A Charlie Brown Christmas second to create the illusion of movement. Melendez had previously worked for Warner Bros. and Disney, and working on "Peanuts"-related material gave him a chance to animate a truly flat cartoon design. The movement of Schulz's characters, particularly the "Peanuts" gang, was very 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. The soundtrack to "A Charlie Brown Christmas" is an unorthodox mix of traditional Christmas music and jazz. The jazz portions were created by the Vince Guaraldi Trio. Producer
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (TV special) Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (TV special) Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is a 1964 Christmas stop motion animated television special produced by Videocraft International, Ltd. (later known as Rankin/Bass Productions) and currently distributed by Universal Television. It first aired Sunday, December 6, 1964, on the NBC television network in the United States, and was sponsored by General Electric under the umbrella title of "The General Electric Fantasy Hour". The special was based on the Johnny Marks song "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" which was itself based on the poem of the same name written in 1939 by Marks' brother-in-law, Robert L. May.