Editing A Charlie Brown Christmas (section)

== Production ==
=== Development ===
By the early 1960s, Charles M. Schulz's comic strip ''Peanuts'' had gained enormous popularity.<ref name="makingof">{{cite video| people = [[Whoopi Goldberg]], [[Lee Mendelson]] |display-authors=etal | title =The Making of ''A Charlie Brown Christmas''| medium = DVD| publisher =Paramount Home Entertainment |date=2004}}</ref> Television producer [[Lee Mendelson]] acknowledged the strip's cultural impression and had an idea for a documentary on its success, phoning Schulz to propose the idea. Schulz, an avid baseball fan, recognized Mendelson from his documentary on ballplayer [[Willie Mays]], ''A Man Named Mays'', and invited him to his home in [[Sebastopol, California]], to discuss the project.{{sfn|Mendelson|2013|p=11}} Their meeting was cordial, with the plan to produce a half-hour documentary set. Mendelson wanted to feature roughly "one or two" minutes of animation, and Schulz suggested animator Bill Melendez, with whom he collaborated some years before on a spot for the Ford Motor Company.{{sfn|Mendelson|2013|p=12}} Mendelson later stated that he was drawn to doing an animated Charlie Brown after working on ''A Man Named Mays'', noting that Mays was arguably the best baseball player of all time, while Charlie Brown, in a [[running gag]] in the strips, was one of the worst, making him a natural follow-up subject to his previous work.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.stanfordalumni.org/news/magazine/1997/novdec/articles/mendelson.html |title=Life After Snoopy |first=Marc |last=Greilsamer |magazine=Stanford Magazine |date=November 1997 |access-date=February 3, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061208045202/http://www.stanfordalumni.org/news/magazine/1997/novdec/articles/mendelson.html |archive-date=December 8, 2006 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Despite the popularity of the strip and acclaim from advertisers, networks were not interested in the special.{{sfn|Mendelson|2013|p=14}} By April 1965, ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' featured the ''Peanuts'' gang on its magazine cover, prompting a call from John Allen of the New York-based McCann Erickson Agency.<ref name="makingof" /> Mendelson imagined he would sell his documentary, and blindly agreed to Allen's proposal: an animated half-hour ''Peanuts'' Christmas special.{{sfn|Mendelson|2013|p=14}} The Coca-Cola Company was looking for a special to sponsor during the holiday season. "The bad news is that today is Wednesday and they'll need an outline in Atlanta by Monday," Allen remarked to Mendelson.{{sfn|Mendelson|2013|p=15}} He quickly contacted Schulz, and the two got to work with plans for a ''Peanuts'' Christmas special.<ref name="makingof" /> The duo prepared an outline for the Coca-Cola executives in less than one day, and Mendelson would later recall that the bulk of ideas came from Schulz, whose "ideas flowed nonstop."{{sfn|Mendelson|2013|p=17}} According to Mendelson, their pitch to Coca-Cola consisted of "winter scenes, a school play, a scene to be read from the Bible, and a sound track combining jazz and traditional music."{{sfn|Mendelson|2013|p=19}} The outline did not change over the course of its production.<ref name="enq" />

As Allen was in Europe, the duo received no feedback on their pitch for several days.{{sfn|Mendelson|2013|p=17}} When Allen got in touch with them, he informed them that Coca-Cola wanted to buy the special, but also wanted it for an early December broadcast, giving the duo just six months to scramble together a team to produce the special. Mendelson assured him – without complete confidence in his statements – that this would be no problem. Following this, ''A Charlie Brown Christmas'' entered production,{{sfn|Mendelson|2013|p=17}} and was completed just ten days shy of its national broadcast premiere.<ref name="makingof" />

=== Writing ===
[[File:Charles Schulz NYWTS.jpg|thumb|right|Charles M. Schulz in 1956; his goal for the special was to focus on the [[true meaning of Christmas]]]]
Schulz's main goal for a ''Peanuts''-based Christmas special was to focus on the [[true meaning of Christmas]].{{sfn|Mendelson|2013|p=17}} He desired to juxtapose this theme with interspersed shots of snow and ice-skating, perhaps inspired by his own childhood growing up in [[St. Paul, Minnesota]].{{sfn|Mendelson|2013|p=17}} He also created the idea for the school play, and mixing jazz with traditional Christmas carols.{{sfn|Mendelson|2013|p=17}} Schulz was adamant about Linus' reading of the Bible, despite Mendelson and Melendez's concerns that religion was a controversial topic, especially on television.<ref name="enq" /> Melendez recalled Schulz turned to him and remarked, "If we don't do it, who will?"<ref name="makingof" /> Schulz's estimation proved accurate, and in the 1960s, fewer than nine percent of television Christmas episodes contained a substantive reference to religion, according to university researcher Stephen Lind.<ref>Lind, Stephen J. "Christmas in the 1960s: A Charlie Brown Christmas, Religion, and the Conventions of the Genre" Journal of Religion and Popular Culture 26.1 (2014)</ref>

