Charlie chats with Linus in the snow in this frame from ABC's "A Charlie Brown Christmas."About “A Charlie Brown Christmas”
› Premiere: Dec. 9, 1965 on CBS› Director: Bill Melendez› Writer: Charles M. Schulz› Composer: Vince Guaraldi› Sponsor: The Coca-Cola Co.› Audience of original broadcast: 36 million, about half of American TV viewers› Run time: 22 minutes› Rating: 86 percent, based on 325,000 user reviews on RottenTomatoes.com› Awards: Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Children’s Program (1966), Peabody Award (1966)
Watch it
“A Charlie Brown Christmas” has already run on broadcast TV but it can be watched online at ABC.go.com/shows/movies-and-specials/listings/a-charlie-brown-christmas.The special is also available for purchase via the following services. [Note: Prices include two additional episodes, “It’s Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown” and “It’s Flashbeagle, Charlie Brown.”]› Cinema Now ($10 standard-definition)› Amazon Video ($10 standard-definition, $13 high-definition)› Vudu ($10 standard-definition, $13 high-definition)
Did you know?
› The soundtrack to “A Charlie Brown Christmas” by the Vince Guaraldi Trio was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2007. In 2011, it was added to the National Recording Registry, a collection of works that “showcas[e] the range and diversity of American recorded sound heritage.”› The idea of a Christmas special based on the Peanuts cartoon strip was introduced by Coca-Cola, which ultimately sponsored the cartoon’s creation. The only sign of Coca-Cola’s involvement was on a title slide announcing the sponsorship during the broadcast.› The 22-minute run time of “A Charlie Brown Christmas” includes about 30,000 cells of animation.› “A Charlie Brown Christmas” is currently No. 6 on AMC’s popular vote-determined list of Top 20 Christmas Movies. It is the second highest-ranked animated entry on the list after “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” (No. 5).› “A Charlie Brown Christmas” is the second-longest-running Christmas special on American network TV. The first is “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” which premiered one year earlier in 1964.› “A Charlie Brown Christmas” bucked 1960s TV convention in several ways, including the absence of a laugh track, using child actors instead of adult impersonators and the reading of a Bible verse (Luke 2: 8-14). Some of the children were so young they couldn’t read and had to memorize their lines through recitation.Source: IMDB.com, Coca-Cola, Forbes, CNN.
Peanuts live
Earlier this month, the Chattanooga Theatre Centre began a run of dates featuring the stage production of “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” There are two more 2:30 p.m. performances on Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 12-13, at the Theatre Centre, 400 River St. Tickets are $10, and the runtime is about an hour. For more information or to order tickets, call the box office at 267-8534 or visit www.theatrecentre.com.
Transforming a simple little tree into a thing of beauty with a lot of love and attention -- and some canine star power-- are Charlie Brown, Snoopy and additional members of the "Peanuts" gang.Given its tilted, scraggly trunk and nearly bald branches, pretty much no one expected Charlie Brown's tree to amount to much in "A Charlie Brown Christmas" - including the leading boy blunder himself.
"Everything I do turns into a disaster," Charlie laments after receiving nothing but derisive laughter and insults when he presents his tree to his classmates. "I guess I really don't know what Christmas is all about."
When CBS premiered "A Charlie Brown Christmas" - the first Peanuts TV special - on Dec. 9, 1965, however, that little no-account evergreen became an icon just as ingrained in holiday movie lore as the Grinch's too-small heart and Clark Griswold's electric buffoonery.
Chattanoogan Amanda Hostetler says she watched the initial broadcast of "A Charlie Brown Christmas" 50 years ago. At the time, she remembers feeling bad for Charlie Brown, whose failures always seemed to overshadow his good intentions. Now 55, she's seen the special "90 percent of the times it's come on," and it always evokes a comforting sense of nostalgia.
"I think it brings back good memories from your life," she says. "All that just seems to be brought out when I watch it. [It makes] people think about the good things that are happening, instead of the bad things."
A Christmas miracle
As cherished as it's become today, however, the special almost didn't exist.
According to a post written by Ted Ryan, the director of heritage communication at the Coca-Cola Co., which sponsored the special, an attempt by Charles M. Schulz to pitch a TV pilot based on his "Peanuts" comic strips was turned down by all three networks in 1965.
Coca-Cola wasn't interested in the pilot - which was about how Charlie Brown was "the world's worst baseball player" - but the company approached producer Lee Mendelson, Schulz's collaborator on the unsuccessful pilot, about doing a holiday special. The two had no story in mind at the time, Ryan writes, but after a blitz brainstorming session, they returned a few days later with the concept of what would become "A Charlie Brown Christmas."
"They quickly crafted a simple, single-page creative treatment to present to Coke," Ryan writes. "The next day, Coke sent Schulz and Mendelson the following telegram:
"Confirm sale of Charlie Brown fro Christmas to Coca-Cola for December broadcast at your terms with option on second show for next spring. Good Grief!"
Production wrapped in a matter of months, and critics point out that the "[un]complicated" and "gently meandering" plot of "A Charlie Brown Christmas" is almost as bare-bones as its namesake's diminutive Christmas twig.
Charlie Brown begins the 22-minute special depressed by his inability to feel Christmas cheer thanks to the rampant commercialism he sees around him. After his attempt to find the perfect tree fails inspire his friends, he laments that perhaps no one knows what Christmas is all about, prompting his friend, Linus, to recite the story of the Nativity. Afterward, Charlie and his friends are reminded of the religious origins of the holiday and discover that greater joy can be had in celebrating their faith and each other than in amassing a pile of gifts.
