Talk:A Charlie Brown Christmas

Lee Mendelson

I think due in part to Wes Anderson, Bill Melendez is often wrongly cited as the guiding creative intellect behind this cartoon, and it disappoints me to see the wikipedia article makes the same mistakes. In fact, Schulz and the executive producer Lee Mendelson made most of the creative decisions on those cartoons, including the script, the hiring of Vince Guaraldi, and the hiring of real kids to voice the characters. Bill Melendez didn't really do a whole lot except time it out (the timing is pretty lackadaisical, you'll notice) and make a load of drawings based as closely as possible on Schulz' drawings. Wes Anderson and Wikipedia are wrong on this one!

This book tells the full story. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Charlie-Brown-Christmas-Charles-Schulz/dp/006076659X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1279417347&sr=1-1 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.192.29.67 (talk) 01:44, 18 July 2010 (UTC)

Really? Wiki doesn't even have Bill Melendez or any of the great Latino animators bio. Manuel Perez? Listed in dozens of Bugs Bunny cartoons?. No bio. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 73.189.114.131 (talk) 04:09, 23 November 2015 (UTC)

Articles for Bill Melendez and Manuel Perez (animator) exist.--☾Loriendrew☽ ☏(ring-ring) 04:20, 23 November 2015 (UTC)

Edits

I'm well aware of the edits made to this special to remove the Coca-Cola sponsorship. However, during the dancing at the rehearsal, there's an obvious jump (the music skips from the refrain partially into the first verse). What was there, and why was it edited?

• I was watching it tonight and was reminded of how poor the editing was in places, so I would chalk it up to that. Wahkeenah 03:19, 7 December 2005 (UTC)

According to the book, "A Charlie Brown Christmas: The Making of a Tradition", Bill Melendez says that a year after the first airing of A Charlie Brown Christmas, they went back and fixed up a few of the scenes in the show that bothered them. Perhaps this explains the odd musical cut. 64.136.26.225, 09:04, 15 December 2005

• If so, they didn't do very much to it. Wahkeenah 09:11, 15 December 2005 (UTC)

Light bulb turns on Aha! Perhaps this explains what I commented about over at "Talk:A Charlie Brown Christmas (album)" --Nerd42 00:09, 19 December 2005 (UTC)

• I believe this was actually the second Peanuts TV special. I think the first was baseball-themed and came out the summer before the Christmas show aired. Not sure though. PurpleChez 30 June 2006
  • Close. According to the book, "A Charlie Brown Christmas: The Making of a Tradition", what you're thinking of is a documentary about Charles Schultz that was created before the Christmas special. It, however, featured only a few minutes of animation, and was mostly a live-action documentary of the life of Mr. Schultz. Mr. Mendelsson couldn't find a buyer for this documentary at first, but in the process of trying to sell it, they got the bid to do a Christmas special. --Rehcsif 21:52, 28 January 2007 (UTC)

Speaking of edits, does anyone know if the Coca-Cola bits are restored in the 2009 release? Ttenchantr (talk) 05:14, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

Trivia

The voice talent for Charlie Brown (Peter Robbins) had an on-screen role in the 1967 Sonny and Cher film Good Times. — Eoghanacht ^talk 18:38, 21 March 2006 (UTC)

Tracy Stratford was with another Lucy (Pam Ferdin) in the "John Forsythe Show".

Possible add to "Trivia"

Wouldn't it be appropriate to add the overt mention of this special in the Buffy episode "The Replacement"? Snoopydance 17:15, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

Reasons for delisting

Hi all,

I do not this meets the criteria for a good article because:

• It has a short lead.
• It has no inline citations.
• It has a large trivia sections.
• It has unaddressed tags.

If you disagree with this evaluation. Please feel free to renominate the article for promotion here.

