The Innovative Charlie Brown Christmas Special

The Christmas Season affords opportunities for many traditions. Family gatherings, office parties, caroling, Christmas Eve Services and making candy cane shaped cookies are some ways that people celebrate the holiday season. Others play it more low key and enjoy simple pleasures. One of those simple pleasures that I look forward to every year is cuddling up on the couch with the family, watching the Charlie Brown Christmas Special.

In December of 1965, the Charlie Brown Christmas Special aired for the first time, underwritten by Coca-Cola. I was born in 1971, so my first memories of this seasonal classic probably stem from December of 1974 or 1975. I haven't missed it one year since. In other words, I've watched the Peanuts Christmas special forty-six years in a row. Interestingly enough, in the very beginning, sponsors waffled at supporting the animated show for fear of its religious overtones.

The Peanuts' comic strip debuted in the 1950's and quickly became a global phenomenon. But, even with its immense printed popularity, no television network expressed special interest in a Charlie Brown Christmas Special. When Coca-C0la hinted at the possibility of sponsoring a Christmas show, the pipe dream of a Charlie Brown Christmas turned into a reality.

Peanut's Creator Charles Schultz's primary goal for the Christmas special was to highlight the true meaning of Christmas. The show's producers hesitated, citing religion being a controversial topic. Their concerns were valid. In the 1960's, according to University Researcher Steven Lind, only 9% of Christmas television specials substantively referenced the Biblical reason for the celebration. Charles Schultz turned to the directors and asked, "If we don't do it, who will?" Needless to say, Schultz's perseverance won out and the poignant scene of Linus reading from the Gospel of Luke made the cut.

Schultz also aired other demands for his character's television debut, preferences that producers feared would cause the cartoon to receive disastrous ratings. One of the normalities Schultz rejected was a background laugh track. Though laugh tracks had become staples for sitcoms in the 1960's, Schultz believed the audience didn't need help in knowing when to giggle or chuckle aloud. Other unconventional decisions included hiring child voice actors and an unorthodox jazz piano sound track. Although the networks believed the animated special would be a dismal failure, it received high ratings and special acclaim from critics. It has been honored with an Emmy and a Peabody award and has aired annually for almost a half century.

Maybe Schultz was an early trailblazer in the ideology of being true to one's self. He counted on the lovers of his comic strips to carry over their devotion to the television genre as well. But he also knew for fans to be appeased, he would have to be faithful portraying the characters as an accurate representation of what was found in newspaper and books. Schultz refused to buy into the bells and whistles and the philosophy of "here's how everyone else does it" in television and won the hearts of viewers for generations to come.

Providence has blessed the Charlie Brown Empire and its Creator's insistence on staying true to its characters and values. The Peanut's comic is printed in 2,600 Countries and has more than 700 licensing agreements around the globe. The comic empire earns an average of 80 million to one billion dollars per year. The springboard to its huge success began with a simplistic Christmas story being told in Charlie Brown fashion in 1965.

As long as there are families and children that love Christmas, there will be an annual showing of the Charlie Brown Christmas Special. May there never be a Christmas Season when the animated classic can't be found on network television.

God bless you, Charles Schultz.