Brown to run away in exasperation of even his sister's commercial corruption.

Charlie Brown arrives at the rehearsals, but try as he might, he cannot seem to get control of the situation as the uncooperative kids are more interested in modernizing the play with dancing and lively music. Charlie Brown, on the other hand, is determined to not let the play become commercial by directing the traditional side of the story.

Thinking the play requires "the proper mood", Charlie Brown decides they need a Christmas tree. So Lucy takes over the crowd and dispatches Charlie Brown to get a "big, shiny aluminum tree...maybe painted pink". With Linus in tow, Charlie Brown sets off on his quest. But when they get to the tree market, Charlie Brown zeroes in on a small baby tree which, ironically as well as symbolically, is the only real living tree on the lot. Linus displays surprise upon seeing the tree and exclaims, "Gee, do they still make wooden Christmas trees?”

Linus is reluctant about Charlie Brown's choice of this tree, but Charlie Brown is convinced that decorating it will be just right for the play, and so they return to the school auditorium with the tree, only to be verbally castigated by everyone, especially Lucy, about his choice. Second guessing himself, Charlie Brown begins to wonder if he really knows what Christmas is about, loudly asking in despair. Linus quietly says he can tell him, and walks to center stage to make his point. Under a spotlight, Linus quotes Scripture, particularly the second chapter of the Gospel of Luke, verses 8 through 14: [Authorized Version]

"'⁸And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. ⁹And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. ¹⁰And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. ¹¹For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. ¹²And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. ¹³And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, ¹⁴Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.'"

Charlie Brown now realizes he does not have to let commercialism ruin his Christmas. With a newly found sense of inspiration, he quietly picks up the little tree and walks out of the auditorium, intending to take the tree home to decorate and show the others it will work in the play.

On the way, he stops at Snoopy's decorated doghouse, which now sports a first prize blue ribbon for winning the display contest. Letting his dog's commercialism roll off his back, Charlie Brown takes an ornament off the doghouse and hangs it on his tree, but the ornament's weight is too much for the small branch and pulls it to the ground much to Charlie Brown's shock.

Unbeknownst to Charlie Brown, the rest of the gang, having also heard Linus' recitation, began to realize they were a little too rough on Charlie Brown and quietly followed him from the auditorium. Linus goes up to the little tree and gently props the drooping branch back to its upright position, ornament and all.The kids then start humming the Christmas carol, "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing." When Charlie Brown returns, he demands to know what's going on. When he sees what they have done with the tree, he cannot believe his eyes, and all the kids shout:
"MERRY CHRISTMAS, CHARLIE BROWN!"

Themes

The story touches on the over-commercialization and secularism of Christmas, and serves to remind viewers of the true meaning of Christmas: the birth of Jesus Christ, continuing a theme explored by satirists such as Stan Freberg and Tom Lehrer during the 1950s.

History

Bringing the Peanuts characters to television was not an easy task. The strip's creators, with funding from sponsor Coca-Cola, presented the CBS network with an idea for a Christmas television special starring Schulz's characters.

The production was done on a shoestring budget, resulting in a somewhat choppy animation style and, from a technical standpoint, poorly mixed sound. With the exception of the actors who voiced Charlie Brown (Peter Robbins) and Lucy (Tracy Stratford), none of the children had any experience doing voice work. This was especially challenging for Kathy Steinberg, who voiced Sally: she was too young to read and needed to be cued line by line during the soundtrack recording. The technical issues are in evidence on the show's audio track, which to some may seem noticeably choppy and poorly enunciated. One of the more noticeable quirks in the special include a shot in which Schroeder abruptly stops playing the piano, but several of the characters continue dancing for a couple of seconds. Melendez has said he remains somewhat embarrassed to see the show repeated every year with all its problems, but Schulz vetoed his idea of "fixing" the program years later.

Network executives were not at all keen on several aspects of the show, forcing Schulz and Melendez to wage some serious battles to preserve their vision. The executives did not want to have Linus reciting the story of the birth of Christ from the Gospel of Luke^[1]; the network orthodoxy of the time assumed that viewers would not want to sit through passages of the Authorised Version—commonly called the King James Version—of the Bible. A story reported on the Whoopi Goldberg-hosted version of the making of the program (see below) that Charles Schulz was adamant about keeping this scene in, remarking that "If we don't tell the true meaning of Christmas, who will?"

Another complaint was the absence of a laugh track, a common element of children's cartoons at the time. Schulz maintained that the audience should be able to enjoy the show at their own pace, without being cued when to laugh. (CBS did create a version of the show with the laugh track added, just in case Schulz changed his mind. This version remains unavailable, though unauthorized copies have appeared on YouTube.)

A third complaint was the use of children to do the voice acting, instead of employing adult actors. Finally, the executives thought that the jazz soundtrack by Vince Guaraldi would not work well for a children's program. When executives saw the final product, they were horrified and believed the special would be a complete flop.

