Comic Riffs blogger Michael Cavna has a detailed history of “A Charlie Brown Christmas” which airs tonight.
Charles Schulz was long viewed as a man plagued by anxiety, self-doubt and fear of rejection. Yet when it came to the production of “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” Mendleson says, Schulz was the epitome of confidence and assured cool.
After the initial call to Mendelson, Coca-Cola and McCann Erickson were going to make their decision in one week’s time. Translation: In an era when Western Union was their fastest form of written communication, Mendelson and Schulz had only a few days to cobble together an outline.
I watched it last night with my 3 year old daughter. (“Snoopy’s crazy!” she told me) Such a great cartoon and holiday tradition.
Schulz had his anxieties, all right, but not when it came to his beloved comic strip and this may have been most evident in the very key role he played in “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” And yet it probably could not have been the classic it is without the extraordinary talents of Melendez, Mendelson and Guaraldi. It all came together to produce sheer magic.