Everyone recognizes the Charlie Brown Christmas tree. It's a tiny, bare pine nailed to two small planks of wood. There's one oversize red ornament weighing down the top of the tree, causing it to sadly droop. Even if you've never seen the special before, you've seen the Charlie Brown tree.
Back in 1965, executives at CBS weren't sure that anyone would tune in to watch the A Charlie Brown Christmas on December 9, a Thursday, at 7:30 p.m. Lee Mendelson, the executive producer, just didn't think that it would work out. Thankfully, he still ended up backing the project, along with CBS, who didn't have much faith in it either.
With very little hope, A Charlie Brown Christmas went on the air. Instead of flopping… it had an audience of half the nation! No one expected the cartoon to do so well, let alone for it to become a classic.
Christmas is the time of year to spend with family and loved ones, and to reflect on how you spread kindness to the people around you. Whether or not you are religious, the speech that Linus gives at 2:43 serves as a reminder of how to live our lives. This is part of the reason why we've all welcomed the Peanuts gang into our living rooms every Christmas for the past 50 years, and why we'll continue to do so.
The other reason? Well, that's because we've all had a Charlie Brown Christmas of our own, where nothing seems to go to plan! But if Charlie can get through it, so can we!
Please SHARE with your friends and family if you've spent Christmas with Charlie over the years!