The half-hour special first aired on Thursday, December 9, 1965, preempting The Munsters and following the Gilligan's Island episode entitled Don't Bug the Mosquitos. To the surprise of the executives, it was both a critical and commercial hit. None of the special's technical problems detracted from the show's appeal; to the contrary, it is thought that these so-called quirks, along with several other choices, are what lent the show such an innovative, authentic and sincere feeling. For instance, Linus' recitation was hailed by critics such as Harriet Van Horne of the New York World-Telegram who said, "Linus' reading of the story of the Nativity was, quite simply, the dramatic highlight of the season."

A full 50% of the televisions in the United States were tuned to the first broadcast.^[2] A Charlie Brown Christmas won an Emmy and a Peabody award, and is considered by many to be a timeless Christmas holiday classic. Watching it is an annual tradition for countless viewers. The success of the animated cartoon, A Charlie Brown Christmas gave rise to a series of holiday-themed, Peanuts TV specials, several full-length feature films, and a Saturday morning cartoon over the years.

In January 2000, one month before Schulz's death, the broadcast rights were acquired by ABC (as part of a deal between the network and Schulz), which is where the special currently airs (and has aired there since CBS's final airing of the special on December 25, 2000). On September 12, 2000, the special was released to DVD [it had previously been released on VHS through Shell Oil for sale at their gas stations]. The show enjoyed its 40th anniversary with its broadcast of Tuesday, December 6, 2005. This broadcast had the highest ratings in its time slot.

On December 6, 2001, a half-hour documentary on the special entitled The Making of "A Charlie Brown Christmas" (hosted by Whoopi Goldberg) aired on ABC. In 2002, it was replaced by Charlie Brown's Christmas Tales. This documentary was released (along with the special Charlie Brown's Christmas Tales) as a bonus feature with the special I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown on October 26, 2004.

Versions

The special has not been seen in its original, uncut form since the first three telecasts in 1965, 1966 and 1967. Much of this is due to the opening and closing credits containing references to Coca-Cola, the show's original sponsor. Specific, acknowledged cuts are:

• The main titles have Linus crashing into a Coca-Cola sign (complete with the main titles and the creator of this cartoon) after Snoopy has spun both him and Charlie Brown around with Linus' blanket. In the versions currently available, the viewer never sees where Linus' trajectory lands him. Instead, they see Charlie Brown landing towards a pine tree which causes more snow to fall on top of him.
• In the "fence" scene, where several of the Peanuts gang are attempting to knock cans off a fence with snowballs, Linus is seen knocking down a can with his blanket. In the original airing, this was a Coke can, but it was later replaced with a nondescript can.
• The final end credit originally had a voice-over saying, "Brought to you from the people in your town who bottle Coca-Cola." This is why the "Hark!" chorus sung at the end trails off oddly before the song would normally end, as an announcer originally did a voice over at this point in the credits to repeat and reemphasize the local bottler's well wishes to the TV audience (watch clip here: [1]).

Although the FCC eventually imposed rules preventing sponsor references in the context of a story (especially in children's programming), this had no effect upon the decision to impose these edits. The Coca-Cola product placement elements were removed when the company ceased being the sole sponsor, replaced in 1968 by Dolly Madison snack products, who continued to sponsor the Peanuts specials through the 1980s, along with McDonald's.

When CBS aired the special in the 1990s, the network made further cuts to the special, including standardizing closing credits (removing the closing carol outright in the process), and trimming out a series of scenes where the characters belittle Charlie Brown for picking a small Christmas tree (cutting straight to laughter), and removing references to commercialism. These cuts were made ostensibly to fit the special into the 30-minute time slot; commercial time per half-hour had increased by approximately 2 minutes between 1965 and the late 1990s. ABC, upon acquiring the rights to the special in 2000, restored all of these cuts, increasing the length of the special to 32 minutes including commercials. ABC, however, has chosen to insert its commercials into different places in the program than were originally intended (fade-outs and fade-ins where the commercials are supposed to go are clearly evident), resulting in the commercials being haphazardly inserted in the middle of musical numbers or even dialogue.

Home Video Releases

In 1992, the special was released for a limited time on VHS through Shell Oil for sale at their gas stations. In September 1994 the special was released by Paramount on VHS. Hi-Tops Video, maker of the Baby Songs videos, has also released A Charlie Brown Christmas on VHS. also released In September 2000 it was released on DVD. Bonus features included the 1992 special It's Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown. On September 23, 2008, was released by Warner Home Video (to which the rights to the Peanuts specials reverted earlier in the year, due to Melendez's connections to WB) as a "remastered" DVD. Bonus features include a restored version of Christmastime Again and a new documentary titled "A Christmas Miracle: The Making of A Charlie Brown Christmas". It is also available in a 4-disc box set with It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown and A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, also including an audio CD of Charlie Brown holiday music. It was yet again released by Warner Home Video on July 7, 2009 in a 2-disc box set called Peanuts 1960's Collection which featured all the Peanuts TV specials of the 1960's.

