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15 Bits Of Weird Trivia About A Charlie Brown Christmas

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: 

15

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

Source: Washington Post

14

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

Source: New York Magazine

13

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

Source: New York Magazine

12

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

Source: New York Magazine

11

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

Source: Rolling Stone

10

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

Source: Rolling Stone

9

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

Source: Rolling Stone

8

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

Source: New York Magazine

7

Most of the voices came from regular neighborhood l kids. The production company hired professional child actors for Charlie Brown, Linus and Lucy. Fo

Source: Parade

6

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

Source: Parade

5

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

Source: A Charlie Brown Religion

4

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

Source: Orlando Sentinel, Smithsonian Magazine

3

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

Source: New York Magazine, Washington Post

2

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

Source: Washington Post

1

Director Bill Melendez voiced Snoopy. His lines were sped up by a factor of 10.

Source: Washington Post

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