15 Bits Of Weird Trivia About A Charlie Brown Christmas
Bizarrely, Ronald Reagan’s brother probably made the movie happen.
![15 Bits Of Weird Trivia About A Charlie Brown Christmas](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/pictofact/3/1/5/760315_320x180.jpg)
A Charlie Brown Christmas is one of the most beloved holiday specials of all time. But imagine if, say, they aired a laugh track -- no, really, that’s what a producer wanted at one point. Here’s more detail on that, and 14 other stories:
![Charlie Brown's dinky little tree comes from a fairy tale. Producer Lee Mendelson suggested the idea of decorating a scrawny, ugly tree because he'd r](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/pictofact/3/3/7/760337.jpg)
Source: Washington Post
![The movie could have had a laugh track. Producer Lee Mendelson floated the idea, and Schulz' only response was to stand up and leave the room. Thankfu](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/pictofact/3/3/8/760338.jpg)
Source: New York Magazine
![The idea to have Linus recite from the Gospel of Luke sounded like a disaster. When Schulz suggested it, Mendelson and director Bill Melendez thought](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/pictofact/3/3/6/760336.jpg)
Source: New York Magazine
![DOCV AL Executives hated a classic Peanuts feature. They didn't like that little kids spoke grown-up lines like We all know that Christmas is a big c](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/pictofact/3/3/5/760335.jpg)
Source: New York Magazine
![Christmas Time Is Here wasn't supposed to have any lyrics. Mendelson got the idea to put some lyrics in two weeks before the special aired, and call](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/pictofact/3/3/4/760334.jpg)
Source: Rolling Stone
![Parts of the soundtrack were recycled. Pianist Vince Guaraldi had composed music for a documentary about Schulz that ended up not getting made, and he](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/pictofact/3/3/2/760332.jpg)
Source: Rolling Stone
![CBS CBS CBS CBS execs hated it. They didn't like that the animation was slow, that there were religious undertones, and that there was so much jazz. T](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/pictofact/3/3/3/760333.jpg)
Source: Rolling Stone
![The movie was sold before Charles Schulz even knew about it. Ad agency Mccann Erickson had the idea for a Peanuts holiday special and called producer](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/pictofact/3/3/1/760331.jpg)
Source: New York Magazine
![Most of the voices came from regular neighborhood l kids. The production company hired professional child actors for Charlie Brown, Linus and Lucy. Fo](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/pictofact/3/2/9/760329.jpg)
Source: Parade
![Some of the child actors couldn't read Cincluding Linus' voice actor Christopher Shea). That meant director Bill Melendez had to read out their lines](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/pictofact/3/3/0/760330.jpg)
Source: Parade
![The lyrics for Christmas Time is Here were made up on the fly. Producer Lee Mendelson came up with them when they had a children's choir in the reco](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/pictofact/3/2/8/760328.jpg)
Source: A Charlie Brown Religion
![Charles Schulz was ashamed of A Charlie Brown Christmas' artwork. A lot of the drawings are terrible, he said. He also once commented that the cont](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/pictofact/3/2/7/760327.jpg)
Source: Orlando Sentinel, Smithsonian Magazine
![R Ronald Reagan's brother might have saved the movie. During production, McCann Erickson sent their exec Neil Reagan to check how the movie they commi](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/pictofact/3/2/5/760325.jpg)
Source: New York Magazine, Washington Post
![They came up with all the core ideas in an hour. Schulz, Melendez, and Mendelson only had a few days to submit a pitch, so they sat down to brainstorm](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/pictofact/3/2/6/760326.jpg)
Source: Washington Post
![Director Bill Melendez voiced Snoopy. His lines were sped up by a factor of 10.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/pictofact/3/2/4/760324.jpg)
Source: Washington Post