Since rights to this special have reverted to Warner Bros. Television, this has become available as a download on the iTunes Store and the PlayStation Network's video store, and includes It's Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown and It's Flashbeagle, Charlie Brown. It is also available on high definition Blu-Ray Disc on Warner Home Video in remastered Dolby 5.1 surround sound. This disc also contains It's Christmastime Again, A Christmas Miracle, a DVD of the special, and a Digital Copy.^[3]

Recording

• According to Bill Meléndez, some of the child actors could not read, so were given their lines to recite one at a time. Long lines sometimes had to be spliced together in the studio after the recording session was over. This led to the now-familiar Peanuts delivery style.^[4]

Voice cast

• Peter Robbins: Charlie Brown
• Chris Shea: Linus van Pelt
• Tracy Stratford: Lucille "Lucy" van Pelt
• Kathy Steinberg: Sally Brown
• Chris Doran: Schroeder and Shermy
• Geoffrey Ornstein: Pig-Pen
• Karen Mendelson: Patty (not the same as Peppermint Patty)
• Sally Dryer: Violet Gray
• Ann Altieri: Frieda
• Bill Meléndez: Snoopy

Film Credits

• Written by: Charles M. Schulz
• Story: Larry Spiegel, John Barrett, John W. Dunn, Tedd Pierce
• Directed by: Bill Melendez, Hawley Pratt, Gerry Chiniquy
• Executive Producer: Lee Mendelson
• Original Score Composed and Conducted by: Vince Guaraldi
• Design: Ed Levitt, Bernard Gruver, Ruth Kissane, Dean Spille, Frank Smith, Roy Morita, Dick Ung
• Storyboard: Charlie Hayward, Bob Richardson
• Backgrounds: Richard H. Thomas, Mary O'Loughlin
• Animation: Bob Carlson, Rudy Zamora, Bill Littlejohn, Alan Zaslove, Ruben Timmins, Herman Cohen, Bob Bemiller,
• Manuel Perez, Russ Von Nedia, John Walker, Bob Matz, John Freeman, John Gibbs, Tom Ray, Ken Walker, Jim Davis,
• Norm McCabe, Art Leonardi, Bob Richardson, Don Williams, Bob Bransford, Glenn Schmitz
• Painting: Beverly Robbins, Eleanor Warren
• Editing: Roger Donley, Robert T. Gillis, Allan Potter, Joe Siracusa, Rick Steward
• In Charge of Production: Lee Gunther
• Sound: Producers' Sound Service
• Camera: John Burton Jr., Larry Hogan, Ray Lee
• Production Mixer: Steve Orr
• A LEE MENDELSON-BILL MELENDEZ PRODUCTION
• In Cooperation With United Feature Syndicate, Inc.
• "A Charlie Brown Christmas"
• THE END
• © 1965 United Feature Syndicate, Inc.

Influence

Cover from the soundtrack album for A Charlie Brown Christmas

• The musical soundtrack to A Charlie Brown Christmas, by jazz composer Vince Guaraldi, has become as well-known as the story itself. In particular, the instrumental "Linus and Lucy" has come to be regarded as the signature musical theme of the Peanuts specials. Additionally "Christmas Time is Here" has become a popular Christmas tune. A soundtrack album for the special was released by Fantasy Records and remains a perennial best-seller. (While the soundtrack contains some music that does not appear in the TV special, it also fails to include two musical themes which appear in the special. Both of those missing themes are, however, available on another album by the Vince Guaraldi Trio entitled Charlie Brown's Holiday Hits.)
• A Charlie Brown Christmas is often credited with spearheading the popular stigmatization of artificial Christmas trees.
• A Charlie Brown Christmas has also been performed as a charity stage program in live theatrical venues across the country.
• A politically incorrect parody called A Charlie Brown Kwanzaa, that mixes the unauthorized use of footage from the classic TV special with a new soundtrack featuring obscene dialogue performed in exaggerated African American voices, has been in existence since 2002 and available on the Internet since 2005. [2] and [3]
• A lengthened version of "A Charlie Brown Christmas" is set to be performed by Westminster Christian Academy retitled "Merry Christmas Charlie Brown." Added content was written by the Westminster Player's director, Jim Chambers.
• A parody entitled A Charlie Brownstain Christmas, produced by Philadelphia-based morning radio show The Preston and Steve Show, airs yearly on WMMR (93.3) in December.
• A popular viral video combining footage from the special with Outkast's 2003 single Hey Ya! was created by Venis Productions' Ryan King and Dan Hess, leading to a "ceast and desist" order from United Media/United Features Syndicate [4], distributor of the Peanuts comic strip. Although removed from many mirror websites in 2004, the video can still be found occasionally on web video hosting sites.
• Dave Matthews Band routinely interpolates Linus and Lucy into their live performances as part of a transition from "Seek Up" into "Pantala Naga Pampa" when performing with keyboardist Butch Taylor. ^[5]

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