History Trivia / ACharlieBrownChristmas

* PermanentPlaceholder: Bill Melendez was originally a placeholder for Snoopy’s voice, but they couldn’t find anything better so he was left in.

* OffModel: Several animation errors exist, thanks in no small part to its cheap and rushed production:
** One that Schulz himself often pointed out was that Charlie Brown's tree inexplicably grows a few branches between its introduction and the point where Charlie "kills" it.
** The words on Lucy's "Psychiatric Help 5¢" stand change twice in less than a minute.
** In the original [[https://youtu.be/fYy07E8bIyw closing credits, with the Coke sponsor tag]], Snoopy appears to be singing along with the kids, as his lips are flapping along with the music. His mouth is even moving when they all shout, "Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown!" This was later altered and fixed so now Snoopy is simply howling to the music. Additionally an error where the background characters overlap the foreground characters for one frame also occurs though strangely it is not present in the original 1965 version.

* ChildrenVoicingChildren: At the instigation of Charles Schulz, and boy, was it a hassle for the crew! Charlie Brown (Peter Robbins), Linus (Christopher Shea) and Lucy (Tracy Stratford) were all voiced by Hollywood-based child actors, but the majority of the others were non-professionals from the San Francisco Bay Area recruited by Lee Mendelson (including some neighbors and children of his acquaintances), and they needed extensive coaching from Bill Melendez on their line readings. In the case of 4-year-old Cathy Steinberg, who voiced Sally, she didn't know how to read and needed to have lines fed to her phonetically (leading to the "All I want is my fair share" flub mentioned above). It's even been suggested that you can hear traces of the Mexican accent of Bill Melendez in the way certain lines are said, in imitation of his coaching (particularly Linus saying "those are good reasons!").

* ChannelHop: After airing on Creator/{{CBS}} for 36 straight years, ''A Charlie Brown Christmas'' moved to Creator/{{ABC}} in 2001. In 2020 Creator/AppleTVPlus purchased the exclusive rights for this special as well as ''WesternAnimation/ItsTheGreatPumpkinCharlieBrown'' and ''WesternAnimation/ACharlieBrownThanksgiving''. However, all three specials have been made available for free viewing for limited time windows around the relevant holidays, and a deal was struck for the specials to air on Creator/{{PBS}} and Creator/PBSKids as well until 2022. (''It's The Great Pumpkin'' didn't air on PBS until 2021 because the deal with Apple was made too late in the previous year to air it then.)

** ''Charlie Brown's Christmas''

* WorkingTitle: ''Charlie Brown's Christmas''

* ChannelHop: After airing on Creator/{{CBS}} for 36 straight years, ''A Charlie Brown Christmas'' moved to Creator/{{ABC}} in 2001. In 2020 Creator/AppleTVPlus purchased the exclusive rights for this special as well as ''WesternAnimation/ItsTheGreatPumpkinCharlieBrown'' and ''WesternAnimation/ACharlieBrownThanksgiving''. However, all three specials have been made available for free viewing for limited time windows around the relevant holidays, and a deal was struck for the specials to air on Creator/{{PBS}} and Creator/PBSKids as well. (''It's The Great Pumpkin'' didn't air on PBS until 2021 because the deal with Apple was made too late in the previous year to air it then.)

* TheRedStapler: The special almost single-handedly ''destroyed'' the market for AluminumChristmasTrees so completely that later generations have to be reminded that such a ludicrous thing actually ''existed'', let alone that it was socially acceptable to own one. That's the reason they're even a trope; tacky metal Christmas trees vanished from American culture overnight so thoroughly that many younger viewers thought they were something [[RealityIsUnrealistic Charles Schulz had made up.]]

* TheRedStapler: Inversion: The special almost single-handedly ''destroyed'' the market for AluminumChristmasTrees so completely that later generations have to be reminded that such a ludicrous thing actually ''existed'', let alone that it was socially acceptable to own one. That's the reason they're even a trope; tacky metal Christmas trees vanished from American culture overnight so thoroughly that many younger viewers thought they were something [[RealityIsUnrealistic Charles Schulz had made up.]]

* TrendKiller: Aluminum Christmas trees were a popular trend in the late-'50s/early-'60s, but its depiction here as a symbol of soulless holiday commercialism is credited with killing its popularity. It even inspired [[AluminumChristmasTrees a trope on this site]], which defines something that sounds fictional, but actually isn't.

** Dave Brubeck and Music/VinceGuaraldi's former boss Cal Tjader both turned down offers to do the music, because they were too busy. Brubeck later did the score for the ''WesternAnimation/ThisIsAmericaCharlieBrown'' episode "The NASA Space Station."

* NotScreenedForCritics: CBS was so disappointed in ''A Charlie Brown Christmas'' before its first airing that they refused to let any TV critics see it beforehand, terrified that the inevitable avalanche of bad reviews would sink everyone's careers. They were eventually forced to relent in recognition of what happens when this trope is played, and let one writer from ''Time'' magazine in – he watched the special at CBS' office and then left without saying a word. Initially, this vindicated CBS' decision, but when the next issue of ''Time'' came out, the critic's review of the special was ''glowing''.

