I'm heading up to the Santa Rosa area tomorrow and if I get a chance, I'm going to visit the museum again. For me it's almost like a religious pilgrimage to the idols of my youth.
I've just finished reading a biography of Charles M. Schulz that I found on a discount table at the bookstore. I hadn't remembered seeing this book before, entitled Schulz and Peanuts, but I'm glad I found it. It's been a very revealing look into the life of Charles Schulz and many of the influences that found their way into his 17,000+ strips. I'd highly recommend it for anyone who is a fan of the Peanuts strip.
Just to show how out-of-touch the TV types at that time were, a few days before it first aired a preview was shown to the sponsors at Coca-Cola who had fronted the money to make the special. They were underwhelmed to say the least. They thought the show was too slow, and the lack of a laugh track along with kid's voices in all the acting parts made them think the show would be unsuccessful. There were also various technical glitches that were never fixed due to the small budget they were working with. Charles Schulz would never let them fix those glitches in ensuing years.
Tonight on ABC-TV, for the 45th year in a row, A Charlie Brown Christmas will be broadcast. I remember watching the very first showing in 1965 as a 9-year old. It was the first of what would eventually become 75 TV specials. It was supposed to have been broadcast on December 1st but was bumped for Obama's latest TV special (it wasn't very entertaining, either).
When you read comics you create the voices for the characters in your head. When I first saw the show I had to recalibrate those voices to match the actors on the show. Those children's voices are still there when I read a Peanuts strip today. More about those voices in a moment.
I've just finished reading a biography of Charles M. Schulz that I found on a discount table at the bookstore. I hadn't remembered seeing this book before, entitled Schulz and Peanuts, but I'm glad I found it. It's been a very revealing look into the life of Charles Schulz and many of the influences that found their way into his 17,000+ strips. I'd highly recommend it for anyone who is a fan of the Peanuts strip.
It's not a glossy look at Schulz' life at all, but reveals a guy who had a lot of insecurities and irrational fears that tormented him throughout his life, but also probably gave him some of the humor for which he was famous. He found the one thing in his life that he was really good at, drawing a cartoon, and did it better than anybody ever has. The Peanuts empire dwarfed anything before or since in the cartoon business. Today my daughter attends college at the school where Schulz's second wife attended and there are now many buildings named after Schulz or Peanuts characters thanks to funding from the Schulz estate.
In reading the book I came across the chapter on the making of A Charlie Brown Christmas and what all went into that. There were significant battles fought over that TV special, all of which Schulz won. The producers had never done a show like this with cartoon characters, and they tried to make it the only way they knew how - with adult actors voicing the kids parts and a laugh track. Schulz vetoed both ideas, insisting on children's voices for the kid's parts and absolutely no laugh track. He didn't think his audience would need to be told when to laugh, and he was right.
The other big battle involved the inclusion of the Biblical Christmas story from Luke as recited by Linus in the scene you'll see below. At one point as the producers were trying to talk Schulz out of including the Bible passage he said "if we don't do it, who will?" Good question. Schulz insisted the passage be kept in the show and the rest is history. Here it is:
Just to show how out-of-touch the TV types at that time were, a few days before it first aired a preview was shown to the sponsors at Coca-Cola who had fronted the money to make the special. They were underwhelmed to say the least. They thought the show was too slow, and the lack of a laugh track along with kid's voices in all the acting parts made them think the show would be unsuccessful. There were also various technical glitches that were never fixed due to the small budget they were working with. Charles Schulz would never let them fix those glitches in ensuing years.
The night the show aired, December 9, 1965, fully half of the TVs on that night were tuned in. It was a huge commercial and artistic success.
I still have in my files the final Sunday Peanuts strip which ran the morning of February 13, 2000, a few hours after Schulz died. I remember hearing the news on the radio that he had died as I was driving to a concert that morning. It still makes me a little sad to think about it.
I'll be watching A Charlie Brown Christmas tonight with millions of others.
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5 comments:
I love that show. One other thing, and you may have noticed this, too, is that Linus, who is never seen without his blanket in his hands, drops his blanket when he says the words "Fear not".
Great article. Good to know there is more to life than Obamacare and global warming. (thank God)
Good catch, Laura, on Linus dropping his blanket when he says, "Fear not." I'm certain that was by Charles M. Schulz's design, and not by happenstance.
"Peanuts," originally named "Lil' Folks," was *both* a comic strip in newspapers and paperback books, *and* a cartoon series of specials shown on network television (originally CBS). Quite an empire, indeed.
I dunno if you've yet visited the Charles M. Schulz museum. While you are up there, Rick, don't miss the Warm Puppy cafe for some interestingly named treats (located in the Snoopy skating rink).
The museum itself displays a wall taken from the Schulz residence while they lived for a short time in Colorado Springs, Colorado. It illustrates the main Peanuts characters as they were in the circa 1950 time period. The characters are on a black background. Fascinating stuff. . .
Also, there's a gift shop on the premises. I asked the clerk on duty during my last visit this past Spring why didn't they, in these uncertain times, offer a Linus Security Blanket? She didn't know. My Sweet Polly Purebred was mystified as well at the omission. . . you'd think it was a sure thing.
Of course, many people forget these days that Schulz' Christian faith informed the way the Peanuts characters acted and were portrayed. Schulz, a member of the Methodist Church, agreed when interviewed on the subject. Yet he was not "pushy" about his faith. A rare man, indeed.
Another book to consider that I've enjoyed quite a bit is "The Gospel According to Peanuts," which was a bestseller in its day. It's at the Schulz museum as well.
Enjoy the visit to Santa Rosa!
I have been to the Museum before and had a meal at the Warm Puppy Cafe, right next to the table that's still reserved for Mr. Schulz himself. I did a post on it here: http://holycoast.blogspot.com/2008/05/charles-m-schulz-museum.html
I hope to get over there this week to see what the current displays are.
Excellent that you are familiar with the Museum! Just wanted you to get the most from the experience if you were a newbie.
Good point you raise. . . the displays do change and rotate over time. Makes you want to go back to see the new items currently on display. Enjoy!
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