Thanks, Cedars 16:26, 10 December 2006 (UTC)

Actually, I had wondered if the article had ever attained GA status in the first place. When I found it, the GA box was (erroneously) placed on the article itself, and so despite not being able to find it in the GA listings, placed it on the talk page anyway in good faith. I suppose your evaluation clears up that little issue anyway! Seb Patrick 17:35, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

I don't think it should be deleted. AlbertSM (talk) 01:54, 4 February 2008 (UTC)

Relax Albert, it was never in danger of deleting- merely delisting! I think with more refs to the broadcasting and home media sections it would have a serious shot of making GA again now. Who knows, maybe with GA status you could get it on the Main Page for DYK. It appears @Saginaw-hitchhiker: was the main author of the new version, thank you to him. Re-assessed as B. Ribbet32 (talk) 01:49, 7 November 2016 (UTC)

Charlie Brown Christmas as narrated by the cast of Scrubs

I had added this: * A Charlie Brown Christmas voiced by the cast of Scrubs at YouTube into the external links section but it was deleted. Is there any proper way to incorporate this into the article or as a link? 63.252.70.69 03:24, 29 January 2007 (UTC)

You can not use a youtube video as a citation for anything on wikipedia. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.222.180.37 (talk) 14:02, 25 December 2008 (UTC)

This actually *was* a GA until the Wikinazis decided to gut it. All of the facts mentioned in the Trivia section were valid and important to understanding the show, and should have been left alone. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.188.250.148 (talk) 08:44, 23 December 2009 (UTC)

MUSIC

Does anyone know the name of the jazz piano peice played during the infamous dance scene? Most people think it's Linus and Lucy, but it's not. Anyone know what it is? --Chitomcgee 04:12, 29 January 2007 (UTC)

• The first segment played on the theater stage, the one Schroeder is playing when Charlie walks in, is a portion of "Christmas Is Coming". The remaining segments (four of them) are portions of "Linus and Lucy". Wahkeenah 05:19, 29 January 2007 (UTC)
• If you're thinking of the music Schroeder was playing when Snoopy got carried away and started dancing on top of his piano, that was a part of Guaraldi's Linus And Lucy composition as well. Professor2789 (talk) 07:22, 2 August 2008 (UTC)

The sullen song played often in the Christmas special is used in the film "The Royal Tenenbaums". Ily Charlie Brown! It's already on the film's page but I was wondering if it's worth mentioning in the 'Influence' section. Maybe not. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 114.145.168.44 (talk) 14:47, 29 May 2009 (UTC)

TRIVIA/MISTAKES

The last time I viewed this article was 4 months ago. Since then, I see that the Trivia section has been greatly reduced and the subsection Mistakes has been completely removed. Yet I see no mention of it in the discussion section. That information was very interesting. Why such drastic changes? Kwyjibear 17:29, 22 April 2007 (UTC)

Trivia crackdown. WAVY 10 19:37, 20 July 2007 (UTC)

The Wikinazis apparently have nothing else better to do it seems. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.188.250.148 (talk) 08:42, 23 December 2009 (UTC)

Missing Themes

The article refers to missing themes...can anyone elaborate? What parts of the show does the music play? TJ0513 (talk) 19:04, 24 December 2007 (UTC)

Citation needed

How do you enter "citation needed"? I have seen it on several articles.AlbertSM (talk) 01:59, 4 February 2008 (UTC)

Credits

What's with the incorrect credits with all the DePatie-Freleng staff members listed? Davemackey (talk) 21:03, 21 December 2009 (UTC)

High-definition versions

Amazed (and mostly pleased) by the great level of detail.

But, what versions of this material exist, in terms of pixels etc? Was the original source actual film? Was it ever shown in theatres? Do original film sources still exist? Are there high-definition versions; how are they created/derived?

One review of Blu-ray version says: 'A Charlie Brown Christmas' arrives on Blu-ray sporting a solid, if not spectacular, transfer that features vivid color, enhanced sharpness, and a nice dimensional feel... The source material is fine, but could have benefitted from dirt and scratch removal, as plenty of scrapes, marks, and specks dot the print. In addition, some digital noise occasionally creeps into solid backgrounds, but rarely distracts... On the plus side, the bold hues exhibit excellent vibrancy and blacks look inky and lustrous. There's some mild fluctuation in fleshtones from scene to scene, but overall complexions appear natural. Contrast is well pitched and razor sharp lines allow the snowfall early in the program to adopt a slightly dimensional quality...

