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A Charlie Brown Christmas is the first prime-time animated TV special based upon the comic strip Peanuts, by Charles M. Schulz. It was produced and directed by former Warner Bros. and UPA animator Bill Melendez, who also supplied the voice for the character of Snoopy. Initially sponsored by Coca-Cola, the special debuted on CBS in 1965, and has been aired during the Christmas season every year since: on CBS through 2000, and on ABC since 2001. Long an annual telecast, the special is now shown at least twice during the weeks leading up to Christmas. The special has been honored with both an Emmy and Peabody Award. Since its original airdate, the special has become a classic to watch during the Christmas season.
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, cards and tree decorating, due to the over-commercialization of Christmas. His depression and aggravation only get exacerbated by the goings-on in the neighborhood. Though his mailbox is empty, he tries sarcastically to thank Violet for the card she "sent" him, though Violet takes his sarcasm literally.
Ultimately, Charlie Brown visits Lucy in her psychiatric booth. On her advice that he needs more involvement, she asks him to direct a school nativity play.
On the way to the auditorium, Charlie Brown stops by Snoopy's doghouse, only to find him frantically busy decorating it. After Charlie Brown demands an explanation, Snoopy hands him a flyer about a neighborhood lights and display contest which upsets Charlie Brown because even his own dog has gone commercial. En route to the rehearsals, he runs into his sister Sally, who asks him to write her letter to Santa Claus; her telling him to put in a request for large sums of money ("tens and twenties," the rough equivalent to $50 and $100 bills in 2011 dollars) causes Charlie Brown to become even more dismayed.
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 not to let the play become commercial and to focus on 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". 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 tree on the lot.
Linus is reluctant about Charlie Brown's choice, but Charlie Brown is convinced that after decorating it, it will be just right for the play. They return to the school auditorium with the tree and everybody laughs at Charlie Brown, especially Lucy, about his choice. Second guessing himself, Charlie Brown begins to wonder if he really knows what Christmas is all about, loudly asking the question in despair. Linus quietly says he can tell him, and walks to center stage to make his point. Under a spotlight, Linus quotes the second chapter of the Gospel according to Luke, verses 8 through 14 from the King James 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 tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. 11For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, 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 and goodwill towards men.'"
"...And that's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown."
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. He puts an ornamental ball on the top of his tree; the branch, with the ball still on it, promptly flops over to one side instead of remaining upright, prompting him to declare "I've killed it" and run off in disgust at his perpetual failure.
Unbeknownst to Charlie Brown; the rest of the gang, having also heard Linus's recitation, began to realize they were a little too rough on Charlie Brown and have 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; and wraps his security blanket around the tree. After they add the remaining decorations from Snoopy's doghouse to the tree, the kids then start humming the Christmas carol, "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing." When Charlie Brown sees what they have done with the tree, he cannot believe his eyes, and the kids give him a rousing "Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown!" before singing "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" as the end credits roll.
The story touches on the over-commercialization and secularism of Christmas, and serves to remind viewers of "the true meaning of Christmas", continuing a theme explored by satirists such as Stan Freberg and Tom Lehrer during the 1950s.
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 in 1965.[1]
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), Linus (Christopher Shea), 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 Mendelson recalls that she needed to be cued "one line at a time" 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 includes a shot in which Schroeder abruptly stops playing the piano, but several of the characters continue dancing for a couple of seconds. Melendez said he remained 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; the network orthodoxy of the time assumed that viewers would not want to sit through passages of 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, "If we don't tell the true meaning of Christmas, who will?"[citation needed]
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. CBS programmers were equally pessimistic, informing the production team, “We will, of course, air it next week, but I’m afraid we won’t be ordering any more.”[2] Mendelson and Melendez said to themselves, "We've just ruined Charlie Brown."
The half-hour special first aired on Thursday, December 9, 1965, preempting The Munsters and following the Gilligan's Island episode "Don't Bug the Mosquitoes".[3] 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's 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 total of 50% of the televisions in the United States were tuned to the first broadcast.[4] A Charlie Brown Christmas won an Emmy and a Peabody award, and is today considered to be one of the most beloved animated holiday specials of all time. The success of the animated special, A Charlie Brown Christmas, has given rise to numerous other Peanuts specials (including ten others that are also holiday-themed), a miniseries devoted to America (This Is America, Charlie Brown), a Saturday morning cartoon (The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show), and four full-length Peanuts feature films.
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. This documentary was released on VHS and DVD (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.
Live theatrical versions of A Charlie Brown Christmas have been staged, notably by church groups who appreciate the biblical references. Actual children are used most often to play the parts and recite the lines, especially Linus' recitation of the Nativity story from the Gospel of Luke.
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's blanket. In the versions currently available, the viewer never sees where Linus's trajectory lands him. Instead, they see Charlie Brown landing towards a pine tree which causes more snow to fall on top of him. The removed clip of Linus crashing into a Coca-Cola sign is seen in a 1965 promo for the film.[citation needed]
- 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.[citation needed]
- The final end credit originally had a voice-over saying, "Brought to you by 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]). This edit was never changed, but in newer versions, a quick fade-out and fade-in revealed the "THE END" screen, in order to make the audio-fade seem more natural.[citation needed]
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.[citation needed]
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), 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, which required ABC to either commission or adjust existing programming to fit into the extra 28 minutes of the hour. 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.