Schulz's faith in the Bible stemmed from his Midwest background and religious and historical studies;<ref name="enq" /> as such, aspects of religion would be a topic of study throughout his life.<ref>Templeton, David. [http://www.metroactive.com/papers/sonoma/12.30.99/schulz2-9952.html My Lunch with Sparky], reproduced from the December 30, 1999 – January 5, 2000 issue of the ''Sonoma County Independent''. [https://web.archive.org/web/20080917015352/http://www.metroactive.com/papers/sonoma/12.30.99/schulz2-9952.html Archived] November 28, 2008.</ref> According to a 2015 "spiritual biography", Schulz's religion was personal and complex, and would be integrated in a number of his programs.<ref>Lind, Stephen J. "A Charlie Brown Religion: The Spiritual Life and Work of Charles M. Schulz" (Jackson: U P Mississippi, 2015)</ref>

The program's script has been described as "barebones", and was completed in only a few weeks.<ref name="USA" /> In the days following the special's sale to Coca-Cola, Mendelson and animator Bill Melendez met with Schulz in his home to expand upon the ideas promised in the pitch. Mendelson remembered that on the previous Christmas Day he and his spouse had read Hans Christian Andersen's "[[The Fir-Tree]]" to their children.{{sfn|Mendelson|2013|p=19}} Schulz countered with the idea that there be a tree with the spirit of lead character Charlie Brown.{{sfn|Mendelson|2013|p=20}} They spoke at length about creating an official theme that was neither jazz nor traditional to open the program. Schulz wanted a part of the special to feature the character of Schroeder performing Beethoven, and Mendelson combined this with the inclusion of Vince Guaraldi's "[[Linus and Lucy]]" number.{{sfn|Mendelson|2013|p=20}} Schulz penned the script for ''A Charlie Brown Christmas'', with Melendez plotting out the animation via a storyboard. His storyboard contained six panels for each shot, spanning a combined eighty or-so pages.{{sfn|Mendelson|2013|p=20}}

Mendelson also suggested they employ a [[laugh track]], a staple of television animation, but Schulz rejected this idea immediately.{{sfn|Mendelson|2013|p=20}} "Up until then, many, if not all, animated shows had laugh tracks," said Mendelson. "As we were discussing how we would handle our special, I said very casually, 'I assume we'll have a laugh track.' It was a statement, not a question. Sparky just got up and quietly walked out of the room. We looked at each other, then Bill said, 'Well, I guess we won't have a laugh track.' Sparky came back in the room, and we went on with the meeting as if the subject had never come up."{{sfn|Solomon|2013|p=31}} Schulz felt strongly that the audience at home should not be instructed when to laugh.<ref name="USA" />

=== Casting ===
In casting the silent comic strip characters of ''Peanuts'', the trio pulled from their personalities.{{sfn|Mendelson|2013|p=21}} Lead character Charlie Brown's voice was decided to be downbeat and nondescript ("blah," as Mendelson observed), while Lucy should be bold and forthright.{{sfn|Mendelson|2013|p=21}} Linus' voice, it was decided, would combine sophistication with childlike innocence.{{sfn|Mendelson|2013|p=21}} Mendelson recognized that the character of Snoopy was the strip's most popular character who seemed to seize "the best jokes," but realized they could not cast a voice for the cartoon dog. "In the process, we gained a veritable 'canine [[Harpo Marx]],'" Mendelson later wrote.{{sfn|Mendelson|2013|p=21}} Melendez suggested he provide gibberish for Snoopy's mutterings, and simply speed up the tape to prevent viewers from knowing.{{sfn|Mendelson|2013|p=21}} There are no adult characters in the strip or in this special. Later specials would introduce an offscreen teacher; her lines are eschewed for the sound of a [[Mute (music)|muted trombone]] (suggested by Guaraldi) as the team behind the specials found it humorous.{{sfn|Mendelson|2013|p=24}}

