How CBS tried to cancel the Charlie Brown Christmas Story.

Some stories just need reporting so we don’t forget some of the heroes of our past. I have paid attention to anything Charles Schultz since I played hockey with his grandson years ago. I was listening to 1380 KTKZ on the way to work the other day when morning talk show host Mike Gallagher shared an amazing story about CBS and Charlie Brown’s Christmas. I did a little fact checking to confirm it and here is what I discovered. Here are some notes from Holly Hartman who researched this, her notes are in blue.

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.

 ”There will always be an audience for innocence in this country.” —Charles Schulz

 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).

Animators who worked on the project that were interviewed didn’t like it because of its religious ramifications.  CBS reluctantly put it on the air, hoping no one would watch it.

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.

Charlie Brown laments Christmas becoming to comercialized

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.

I have seen the Charlie Brown Christmas at least 20 times.  Every time I see it it becomes more meaningful to me.  These cartoon characters do more for me than any sermon I have ever heard on the birth of Christ.  Now that I know how close this show almost never made it onto TV, it means more to me now. Knowing that CBS tried to keep a few cartoon characters from speaking about the birth of Jesus gives me more incentive to watch this amazing cartoon.  From Linus:

“And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.  And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.  And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.  And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,  Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”

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.  What do executives know huh?  AIG, Lehman Bros., GMAC.

Today the show is more popular than ever and with jazz pianist David Benoit punching up the Linus theme in his own style, I can’t wait to see and hear it.

This country was founded on the freedom of religion and it seems some are embarrassed to say the word God, or Jesus in public or on TV in fear they might offend someone.  I find it offensive that CBS tried to kill the show cause some cartoon kids read out of a Bible.  I believe in God and I am not ashamed to say it in public.  Why do we try and keep religion down in this country? What were the executives at CBS afraid of anyway?

Thank goodness Charles Schultz prevailed and CBS ran the Charlie Brown Christmas Story.  We are all the better for it.  Amen.

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