Thank God Charles Schulz stuck to his guns (#1-3), that he followed his artistic sensibilities even when they conflicted with his personal taste (#4), and that he sought to glorify Christ in his art, as we all should in every work we do (#5). The rest, as they say, is history! (I'm also glad 'ACBC' is no longer a Coke commercial.)
We now enjoy "A Charlie Brown Christmas" on DVD, but every time I hear the opening chords of "Christmas Time is Here" I think of the excitement that ran through our house when those once-a-year broadcasts aired: "How the Grinch Stole Christmas", "A Christmas Carol", "The Sound of Music". You always hoped the CTV station from Regina wouldn't be coming in too fuzzy when "The Sound of Music" started on Christmas Eve!
I've added to my list of favorites as I've grown older: "It's a Wonderful Life", "Meet Me in St. Louis". For me, this is still the best moment from them all:
I was rather surprised and disappointed to read that Schulz didn't like jazz. It was this TV special and only this TV special that got me interested in jazz, which I now like very much.
ReplyDeleteAnd of course I'm glad Schulz stuck to his guns about Linus's monologue from Luke. It makes the whole show.
Best line of the entire article: "The drunken animator turned out to be the smartest person in the screening room," (for having predicted that the special would "run for 100 years"). Looking at TV today, I still think network execs (and most writers) must be the dumbest asshats on the planet.