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In late May 1965, Coca-Cola contacted Charles Schulz, the creator of the Peanuts comic strip, and commissioned him to create an animated Christmas special that the soft drink company would sponsor. With barely six months to produce the television show, the cartoonist immediately called a meeting with his producer, Lee Mendelson, and the show's director, Bill Meléndez.
The three men met over Memorial Day weekend at Schulz's home in Sebastopol, California, and together they outlined the key elements of what would become the most popular animated Christmas special of all time: “A Charlie Brown “Christmas”.
Lee Mendelson suggested a Christmas tree as a plot element. Schulz accepted the idea and said, “We need a tree that looks like Charlie Brown!” When the producer next suggested inserting a “laugh track” (the recorded sound of audience laughter), Schulz took offense.
Cartoonist Charles M. Schulz, creator of the Peanuts comic strip, draws in his studio near a Snoopy stuffed animal. (Getty Images)
“I quit,” the artist objected, and he got up and left the room. Melendez broke the tension by joking, “Well, I guess we won't have a laugh track.” Schulz re-entered the room and the meeting resumed.
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The show's music was also a topic of discussion. The men agreed to hire jazz composer Vince Guaraldi, who two years earlier had produced the soundtrack for a documentary about Schulz that had failed to find a buyer.
Schulz also wanted to insert a scene in which Schroeder, his piano-playing Peanuts character, could play a Beethoven tune. The cartoonist also insisted that the characters' voices be those of real children, not professional adult voiceover artists.
The most controversial issue arose when Schulz proposed that Linus recite biblical verses from the Book of Luke. “We can't do this; it's too religious,” Melendez said. “It just doesn't belong in a cartoon.” Lee Mendelson expressed the same concerns.
“A Charlie Brown Christmas” first aired on Thursday night, December 9, 1965. (ABC Photo Archives/ABC via Getty Images)
The Bible had never been animated before, not by Warner Bros., not Disney, not Hanna-Barbera. Inserting an overtly religious scene would potentially expose the show to attacks from both Christians and non-believers.
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Parishioners might object that animating the Bible and having its sacred verses spoken by cartoon characters was sacrilege. The less religious might be discouraged by moralizing sermons. Schulz was not intimidated by the objections of his colleagues who asked: “If we don't do it, who will?”
At one point, the three men took time to relax in Schulz's pool. Schulz, a World War II combat veteran, lamented to Mendelson that the true meaning of Memorial Day had been lost and that the holiday was now simply the start of the summer season and an occasion for barbecue. .
Now the cartoonist feared that the same thing was happening to Christmas. The true meaning of the holiday was being lost and replaced by a secular celebration of Santa Claus.
Peanuts reached 60 million people and was published in more than 700 newspapers in the United States and Canada and 71 more internationally. (CBS via Getty Images)
In 1965, Charles Schulz was on his way to becoming the most successful comic book artist of all time. His Peanuts comic strip reached 60 million people and was published in more than 700 newspapers in the United States and Canada and 71 more internationally.
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His recent book “Happiness is a warm puppy“ had become an instant New York Times bestseller. Licensing opportunities were piling up. He had just received the National Cartoonists Society Award for the second time.
However, when a visiting journalist asked Schulz what accomplishment he was most proud of, the cartoonist didn't mention Peanuts. At his place, he pointed to a three-inch-wide framed rectangular bar of silver and blue enamel displayed on the wall of his office and said, “My combat infantryman badge.”
In 1943, at the age of 19, Schulz had reported to Camp Campbell, Kentucky, after losing his mother to cancer. The combined impact of grief, loneliness, and the impact of basic training traumatized the skinny, innocent teenager from St. Paul, Minnesota.
“It's Your 50th Christmas, Charlie Brown” celebrated the holiday classic's anniversary in 2015. Schulz has insisted on a scene in which Schroeder could play a Beethoven tune. (Nicole Wilder/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images)
But the same insecure boy who had recently failed every high school course in one semester showed competence and intellect during boot camp that led to his promotion to sergeant and squad leader when his unit left for duty. in World War II a year later.
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Schulz manned a .50-caliber machine gun in a half-track of the U.S. Army's 20th Armored Division as it traversed France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and finally Germany. In addition to experiencing the horrors of combat, Schulz's unit also participated in the liberation of the Dachau concentration camp.
His wartime experiences left an indelible psychic wound on Schulz, but they also turned him into a committed Christian who was grateful to God for having survived World War II.
In December 1965, when Schulz's Christmas special was screened for two CBS vice presidents just a week before it was scheduled to air, network executives were disappointed by its crude animation, dismayed by its jazz music, and disturbed by his manifest religiosity.
The Peanuts tile mural by Japanese artist Yoshiteru Otani covers the south wall of the Great Hall of the Charles M. Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa, California, on September 22, 2014. It is composed of 3,588 Peanuts comic strip images printed on 2- 8-inch by 8-inch ceramic tiles. (Liz Hafalia/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)
The network finally resigned itself to broadcasting the program, convinced that it would be a ratings bomb. A CBS executive bluntly informed Mendelson that the network would never buy another special from him or Schulz.
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“A Charlie Brown Christmas” aired on the night of Thursday, December 9, 1965. Nearly half of television viewers in the United States tuned in, and audience reception was overwhelmingly positive.
The show's climactic religious scene that Schulz had insisted on had resonated with viewers and seemed to transform the entire show from an amateur failure to a lasting triumph. (The scripture recitation was performed by Linus, the character clinging to a blanket, and concluded with a phrase that must have had special meaning for the war veteran: “Peace on earth, good will toward men.”)
“A Charlie Brown Christmas” would be recognized with an Emmy Award and a Peabody Award and would become the most popular animated Christmas special in the United States.
Producer Lee Mendelson suggested a Christmas tree as a plot element. Charles Schulz accepted the idea and said, “We need a tree that looks like Charlie Brown!” (Walt Disney Television via Getty Images)
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Schulz succumbed to colon cancer in 2000 at the age of 77, dying on the same day the last comic strip he had drawn was published. His simple tombstone makes no reference to him being the creator of the multimillion-dollar Peanuts entertainment property, but it does reference what the cartoonist considered his proudest role in his life. After the name “Charles M. Schulz” and above his birth and death dates, the bronze tombstone notes the following, in raised capital letters:
US Army Sergeant
SECOND WORLD WAR
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