How A Charlie Brown Christmas Came to Pass The unlikely beginnings of a holiday classic

http://www.factmonster.com/spot/cbrown1.html ^ | by Holly Hartman

[Petes Sandy Girl]

How A Charlie Brown Christmas Came to Pass
The unlikely beginnings of a holiday classic

by Holly Hartman

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The first of nearly 50 Peanuts television movies, A Charlie Brown Christmas is the longest-running cartoon special in history, airing every year since its debut in 1965. Whimsical, melancholy, and ultimately full of wonder, it is a holiday favorite for countless families. But this cartoon classic almost didn't make it on the air.


A Movie No One Wanted


In 1963 producer Lee Mendelson made a short documentary about Charles Schulz called A Boy Named Charlie Brown. It included a few minutes of animated Peanuts scenes by Bill Melendez, who had animated the kids for a series of Ford Motor commercials, and music by jazz pianist Vince Guaraldi. Sadly, no television network wanted to air it.


But in 1965, after the Peanuts made the cover of TIME magazine, an advertising agent for the Coca-Cola company who had seen the Schulz documentary called Mendelson. The agent asked if Mendelson had thought about creating a Peanuts Christmas special. Mendelson fibbed that he had; the following day, he and Schulz came up with the story.


The Wise Men Meet

The basics of the cartoon were laid out within a few hours. It would include ice-skating; a pageant (Mendelson and Schulz had both flubbed parts in school shows); a mix of Christmas carols and Guaraldi's contemporary jazz; and the message that Christmas is really about the joyful miracle of Jesus's birth.

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"There will always be an audience for innocence in this country." —Charles Schulz
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Schulz wanted A Charlie Brown Christmas to have the religious meaning that was central to his own experience of Christmas. And though the special was made in California, Schulz wanted it to include snowy scenes that recalled his native Midwest.


Christmas Critics


Even Schulz admitted that he was probably the only person who could have gotten A Charlie Brown Christmas made. Television executives hated it from the start.

It was criticized as being too religious—Linus quotes straight from the King James Bible (Luke 2:8-14). It was criticized for featuring contemporary jazz, an offbeat choice for a cartoon. It was criticized for not having a laugh track. It was criticized for using the voices of real children (except for Snoopy, who was voiced by animator Melendez).


O Happy Night


But it was an instant hit with viewers and reviewers alike.

On Thursday, December 9, 1965, A Charlie Brown Christmas was seen in more than 15 million homes, capturing nearly half of the possible audience. That week it was number two in the ratings, after Bonanza. It won critical acclaim as well as an Emmy Award for Outstanding Children's Program and a Peabody Award for excellence in programming.


Lost Footage


Unless you've watched A Charlie Brown Christmas from the get-go, you haven't seen the whole show. Coca-Cola, its first sponsor, had left its mark—or rather its logo, which appeared several times. For instance, in the skating scene, Snoopy throws Linus from the rink into a Coca-Cola sign (did you ever wonder where Linus lands?). Later sponsors objected, and the frames were edited out.

Several minutes' worth of footage was also clipped to allow more time for commercials, though some has been restored. Until 1997, the scene in which the Peanuts throw snowballs at a can on a fence was missing from both broadcast and video versions.


Peanuts Holiday Specials

1965 A Charlie Brown Christmas

1966 It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

1973 A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving

1974 It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown

1975 Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown

1986 Happy New Year, Charlie Brown

1992 It's Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown

1995 It's Arbor Day, Charlie Brown

[Petes Sandy Girl]

[InvisibleChurch]

I half expected to read about a cut scene where Charlie Brown and Lucy are enjoying a Winston cigarette and commenting how the pure tobacco flavor really brings Christmas home.

[InvisibleChurch]

.... good article, btw .... thanks

[Lazamataz]

(...cue Peanuts kids humming Hark the Herald Angels Sing.....)
ooo-ooooo-ooooo-ooo-oo-oooo-ooo-oooooo
oooo-oooo-oooo-oo-oo-oo-oooooooo......



MERRY CHRISTMAS, FREE REPUBLIC!!!!!

[speedy]

Hee hee. Remember the commercials of Fred and Wilma Flintstone lighting up their Winstons?

[PresbyRev]

Fond Gen X memories - thanks for the post and Merry Christmas!

[Petes Sandy Girl]

The Sounds of "A Charlie Brown Christmas" .. LINK

[Lazamataz]

Too late. Bearshare and Gnutella have already provided me all the Christmas downloads I can stand. :o)

[jocon307]

This year we bought a set of Peanuts specials on DVD, it also includes one about elections. I think it is called "you're not elected, Charlie Brown". Maybe Santa will leave a copy of that one for John Francois and Al Gore.

Am I too mean? Probably.

Merry Christmas to all Freepers, and to Al, Tipper, John & Teresa too!

[Lazamataz]

"And remember, kids, have a Yabba-Dabba-cigarette!"

[Petes Sandy Girl]

ping!

[Bommer]

I'm still waiting for CBS comes out with the version where a tramatized Charlie Brown, suffering from years of mental cruelty gets a deer rifle and shoots all the Peanuts gang. He then hires Johnny Cochran to get him off.

The working title would be "Happiness is a Warm Gun Charlie Brown!"

[MetalHeadConservative35]

i am a peanuts nut...i go to there website everyday..watch all the movies and worship the world war one flying ace snoopy lol

Peanuts rule..ill never get tired of em

[sonsofliberty2000]

---

Patriot Paradox

[sonsofliberty2000]

One more!

