A Charlie Brown Christmas A Charlie Brown Christmas A Charlie Brown Christmas is a 1965 animated television special based on the comic strip "Peanuts", by Charles M. Schulz. Produced by Lee Mendelson and directed by Bill Melendez, the program made its debut on CBS on December 9, 1965. In the special, lead character Charlie Brown finds himself depressed despite the onset of the cheerful holiday season. Lucy suggests he direct a neighborhood Christmas play, but his best efforts are ignored and mocked by his peers. After Linus tells Charlie Brown about the true meaning of Christmas, Charlie Brown cheers up, and the Peanuts gang
A Charlie Brown Christmas comics and animation industries, among them Eric Goldberg ("Pocahontas"), Pete Docter ("Monsters, Inc.", "Up"), Andrew Stanton ("Finding Nemo", "WALL-E"), Jef Mallett ("Frazz"), and Patrick McDonnell ("Mutts"). The show's score made an equally pervasive impact on viewers who would later perform jazz, among them David Benoit and George Winston. More directly, the special launched a series of Peanuts films, TV specials (many of them holiday-themed) and other works of entertainment. Linus' speech near the end of the special was used in the Sidewalk Prophets Christmas song "What a Glorious Night". In 2013 Tams-Witmark Music Library, Inc. began licensing an official stage