With this in mind, the trio set out to cast the characters, which proved to be a daunting process. Casting for Charlie Brown proved most difficult, as it required both good acting skills but also the ability to appear nonchalant.{{sfn|Mendelson|2013|p=20}} The producers picked eight-year-old [[Peter Robbins (actor)|Peter Robbins]], already known for his roles spanning television, film, and advertisements.{{sfn|Mendelson|2013|p=21}} Robbins considered Charlie Brown to be one of his favorite characters, and despite leaving acting as an adult, he considered his time in the role a highlight of his life.<ref name=robbinsdeath>{{cite news|url=https://fox5sandiego.com/entertainment/charlie-brown-voice-actor-dies-at-65/|title='Charlie Brown' voice actor dies at 65|first=Phil|last=Blauer|publisher=Fox 5 San Diego|date=January 25, 2022|access-date=January 25, 2022|archive-date=January 26, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220126013433/https://fox5sandiego.com/entertainment/charlie-brown-voice-actor-dies-at-65/|url-status=dead}}</ref> His godmother, Hollywood agent Hazel McMillen, discovered Christopher Shea, who would become Linus in the special.{{sfn|Mendelson|2013|p=21}} His slight lisp, according to Mendelson, gave him a "youthful sweetness," while his emotional script reading "gave him power and authority as well."{{sfn|Mendelson|2013|p=22}} Tracy Stratford played the role of Lucy, with the creators being impressed by her attitude and professionalism.{{sfn|Mendelson|2013|p=23}} Kathy Steinberg was the youngest of the performers, just six years old at the time of recording. Too young to read, the producers had to give her one line at a time to recite.{{sfn|Mendelson|2013|p=23}} Robbins remembered Melendez did this for him as well, joking that he also mistakenly copied his Latino accent.<ref name="makingof" /> Mendelson desired to have non-actors (not "Hollywood kids") perform on the special, and he sent tape recorders home with his employees for their children to audition.<ref name="USA" />

Much of the background cast came from Mendelson's home neighborhood in northern California.{{sfn|Mendelson|2013|p=23}} According to Robbins, the children viewed the script's sophisticated dialogue as "edgy," finding several words and phrases, among them "eastern syndicate", difficult to pronounce.{{sfn|Mendelson|2013|p=21}} He recalled the recording sessions as chaotic, with excited children running rampant. Nevertheless, the recording of ''A Charlie Brown Christmas'' was completed in one day.{{sfn|Mendelson|2013|p=21}} [[Jefferson Airplane]] was recording next door and came over to obtain the children's autographs.<ref name="makingof" /> Following the special's broadcast, the children became wildly popular in their respective elementary schools; Robbins recalled groups approaching him asking him to recite lines of dialogue.{{sfn|Mendelson|2013|p=23}}

=== Animation ===
Animation for ''A Charlie Brown Christmas'' was created by Bill Melendez Productions. Mendelson had no idea whether or not completing a half-hour's worth of animation would be possible given the production's six-month schedule, but Melendez confirmed its feasibility.{{sfn|Mendelson|2013|p=19}} In actuality, animation was only completed in the final four months of production.{{sfn|Mendelson|2013|p=59}} CBS initially wanted an hour's worth of animation, but Melendez talked them down to a half-hour special, believing an hour of television animation was too much.{{sfn|Solomon|2013|p=11}} Having never worked on a half-hour special before, Melendez phoned [[William Hanna]] of [[Hanna-Barbera]] for advice, but Hanna declined to give any. CBS gave a budget of $76,000 to produce the show and it went $20,000 over budget.{{sfn|Solomon|2013|p=11}} The first step in creating the animation was to make a pencil drawing, afterwards inking and painting the drawing onto a [[cel]].<ref name="makingof" /> The cel was then placed onto a painted background. There are 13,000 drawings in the special, with 12 frames per second to create the illusion of movement.<ref name="makingof" />

Melendez had previously worked for [[Warner Bros. Cartoons|Warner Bros.]] and [[Walt Disney Productions|Disney]], and working on ''Peanuts''-related material gave him a chance to animate a truly flat cartoon design.{{sfn|Mendelson|2013|p=57}} The movement of Schulz's characters, particularly the ''Peanuts'' gang, was [[Limited animation|limited]]. The character of Snoopy, however, proved the exception to the rule. "He can do anything – move and dance – and he's very easy to animate," said Melendez.{{sfn|Mendelson|2013|p=57}} Schulz had envisioned the special as essentially talking heads reciting the script; animator [[Bill Littlejohn]] recalled meeting resistance from Schulz when he and Melendez designed the sequence of Snoopy dancing on Schroeder's piano, as Schulz was concerned it distracted too much from the plot.<ref name=TS>{{cite news|author=Tom Sito|title=Bill Littlejohn: Off We Go... Taking Our Pencils Yonder...|date=August 24, 2007|publisher=Animation World Network|url=http://www.awn.com/articles/people/bill-littlejohn-we-go-taking-our-pencils-yonder/page/1,1|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110612014802/http://www.awn.com/articles/people/bill-littlejohn-we-go-taking-our-pencils-yonder/page/1%2C1|archivedate=June 12, 2011}}</ref>