-96.237.70.120 (talk) 03:40, 8 December 2010 (UTC)

Full original version, sources

a42n8cfo wrote in 2010: "If you look closely in this final sequence of this first airing, the kids are singing and Snoopy is also singing and his lips are moving. That was also reanimated since Snoopy never actually speaks other than in thought balloons in the comic strip. the current animated version does not have Snoopy's lips moving. I saw this entire show at the Television Museum on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. It has all the product placement sequences, Linus crashing and Snoopy singing." -96.237.70.120 (talk) 21:01, 8 December 2010 (UTC)

Error in article introduction?

Quoting:

"A Charlie Brown Christmas is also one of CBS's most successful specials, airing annually more times on that network than even MGM's classic motion picture The Wizard of Oz. Oz was shown thirty-one times on CBS, but not consecutively as the Charlie Brown special was; between 1968 and 1976, NBC aired the film."

OK, if NBC aired the film for those 9 years, then CBS couldn't have aired it consecutively between 1965 and 2000 as stated earlier in the intro. Unless it was on BOTH networks which seems unlikely and does not match my memory of the times.

This would seem to imply that CBS aired it 3 times from 1965 to 1967 Then again another 24 times from 1977 to 2000 For a total of 27 times on CBS.

I don't think that qualifies Charlie Brown as CBS's most successful special, as apparently it was run on NBC rather than CBS for 9 of the first 12 years it was on TV.

Either the statement that it was aired on NBC is incorrect or at best incomplete (assuming for some odd reason it had been aired on BOTH networks), or the statement about aCBC airing on CBS from 1965 to 2000 consecutively is incorrect. It can't be both ways . . .

Unless of course you're saying that NBC aired WoZ from 68 to 76. In which case THAT needs to be clarified. As written, the reference to "the film" in that last phrase applies to the Charlie Brown special, and not the WoO mentioned in the beginning of the sentence. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.57.60.85 (talk) 23:22, 25 December 2010 (UTC)

Parodies and other references

This Christmas special has been mentioned and parodied multiple times, especially on several South Park Christmas episodes. Examples, include the singing of "Hark, The Herald Angels Sing" followed with "Merry Christmas, Kyle Brovslovsky", "Merry Christmas, Charlie Manson", et al., plus the episode where the South Park kids are watching a modified version of "A Charlie Brown Christmas" and complaining about how round their heads are before making their own animated Christmas Card, based on "The Spirit of Christmas" made by Trey Parker and Matt Stone prior to South Park. I'm guessing other shows have also referenced this special, as noted by the Scrubs reference.Jtyroler (talk) 12:28, 14 November 2012 (UTC)

I'm against this. Lists like this are usually considered Trivial and are thus usually frowned on by Wikipedia. Ckruschke (talk) 19:25, 14 November 2012 (UTC)Ckruschke

Editing of sections

On November 16th, 2014, I edited and organized the "Broadcast and home media" section to make more sense. It was a hodgepodge of info including duplicate info. I also switched the "Legacy" section to after the "Television broadcast" and "Home media" sections as I felt a legacy should be the final discussion for the article.MJEH (talk) 03:33, 17 November 2014 (UTC)

A Charlie Brown Kwanza

On youtube there is a "Charlie Brown Kwanza", is this also part of the Charlie Brown Holiday specials? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 108.54.59.120 (talk) 22:16, 25 February 2017 (UTC)

No. Ckruschke (talk) 20:09, 28 February 2017 (UTC)Ckruschke

External links modified

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Error in need of correction

Down in the Television Broadcasts section, it says:

• On December 6, 2001, a half-hour documentary on the special titled The Making of 'A Charlie Brown Christmas' (hosted by Whoopi Goldberg) aired on ABC. This documentary has been released as a special feature on the DVD and Blu-ray editions of the special.

