Posted on 12/25/2017 2:29:20 AM PST by Oshkalaboomboom
Watching A Charlie Brown Christmas has been a tradition for millions since it first aired on December 9, 1965. While many love the iconic Vince Guaraldi score, the humor and the animation, one part of the special has always stood out and made it unique: Linus’s recitation of the Gospel of Luke.
In 2015, The Washington Post published a retrospective on A Charlie Brown Christmas. Michael Cavna explained Peanuts creator Charles Schulz’s mission in making the special:
Charles Schulz insisted on one core purpose: A Charlie Brown Christmas had to be about something. Namely, the true meaning of Christmas. Otherwise, Schulz said, “Why bother doing it?”
To Coca-Cola’s credit, Mendelson says, the corporate sponsor never balked at the idea of including New Testament passages. The result — Linus’s reading from the Book of Luke about the meaning of the season — became “the most magical two minutes in all of TV animation,” the producer says.
Schulz stood strong, despite efforts to talk him out of quoting from the Bible. On December 5, 2005, USA Today recounted:
[Executive producer Lee] Mendelson and animator Bill Melendez fretted about the insistence by Peanuts creator Charles Schulz that his first-ever TV spinoff end with a reading of the Christmas story from the Gospel of Luke by a lisping little boy named Linus.
"We told Schulz, 'Look, you can't read from the Bible on network television,' " Mendelson says. "When we finished the show and watched it, Melendez and I looked at each other and I said, 'We've ruined Charlie Brown.' "
According to a recounting on MentalFloss.com, CBS executives told Schulz: “You can't read from the Bible on network television.”
Mental Floss writer Kara Kovalchik recounted what happened next:
But CBS had made a commitment to their sponsor, so they aired the special as scheduled on December 9, 1965. And, as often happens in the world of entertainment, the original gut reaction of the suits was completely wrong. A Charlie Brown Christmas drew in 15.4 million viewers, placing it second in the ratings that week after Bonanza. A few months later, Charles Schulz and Lee Mendelson found themselves onstage accepting an Emmy Award for Outstanding Children's Program.
And so, the Charlie Brown creator persevered and created a Christmas classic that endures 52 years later.
In case you don’t remember the iconic moment, here it is:
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying: ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on Earth, peace and goodwill towards men.’
“That’s what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.”
They are not the government. So why not?
I’m always so pleased (and surprised!) that A Charlie Brown Christmas still airs in its original format. It’s perfect!
I saw “the making of” and some were concerned that cartoon characters reading scripture would come off as blasphemous.
I agree, people were quoting from the Bible all the time on television during that era.
Odd retake.
It sounds like the network boss (Mendelson) was against it but the Coca Cola guy was for it.
I question Mr. Mendelson's motives.
On the QT and very hush-hush.
Excellent point.
I don’t doubt it. Jewish descent leftists abound in Hollyweird.
I work with one who literally collapsed her immune system after President Trump was elected. She and her tree hugger husband (who works for an offshoot of the EPA) took their teen girls to the protest march last January with pre-made (by Soros) signs saying Black Lives Matter, No human is illegal etc etc. She put photos of this on her pompous, self aggrandizing “holiday brochure” that she gives out to everyone.
She also closes her eyes a lot when she talks, refers to herself in the third person and always, ALWAYS replies to ALL in emails.
Thanks, I can’t remember ever having seen it.
Goot lawd. Working around those types is hard. Cause you can't tell them what you really think or a riot would break out. I feel your pain, goodman.
p.s. What is CSEU?
The CIO is a forty something conservative (not as conservative as I am) pubbie who is married to a Jewess. They had some interesting conversations. Mrs. Lib wanted to know why they weren’t finding more dirt on TRUMP!!! IOW Stop picking on Hillary!!!
I’m sure she and her hub voted for Jill Stein, though.
Every time I do it, I end up laughing my anus off in their face. I have a knack for pissing them off SO MUCH.
Child Support Enforcement Unit. Fathers (especially white, blue collar middle class) are being impoverished as indentured servants to their ex wives, particularly in BLUE states for 21 years and beyond. Taxation without representation and debtor’s prison are alive and well.
Notice anything?
Linus stands there by himself on the stage. The spotlight falls upon him. He begins reciting from Luke.
And then Linus gets to the part where it reads "Fear not."
The only... the ONLY... the ONLY moment ever in the half-century of the Peanuts franchise - the comic strip, the TV specials, the movies, all of it - that Linus lets go of his blanket. The same blanket that he holds onto for safety and security.
And Linus lets it drop to the stage floor when he speaks "Fear not" from the Bible.
It's something so subtle that most have never noticed it.
full disclosure. I thought you misspelled SEIU.
Because most of the TV execs back then were Jews. What they meant was you couldn't read from the New Testament back then without offending the Jews.
Today’s Hollywood would never allow “A Charlie Brown Christmas “ to be made, much less to be run on national TV.
“A Charlie Brown Christmas “ should be seen for what it is: an artifact of a country and culture that has long disappeared, vanquished by satanic leftism.
That’s what I figured, OrangeHoof.
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