** It apparently took a while for Charles Schulz himself to realize how iconic this special had become. In the late 1980's he fretted that he hadn't produced his "own ''Film/CitizenKane''" and invested a good deal of time and money on his intended masterpiece, the flop live-action/animated combo ''It's the Girl in the Red Truck, Charlie Brown''. Any fan could've told him he'd already made his ''Citizen Kane'' way back in 1965. (For added irony, Creator/OrsonWelles didn't consider the actual ''Citizen Kane'' to be his masterpiece either)

* ChristmasRushed: Schulz and his team were given six months to complete the special in time for the holiday season, and animating didn't start until the third month in.[[note]] Most of the first two months was spent trying to figure out how to properly animate such artistically abstract characters at extended length. Melendez had directed commercials and short bumpers with the ''Peanuts'' characters before, but translating a comic strip like this to a full-length special had never been done before, and they needed work out the logistics of it all.[[/note]] The [[OffModel result]] speaks for itself.

* ChristmasRushed: Schulz and his team were given six months to complete the special in time for the holiday season, and animating didn't start until the third month in.[[note]] Most of the first two months was spent trying to figure out how to properly animate such artistically abstract characters - translating a comic strip like this to animation had never been done before (aside from Melendez's own ''Peanuts'' commercial spots).[[/note]] The [[OffModel result]] speaks for itself.

* ChristmasRushed: Schulz and his team were given six months to complete the special in time for the holiday season, and animating didn't start until the third month in.[[labelnote:*]] Most of the first two months was spent trying to figure out how to properly animate such artistically abstract characters - translating a comic strip like this to animation had never been done before (aside from Melendez's own ''Peanuts'' commercial spots).[[/labelnote]] The [[OffModel result]] speaks for itself.

* NetworkToTheRescue: CBS made some cuts to the special in the '90s because shows made more room for commercials by then (see EditedForSyndication above). When ABC acquired the rights in 2001, they blocked out a full hour for the special so that it could run uncut[[labelnote:*]] (aside from the aforementioned Coca-Cola references)[[/labelnote]], commissioning ''Charlie Brown's Christmas Tales'' to fill the extra time. Note that ABC also aired a cut version during the season, but there was always at least one full-length airing.

** The slam against commercialism and the Bible recitation were only two of what the suits perceived as a laundry list of "issues" with the show. Others were the lack of a LaughTrack[[labelnote:†]] (standard equipment for comedy shows and cartoons at the time – see Creator/HannaBarbera's output from this era)[[/labelnote]], the use of actual children for the voice acting instead of adults, and the Music/VinceGuaraldi jazz score. (The tune [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6zypc_LhnM "Linus and Lucy"]] became an icon of the franchise, and [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vince_Guaraldi#Compositions_for_Charles_Schulz.27s_Peanuts Vince scored 17 other]] ''Peanuts'' specials and the feature film ''WesternAnimation/ABoyNamedCharlieBrown'' before his death). Thank goodness Schulz and Melendez stood their ground.

* ChildrenVoicingChildren: At the instigation of Charles Schulz, this was the UrExample, and boy, was it a hassle for the crew! Charlie Brown (Peter Robbins), Linus (Christopher Shea) and Lucy (Tracy Stratford) were all voiced by Hollywood-based child actors, but the majority of the others were non-professionals from the San Francisco Bay Area recruited by Lee Mendelson (including some neighbors and children of his acquaintances), and they needed extensive coaching from Bill Melendez on their line readings. In the case of 4-year-old Cathy Steinberg, who voiced Sally, she didn't know how to read and needed to have lines fed to her phonetically (leading to the "All I want is my fair share" flub mentioned above). It's even been suggested that you can hear traces of the Mexican accent of Bill Melendez in the way certain lines are said, in imitation of his coaching (particularly Linus saying "those are good reasons!").

* TheRedStapler: Inversion: The special almost single-handedly ''destroyed'' the market for AluminumChristmasTrees so completely that later generations have to be reminded that such a thing actually existed. That's the reason they're even a trope, tacky metal Christmas trees vanished from American culture overnight so thoroughly that many younger viewers thought they were something [[RealityIsUnrealistic Charles Schulz had made up.]]

** Dave Brubeck and Cal Tjader both turned down offers to do the music, because they were too busy. Brubeck later did the score for the ''WesternAnimation/ThisIsAmericaCharlieBrown'' episode "The NASA Space Station."

* ChannelHop: After airing on Creator/{{CBS}} for 36 straight years, ''A Charlie Brown Christmas'' moved to Creator/{{ABC}} in 2001. In 2020 Creator/AppleTVPlus purchased the exclusive rights for this special as well as ''WesternAnimation/ItsTheGreatPumpkinCharlieBrown'' and ''WesternAnimation/ACharlieBrownThanksgiving''. However, all three specials have been made available for free viewing for limited time windows around the relevant holidays, and a deal was struck for ''A Charlie Brown Christmas'' to air on Creator/{{PBS}} and Creator/PBSKids as well.