---

Patriot Paradox

[speedy]

LOL. I guess Bedrock had not passed any no-smoking laws back then.

[AppyPappy]

I would love to have a DVD with nothing but old cigarette commercials on it.

Name the brands:

A silly millimeter longer

To a smoker, it's a _____

______ tastes good like a cigarette should

Which cigarette was always broken as a result of it length?

[speedy]

Yeah, definitely pre-PC. I also remember the Sugar Pops ads that would BRAG about being "shot with sugar, through and through."

[speedy]

I remember it was Benson and Hedges that broke off -- "oh the disadvantages." And, of course, "Winston tastes good like a cigarette should." I recall the silly millimeter ads but not the brand.

How about "Outstanding -- and they are mild."

And of course, the Micronite Filter.

Spingtime, it happens every ______

Boy, we learn so much from television.

[Skooz]

By far my favorite Christmas special ever. Watching it every year was an absolute MUST when I was growing up. It still is.

[Pete'sWife]

There's a Vince Guraldi CD of "A Charlie Brown Christmas."

It's fantastic. We play it all year long.

[maggief]

[brewer1516]

I would encourage anyone who likes jazz to get the Vince Guaraldi Charlie Brown Christmas album. There is some great jazz on that disc.

[Skooz]

You've come a long way, baby;
to get where you got to today.
You've got your own cigarette now, baby;
You've come a long long way.

[speedy]

Yeah, that's Virginia Slims. Which one was "The Seven Minute Cigarette"? I think it was some variation of Old Gold. For someone who never smoked in his life, cigarette ads still made a big impression. Seemed like they ran more than any other kind of product. LSMFT bump.

[Skooz]

The scary thing is that cig adverts were banned from TV on Jan. 1, 1970: Two days before my 10th birthday, and I still remember the jingles like it were yesterday.

[speedy]

Yeah, they were catchy. If I recall, the very last one was the Marlboro man and the "Magnificent Seven" theme. Boy, Jan 1 1970 -- even before The Beatles broke up!!

[whereasandsoforth]

You get a lot to like with a Marlboro
Filter
Flavor
Pack or box

[speedy]

Newport tastes fresher -- than any other menthol cigarette.

[Alas Babylon!]

To a smoker, it's a _____


Kent!

[jimfree]

A silly millimeter longer 101

To a smoker, it's a _____ Kent (to the tune of "Happiness Is")

Winston ______ tastes good like a cigarette should ("or like a cigarette had oughta" - Granny Clampett)

Which cigarette was always broken as a result of it length?Benson and Hedges?

[AppyPappy]

No more calls, we have a winner.

[jimfree]

No more calls, we have a winner.

Thank you. Thank you. I'm just a child of the 60s.

[Alas Babylon!]

Actually, the very last cigarette commercial was a Virginia Slims commercial shown on the Tonight Show at 11:59 PM on 31 December 1971.

Click here to order a video of old cigarette commericals.

[Hebrews 11:6]

Call for Phillip Morris!!!

[Kerfuffle]

LOL... they don't even CALL them "Sugar Pops" anymore.

[MOgirl]

Hello,

That is my absolute all-time favorite Christmas CD (followed closely by a "Soul Christmas")

Merry Christmas to all, glad to be here, MOgirl

[Jackknife]

IMO, the best Christmas soundtrack.

[redheadtoo]

I recall the silly millimeter ads but not the brand.

The brand was called 101. The lyrics of the song ran, One, oh, one, one, oh, one, a silly little millimeter longer one, oh, one, a silly millimeter longer, etc.

[rcocean]

I watched it as a Kid, and now my kid loves it too.

[eddie willers]

LSMFT bump.

Lucky Strikes Means Fine Tobacco or (if you're naughty)

Loose Straps Means Floppy Tits.

[Galactic Overlord-In-Chief]

Who doesn't love Lucy diagnosing Charlie Brown with pantaphobia.

"Maybe you have pantaphobia."

"What's pantaphobia?"

"The fear of everything."

"THAT'S IT!"

[cyncooper]

Speaking of sponsors, anyone else remember the early broadcasts of "Rudolph" being sponsored by Norelco?

The ads during the program feature Santa's elves and the company slightly modified their name to "Noelco" and their saying was "Even our name says 'Merry Christmas'".

[cyncooper]

Which cigarette was always broken as a result of it length?

Benson and Hedges?

I believe it was "Winston tastes good like a cigarette should".

Remember "Cigar, cigarette, Tiparillo"?

[BibChr]

I love this cartoon. There's even more to the story, that I don't recall. They had all sorts of problems, though.

Then they went and made a second Christmas "special," and all I remember about it is -- ugh.

Dan

[KosmicKitty]

So round
So Firm
So fully packed
So easy on the draw


My father always used the first 3 lines to describe our toy fox terrier, Gus. Gus almost made it to 18. I think my father was more upset when Gus dues than when my mother died.

[mabelkitty]

Oh, I love them so.
I grew up with them.
I had their "Happiness is a Warm Puppy" books and their cookbooks when I was a kid.

When my husband nags at me, I do the "teacher" voice at him. He had no idea what I was doing until he saw one of the specials. I could never understand the "teacher" voice. It was sooo wierd.

[KosmicKitty]

Gus dues

Make that "Gus died"

Off for more coffee =8-p

[mabelkitty]

What the he!!? I never heard of this, or saw this before, and I was a Flintophile.

[Cowboy Bob]

They didn't list my favorite Charlie Brown special: "Its the Big A*s Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" (on Mad TV)