It's Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown

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It's Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown
Icacb1.jpg
Genre
Created by Charles M. Schulz
Written byCharles M. Schulz
Directed by Bill Melendez
Voices of
  • Jamie E. Smith
  • Mindy Ann Martin
  • John Christian Graas
  • Marnette Patterson
  • Phillip Lucier
  • Lindsay Benesh
  • Sean Mendelson
  • Deanna Tello
  • Matthew Slowik
  • Brittany M. Thornton
  • Bill Melendez
Theme music composer Vince Guaraldi
Opening theme"Linus and Lucy"
Ending theme"Linus and Lucy"
Composers
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
Production
Executive producer Lee Mendelson
ProducerBill Melendez
Editors
  • Chuck McCann
  • Warren Taylor
Running time23 minutes
Production companies
Original release
Network CBS
ReleaseNovember 27, 1992 (1992-11-27)
Related

It's Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown is the 36th prime-time animated television special based on the comic strip Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz. It originally aired on CBS on November 27, 1992. [1]

Contents

The program is composed of various storylines from the comic strip. [2] It was the first Christmas-themed Peanuts special since the inaugural A Charlie Brown Christmas in 1965, though an episode of The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show featured a new Christmas vignette in 1985.

The animation for the special was done by Wang Film Productions in Taiwan, making it the second Peanuts special after Snoopy's Reunion to be animated by an overseas studio rather than Bill Melendez Productions, who served as animation revisionists.

This was the final new Peanuts animated special to air on CBS. The network cancelled all future animated specials, although they still aired in re-runs until 2000.

Plot

It's Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown is composed of several Christmas-themed storylines, all taken directly from the Peanuts comic strip: [3]

Cast

Production notes

Music score

Rather than having a new musical score composed for It's Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown, jazz composer Vince Guaraldi's musical scores were reused and performed by jazz pianist David Benoit. It was the first time Guaraldi's music had been used in a Peanuts special since It's Arbor Day, Charlie Brown (1976). [4] Guaraldi composed music scores for the first 16 Peanuts television specials and one feature film ( A Boy Named Charlie Brown ) before his death in February 1976. [5]

Benoit previously had scored an episode of This Is America, Charlie Brown .

All songs written by Vince Guaraldi, except where noted.

  1. "Linus and Lucy"
  2. "Charlie Brown Theme" (Vince Guaraldi, Lee Mendelson)
  3. "Classical Horns"
  4. "Christmas Is Coming" (opening credits)
  5. "Blue Charlie Brown"
  6. "Hallelujah" (George Frideric Handel)
  7. "Blue Charlie Brown"
  8. "Classical Violins"
  9. "Charlie Brown Theme"
  10. "O Tannenbaum" (Ernst Anschütz)
  11. "Christmas Time Is Here (instrumental)
  12. "Blue Charlie Brown"
  13. "Skating"
  14. "Hark, the Herald Angels Sing" (Charles Wesley)
  15. "Blue Charlie Brown"
  16. "O Tannenbaum" (Ernst Anschütz)
  17. "Hark, the Herald Angels Sing" (Charles Wesley)
  18. "Linus and Lucy"
  19. "Linus and Lucy" (end credits)

Release

Broadcast history

It's Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown was first shown on CBS on Friday, November 27, 1992 - the day after Thanksgiving - and was the last Peanuts special to have its television premiere on that network. The show received a 10.0 rating and was watched by about 9.3 million households. [6]

The special no longer airs on American television as both CBS and its successor Peanuts broadcaster, ABC, abandoned it in favor of other specials. In Canada, YTV still airs it as a standalone special as of 2012.

Home media

A VHS release was made available at Shell gas stations a few months prior to the TV airing, which would make this the first Peanuts special released directly to video. [7]

Paramount gave it another video release in 1996, and it was later included as a bonus special on the DVD and Blu-ray of A Charlie Brown Christmas by Warner Home Video, who currently owns the rights to both specials. [8]

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References

  1. Crump, William D. (2019). Happy Holidays—Animated! A Worldwide Encyclopedia of Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and New Year's Cartoons on Television and Film. McFarland & Co. p. 150. ISBN   9781476672939.
  2. Lenburg, Jeff (2009). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons (3rd ed.). New York: Checkmark Books. p. 325. ISBN   978-0-8160-6600-1.
  3. "A trove of yule's neglected videos". The Washington Times. 1993-12-16. Retrieved 2009-01-15.
  4. Bierbaum, Tom (23 November 1992). "Review: It's Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown". Variety . Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  5. Bang, Derrick (2012). Vince Guaraldi at the Piano. Jefferson, North Carolina, U.S.: McFarland. p. 11. ISBN   978-0-7864-5902-5. Archived from the original on April 6, 2012. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
  6. "Nielsen Ratings/Nov 23-29". Press-Telegram . 2 December 1992.
  7. McGuire, Scott. "Peanuts: List of Video (VHS) Releases". fivecentsplease.org. Derrick Bang, Scott McGuire. Retrieved 22 December 2012.
  8. McGuire, Scott. "Peanuts: List of Current US DVD and Blu-ray Releases". fivecentsplease.org. Derrick Bang, Scott McGuire. Retrieved 26 March 2020.