Despite its hurried production, "A Charlie Brown Christmas" has managed to build a massive fan base over the years. Many of them say the message of connecting with Christmas' true origins and the the wholesome "slice of American life" brand of humor are so timeless that the special's continued popularity is no surprise.
"Watching that movie as adults helps us remember our childhood and remember where we came from," says Hixson resident Tobie Thayer. "Families need something that they can sit down and watch and have hope and enjoy one another. It's a movie that makes you feel good."
Like many fans of the special, the 58-year-old says she has watched "A Charlie Brown Christmas" every year since its 1965 premiere. Later, she and her husband incorporated it into their holiday traditions with their children. This year, she purchased a digital copy to watch with her grandchildren, who range from toddlers to high school upperclassmen.
"They all watched it and enjoyed it," she says. "Each one had their own specific favorite part."
A classic score
For many fans, the film's soundtrack is what makes it stand out from the holiday movie horde. San Francisco jazz pianist/composer Vince Guaraldi's selections include jazz-inflected takes on Christmas standards as well as the now-iconic, rollicking original "Linus and Lucy." In 2007, the score was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
"That soundtrack is not just my favorite Christmas album; it's probably my favorite jazz album," says Butch Ross, a local musician and avid fan of the special. "It's really great music. As someone who has taken the time to learn how to play 'Linus and Lucy' on piano, when you dig into it, you go, 'My God, this guy was firing on all cylinders.'"
Initially, though, not everyone was a fan of the music. In an interview included in Derrick Bang's book "Vince Guaraldi at the Piano," the composer recalls that his compositions didn't go over well with the network during early screenings.
"When we finished the show, [director] Bill [Melendez] and I thought we had ruined Charlie Brown," Guaraldi says. "We took it to CBS, and the two top folks liked it even less. They didn't get the jazz score, or the fact that we had used children to voice the kids in the show. Bill and I figured we had a disaster on our hands."
Not so much.
The following year, "A Charlie Brown Christmas" won a Primetime Emmy Award and a Peabody Award, which "draw[s] attention to stories that matter in electronic media," according to the award's website.
"It ['A Charlie Brown Christmas'] was a gem of a show that faithfully and sensitively introduced to television the 'Peanuts' collection of newspaper characters created by Charles Schulz," reads the special's entry among the Peabody archives. "'A Charlie Brown Christmas' was a delight for the whole family."
"A Charlie Brown Christmas" trails only "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" as the longest-running holiday special in TV history; "Rudolph" came out one year earlier. In the years since "A Charlie Brown Christmas" premiered, it has established itself as a holiday favorite and often appears - despite its brief runtime - alongside feature-length films on Best Christmas Movie lists by outlets such as Nerve.com (No. 10 of 100), American Movie Classics (No. 6 of 20) and Entertainment Weekly (No. 3 of 20).
"Some holiday movies just make you feel good when they come on. To me, and I'm guessing a lot of you, this is that movie," writes Entertainment Weekly's Chris Nashawaty. "Plus, if there was ever a movie that made you want to take home the saddest, baldest tree at the nursery, this is it."
They may have made fun of him for his arboreal choices, but even the other characters in "A Charlie Brown Christmas" recognized their fallible friend was on to something special.
"Charlie Brown is a blockhead," Lucy muses in the special, "but he did get a nice tree."
Contact Casey Phillips at cphillips@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6205. Follow him on Twitter at @PhillipsCTFP.
Other 'Peanuts' TV specials
› “Charlie Brown’s All-Stars” (1966)› “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” (1966)› “You’re in Love, Charlie Brown” (1967)› “He’s Your Dog, Charlie Brown” (1968)› “It Was a Short Summer, Charlie Brown” (1969)› “Play It Again, Charlie Brown” (1971)› “You’re Not Elected, Charlie Brown” (1973)› “It’s a Mystery, Charlie Brown” (1974)› “Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown” (1975)› “You’re a Good Sport, Charlie Brown” (1975)› “It’s Your First Kiss, Charlie Brown” (1977)› “What a Nightmare, Charlie Brown” (1978)› “You’re the Greatest, Charlie Brown” (1979)› “She’s a Good Skate, Charlie Brown” (1980)› “LIfe Is a Circus, Charlie Brown” (1980)› “It’s Magic, Charlie Brown” (1981)› “Someday You’ll Find Her, Charlie Brown” (1981)› “A Charlie Brown Celebration” (1982)› “Is This Goodbye, Charlie Brown?” (1983)› “It’s an Adventure, Charlie Brown” (1983)› “What Have We Learned, Charlie Brown?” (1983)› “It’s Flashbeagle, Charlie Brown” (1984)› “Snoopy’s Getting Married, Charlie Brown” (1985)› “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown” (1985)› “Happy New Year, Charlie Brown” (1986)› “Snoopy: The Musical” (1988)› “It’s the Girl in the Red Truck, Charlie Brown” (1988)› “Why, Charlie Brown, Why?” (1990)› “Snoopy’s Reunion” (1991)› “It’s Spring Training, Charlie Brown” (1992)› “You’re in the Super Bowl, Charlie Brown” (1994)› “It Was My Best Birthday Ever, Charlie Brown” (1997)› “A Charlie Brown Valentine” (2002)› “Lucy Must Be Traded, Charlie Brown” (2003)› “I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown” (2003)› “He’s a Bully, Charlie Brown” (2006)› “Happiness Is a Warm Blanket, Charlie Brown” (2011)