The second sentence is in error; the Whoopi documentary has not been on the home video editions of A Charlie Brown Christmas. However, to confuse things, a different special called "A Christmas Miracle: The Making of A Charlie Brown Christmas" has been included on the DVDs... and the Whoopi special was included on a DVD edition of I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown (although not the current, "Remastered Deluxe Edition" edition.) I have a Peanuts COI and am avoiding editing the Peanuts articles myself; could someone please verify this (Source that it's not on editions of A Charlie Brown Christmas is this - and while that's a self-published source, it's from an acknowledged expert, as Scott shows up in the "A Christmas Miracle" documentary, among others; source that it is on I Want A Dog can be the DVD itself.) --Nat Gertler (talk) 15:30, 9 December 2017 (UTC)

Not to be a downer, but if it can't be corroborated by a reliable source I'd simply suggest deleting the bullet. It's presence or loss thereof does not affect the page. Ckruschke (talk) 20:20, 13 December 2017 (UTC)Ckruschke

Pre-empted Program

Uncle John's Bathroom Reader (20th edition; pg 436) suggests it was Gilligan's Island, not The Munsters. Perhaps it depends on which station was doing the airing. AMCKen (talk) 02:52, 24 December 2020 (UTC)

1965

Christmas 2600:6C5A:177F:3D94:4806:5D03:D49B:47D5 (talk) 22:03, 18 September 2022 (UTC)

Blame placing

@CR85747: Your edit switching "PBS did not renew the agreement to continue airing the Peanuts holiday specials in 2022" to "PBS was unable to renew..." implies facts not listed in the source. For that matter, so does the original: the original suggests that PBS had some option to renew it but chose not to exercise it, the revision indicates that it sought to renew but had no achievable way of doing so. The source doesn't indicate whether it tried, much less whether the failure of such an attempt was due to possibility (Apple refusing negotiations) or perhaps choice (Apple wanted more money than PBS wanted to spend, but not more than they had.) This is an excellent situation to use a passive voice: "PBS's rights to air Peanuts holiday special were not renewed for 2022."

I will not do this edit myself due to a Peanuts WP:COI (and to having retired from article editing), but I invite others to review this suggested edit and implement it if they deem appropriate. --Nat Gertler (talk) 15:20, 20 October 2022 (UTC)

Last names

I n this edit the character's full names are inserted in the text. However, to the best of my recollection, the full names -- excepting Charlie Brown, of course -- are not used in the special. So within the context of discussing the special, "Linus" and "Lucy", without the "Van Pelt", is preferable. References to the last names, there as well as in the cast names, should be removed. I have a COI with regards to Peanuts, but I suggest you consider this aspect and, if you agree, undo the edit. -- Nat Gertler (talk) 22:43, 26 November 2023 (UTC)

Such omissions would be unhelpful and needless piping, plus like I mentioned here, it could mislead any readers unfamiliar with the characters into thinking they were only given first names. It's not like the surnames got pulled out of nowhere when those have canonically been established to be part of who they are. SNUGGUMS (talk / edits) 23:21, 26 November 2023 (UTC)

The characters ARE only given first names in the work this article is about. To give them last names here is what's misleading. -- Nat Gertler (talk) 23:33, 26 November 2023 (UTC)

Not at all; it goes off what other animations/comics use for the siblings. SNUGGUMS (talk / edits) 00:18, 27 November 2023 (UTC)

This article isn't about "other animations/comics"; this is about this one. (And in other animations/comics, the most commonly used name is the first one. The Van Pelt name did not appear in most years of the strip.) -- Nat Gertler (talk) 00:27, 27 November 2023 (UTC)

Nat is correct. To insert their last names is using extra-text source. Yes, we know that their names LATER are Van Pelt, but nowhere within the source movie or the book versions of the story are the last names rendered. A similar argument has been on-going for years on the Dr. Seuss page for Green Eggs and Ham. The later TV series has chosen to call the unnamed person who doesn't want to eat the green eggs and ham "Guy-I-Am". This however, has nothing to do with the original story.Ckruschke (talk) 19:05, 27 November 2023 (UTC)Ckruschke