The True Meaning of the Seasonal “A Charlie Brown Christmas”
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Schulz, the man who birthed the lovably hard-luck Charlie Brown, was known to have wrestled with self-doubt. Yet when it came to taking the reins of “A Charlie Brown Christmas” in 1965, the “Peanuts” creator was a thinker of unwavering confidence and cool-headed belief, his longtime screen collaborator and late producer Lee Mendelson — who wrote the lyrics to Vince Guaraldi’s jazzy “Christmas Time Is Here” — used to tell me.
Foremost among the decisions Schulz made with conviction was to quote Scripture in his script. If he was going to make a December special, Schulz — who had regularly attended and then taught Bible study groups (first with a Church of God community in his native Minnesota, then at a Methodist church in Sebastopol, California) — was going to mention the reason for the season.
Michael Cavna for National Catholic Reporter readers tells the story of the making “A Charlie Brown Christmas” by interviewing descendants of the creators of the popular animated special that is still loved 60 years after its debut despite (because of?) its religious flavoring.
Because of his strong sense of mission, Schulz — who had attended many a school pageant as a father of five — scripted the pivotal Biblical scene.
The result: Debuting Dec. 9, 1965, in prime time, “A Charlie Brown Christmas” (now streaming on Apple TV+) was watched by nearly half of all American viewers. The reviews were glowing and the creative collaborators soon picked up Emmy and Peabody Awards, sparking their decades-long partnership on animated “Peanuts” projects. Yet looking back, just what fueled Schulz’s assurance all along?
For the nationally distributed TV Guide for the week of December 4-10, 1965 Charles M. Schulz created a two page comic strip to advertise the Christmas special featuring Peanuts characters.
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