60 years ago today, Peanuts debuted the first ever Charlie Brown animated special and with it sparked a whole new holiday tradition that has been going on for decades. Peanuts might no longer be as massive of a comics franchise today that it used to be, but Charles M. Schulz’s original comics strip has since broken through to a whole new level of pop culture and recognition. It’s all thanks to the animated specials that have been releasing over the decades, and it all started with the very first one that launched all those decades ago today and remains a part of the holidays.
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60 years ago today, on December 9, 1965, A Charlie Brown Christmas first made its debut with CBS. This was the first ever animated special for the Peanuts franchise, and was such a success that it was far from the last fans had ever seen. It was an incredible hit that saw multiple holiday specials released in the years that followed, but there’s nothing that really tops this debut after all time. Looking back, it’s no mystery why the special has been thriving for all of these decades.
A Charlie Brown Christmas Premiered 60 Years Ago Today
60 years ago today, A Charlie Brown Christmas had a wild kind of production that seemed far ahead of its time all these years later. It was sponsored by The Coca-Cola Company, and was written and produced within a six month span. The special also broke ground by hiring child actors for each of the characters (and would be a part of the specials moving forward). It was reportedly even considered to be debuting as a potential failure because of these choices, and its more solemn town for the upcoming Christmas holiday than fans might have expected at the time.
It might have been quickly put together, and finished shortly before its official broadcast, but A Charlie Brown Christmas ended up changing the world from that point on. It was such a hit that it remained a broadcast TV tradition, and aired on CBS for nearly 60 years before its license was picked up (along with all of the other Charlie Brown specials) and shifted over to their new exclusive streaming home with Apple TV. And because of that, it’s not really a key part of TV around the holidays anymore, and that has a bit of a bittersweet feeling considering its multi-decade run thus far.
Why A Charlie Brown Christmas Is Special
Even with the wild way it all came together, you would never expect it when seeing the special itself. Charlie Brown is forced to direct a Christmas play with the rest of his childhood gang, but it doesn’t turn out the way he wanted it to. Charlie’s depressed during the holiday, and it’s only made worse when the rest of the kids start to make fun of all of his choices (like the fact that he picked out a puny Christmas tree). Like the best Christmas specials, there’s a bitter flavor about it all before there’s a dash of the Christmas spirit.
But when it all comes together, the true timelessness of A Charlie Brown Christmas comes through. The kids all realize the error of their ways, and helps Charlie Brown get out of that slump he had been in. It’s a pleasant message about the power of friends and found family during what could be a rough period for many kids, and it still hits just as hard all these years later.
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