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
'Twas the Night Before Christmas (1977 TV special) casting Martha Raye as his mother-in-law, telling an interviewer: "It's my chance to repay her for all the times she used me in her NBC "Comedy Hour" back in the 1950s." George Gobel's casting in this production was an apparent coincidence and not related to his appearance three years earlier in a holiday special of the same name, 'Twas the Night Before Christmas (1974 TV special). For the climactic recitation of "A Visit from St. Nicholas," Lynde was not allowed to rely on cue cards because director Tim Kiley felt they would distract the child actors in the cast. Lynde