Several scenes were cut from the first airing in December 2009 on ABC to make room for the new special Prep & Landing; cuts that were reprised in 2011 to make room for the sequel to that special.[5] These include:
- Sally asking Charlie Brown to help her write a letter to Santa Claus.
- Snoopy eating a stack of bones while reading a newspaper on top of his doghouse.
- While Pig-Pen is building a snowman, Charlie Brown approaches and comments on the dust cloud kicked up in the snowstorm.
- Several of the kids trying to catch snowflakes on their tongues.
- Lucy, Schroeder, and Linus throwing snowballs at a can on a fence.
- Shermy's only line after being informed by Lucy that he will be playing a shepherd in the Christmas play.
- Lucy asking Schroeder to play a simple version of "Jingle Bells", only to hear him play three of them (conventional piano, Hammond organ, and toy piano on one finger).
The full version of the special is generally aired in the encore presentation, with Charlie Brown's Christmas Tales airing in the remaining time.
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. A laser disc was released by Paramount (distributed by Pioneer) in 1996; Side 2 contained the 1979 special You're the Greatest, Charlie Brown.
In September 2000 it was released on DVD. Bonus features included the 1992 special It's Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown. On September 23, 2008, Warner Home Video (to which the rights to the Peanuts specials reverted earlier in the year, due to Melendez's connections to WB) released 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 1960s.
In the UK it was released along with "I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown"
Since off-network rights to this special have been transferred to Warner Home Video, 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 from Warner 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.[6]
- 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.[1]
Children's chorus for the songs "Christmas Time is Here", "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" and when the kids all shout "Merry Christmas Charlie Brown" were performed by members of the choir of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in San Rafael California. Several months before the making of Charlie Brown Christmas this choir was featured on the Vince Guaraldi recording "Vince Guaraldi at Grace Cathedral"
File:CBXCD.jpg
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. It also includes the full version of Hark! The Herald Angels Sing without the audio fade-out where the Coca-Cola voice-over originally was. Both of those missing themes are, however, available on another album by the Vince Guaraldi Trio entitled Charlie Brown's Holiday Hits.)
The popularity of the special is said to have practically eliminated the popularity of the aluminum Christmas tree, which was a popular fad between 1958 and 1965, but because of the negative publicity the trees received in A Charlie Brown Christmas, quickly fell out of favor. By 1967, just two years after the special first aired, they were no longer being regularly manufactured.[7][8][9][10]
Three lesser-known Christmas specials were produced decades after the 1965 original.
- It's Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown (1992). This special was 30 minutes in length with commercials and aired on CBS. It was abandoned by CBS shortly thereafter; it was released on DVD as a bonus feature with A Charlie Brown Christmas.
- Charlie Brown's Christmas Tales (2002). This special is a slightly shorter 25 minutes with commercials and debuted on ABC. It has been released on DVD along with I Want a Dog for Christmas...
- I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown (2003) This special is a full hour long with commercials and debuted on ABC. It is available on DVD.
While not true sequels, several other Charlie Brown holiday season specials were produced: 1966's It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, 1973's A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, and Happy New Year, Charlie Brown!, among several others. All three of those mentioned still receive airplay on ABC to this day, with the first two having aired on a near-continuous basis since their debuts.
In 2002, a parody video called "A Charlie Brown Kwanzaa" was released by an anonymous person identifying themselves as "Most Offensive Video"; the video has since gone 'viral' on the Internet.[11]
- ^ a b Lee Mendelson (2005-09-27). A Charlie Brown Christmas: The Making of a Tradition. Harper Paperbacks. ISBN 0-06-076659-X. http://books.google.com/books?id=HW_JRJq_6roC&lpg=PP1&dq=A%20Charlie%20Brown%20Christmas%3A%20The%20Making%20of%20a%20Tradition&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false.
- ^ Have Yourself a Counter-Culture XMas: Red-Nosed Misfits, Elven Outlaws & Bearded Marxists < PopMatters
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0588072/
- ^ Nichols, Bill (5 December 2005). "The Christmas Classic That Almost Wasn't". USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2005-12-05-charlie-brown-christmas_x.htm. Retrieved 12 February 2012.
- ^ "Editorial: Meaning of Christmas is always there". http://www.theheraldbulletin.com/opinion/local_story_343214159.html?keyword=topstory.
- ^ WHV Press Release: Seasonal Family Classics Combo Packs (Blu-ray)
- ^ Andrews, Candice Gaukel. Great Wisconsin Winter Weekends, (Google Books), Big Earth Publishing, 2006, p. 178, (ISBN 1-931599-71-8)
- ^ Lukas, Paul. "Trees Made of Tinsel", Money Magazine, via CNNMoney.com December 1, 2004, accessed December 13, 2008.
- ^ "A dark family secret: the artificial Christmas tree", Oakland Tribune, December 24, 2006, via findarticles.com, accessed December 13, 2008.
- ^ Pinto, Barbara. "Town Leads Aluminum Christmas Tree Revival", ABC News, December 18, 2005, accessed December 13, 2008.
- ^ The bootleg files: How the Grinch stole Kwanzaa, Film Threat, 23 December 2011, http://www.filmthreat.com/features/44435/
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