Snoopy doesn't sing anymore.

December 5, 2019 12:01 PM

The original print vs. the subsequent edition of "A Charlie Brown Christmas." (SLYT) For all you lovers of Peanuts, classic animation, Christmas, goof nerdery, and of course the special itself. (A huge Venn diagram on Metafilter, I'm guessing.) Check out Sally's hearts! (The special previously)
posted by Melismata (23 comments total)

(I don't know why the link starts in the middle. It shouldn't, sorry about that!!)
posted by Melismata at 12:05 PM on December 5, 2019

LINUS SHOT FIRST
posted by thelonius at 12:07 PM on December 5, 2019 [11 favorites]

Mod note: Fixed the link. Youtube has a Helpful Inclination to silently add a timecode to a video URL for wherever you happen to be at in it when copying a link is all; you can always check for and remove a "&t=142s" or whatever from a URL you're sharing to avoid that.
posted by cortex (staff) at 12:12 PM on December 5, 2019 [8 favorites]

My god, sooo many F-bombs!
posted by Atom Eyes at 12:13 PM on December 5, 2019 [4 favorites]

So, I watched the whole thing, but did I miss the part where they detail exactly when the revised edit became the one they broadcast every year? I grew up with this and have details I remember, and therefore I'd be willing to lay money that Snoopy's "Argh!" after Lucy's freakout was present on the boradcast as early as the late 1970's.
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 12:43 PM on December 5, 2019 [2 favorites]

I wish they would explain the 'yall'(around 4:40 in the video) as I don't believe the Peanuts gang is supposed to live in the south. My theory is that the linguistic differences between the north and south have been overstated at least since the 1960s but I'm not sure how far before...I'd guess a writer might have snuck it in, but it seems like the principals- Peter Robbins (Charlie Brown's voice) and the writing is Schulz himself and neither has strong southern roots. It's kind of a mystery. Am I right? Am I right?!
posted by The_Vegetables at 1:15 PM on December 5, 2019 [1 favorite]

Also I never noticed that Schroder totally sticks the landing on his "that's it" backflip - as in he does 3 backflips and lands in his original sitting position. Charlie and Linus walk in on him and Lucy so quickly, there's no other explanation.
posted by The_Vegetables at 1:27 PM on December 5, 2019

Guessing the yall is just you all but slightly compressed or mumbled, and thus not a true y'all of the Glorious Temperate Region.
posted by jquinby at 1:29 PM on December 5, 2019 [1 favorite]

I wish they would explain the 'yall'(around 4:40 in the video) as I don't believe the Peanuts gang is supposed to live in the south.

I am perpetually one beer away from cornering people and telling them in detail that canonically Peanuts is set in Minneapolis or at least one of its suburbs; in one of the early strips from the 50s, Lucy wins a trophy declaring her the biggest fussbudget in Hennepin County.

(also the wall that Charlie Brown and Linus lean on all the time is 100% a Minneapolis Parks Dept wall)
posted by COBRA! at 1:35 PM on December 5, 2019 [18 favorites]

So often, "revisions" turn out worse and make me angry. I'm glad this one really did improve the original!
posted by Greg_Ace at 1:45 PM on December 5, 2019

That closing shot reminds me of one job I had where a vendor repairman named Harold often visited us; at one point all 6 of us in the office started shouting "Hark - the Harold! Angels sing!" in unison when he walked in. At first he was baffled, and eventually vaguely annoyed...which of course only encouraged us to keep the tradition alive (but it stopped a year or so later when the company switched vendors).
posted by Greg_Ace at 1:55 PM on December 5, 2019 [1 favorite]

Yeah, it's good that they changed the sound of the snow falling from the tree. The original sounded like a very bad fart, or worse.
posted by Melismata at 2:02 PM on December 5, 2019 [1 favorite]

Why did you use this YouTube link instead of the final edit on Vimeo?
posted by koavf at 2:06 PM on December 5, 2019 [3 favorites]

I am perpetually one beer away from cornering people and telling them in detail that canonically Peanuts is set in Minneapolis or at least one of its suburbs;

I always assumed that as well, but they were wearing shorts during The Thanksgiving Special so I wasn't 100% sure.
posted by The_Vegetables at 2:15 PM on December 5, 2019 [3 favorites]

Oh, kids rejecting seasonally appropriate clothing is also canonically Minneapolis. There was an article in the St Paul paper I think last winter about a group of teen boys who pledged to wear sandals year-round.
posted by Flannery Culp at 2:23 PM on December 5, 2019 [9 favorites]

I live in Portland OR; when I went to the grocery store yesterday evening it was 42F. Still, I saw That One Dude wearing shorts. There's always That One Dude...
posted by Greg_Ace at 2:44 PM on December 5, 2019 [2 favorites]

I am Minneapolis-proximate and frequently see teenagers huddled shivering on a street corner waiting for the school bus with only a light (or no) jacket. However, shorts are another issue entirely--I myself typically wear shorts until December though this year I shifted to long pants a couple weeks before Thanksgiving. Legs are different than arms. So the shorts-at-Thanksgiving could definitely be A Thing.
posted by Gilgamesh's Chauffeur at 5:31 PM on December 5, 2019

I am perpetually one beer away from cornering people and telling them in detail that canonically Peanuts is set in Minneapolis

Sincerity as far as the eye can see, at least to Duluth.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 6:17 PM on December 5, 2019 [1 favorite]

I just saw "A Charlie Brown Christmas" and a 30-minute group of short vignettes for the holidays. I'm happy that they didn't squash another commercial break between Charlie escaping with his rejected tree and his attempt at decoration. Linus giving his biblical recital always makes me tear up.
And season's greetings to one and all!
posted by TrishaU at 6:47 PM on December 5, 2019 [1 favorite]

In case anyone wants to see the whole original print (unrestored) The Internet Archive comes to the rescue once again. Even has a bonus promo ad for the show at the start.
posted by inthe80s at 7:18 PM on December 5, 2019 [6 favorites]

Because I'm a mean ruiner who ruins things, here's a Charlie Brown Christmas Reunion. Aka You're Middle Aged, Charlie Brown!

also, "All we did was wave our hands!?" (hushed) "We possess an awesome power."

and for those community theatre Peanuts fans, You're a Rat Bastard, Charlie Brown!
posted by bartleby at 11:20 PM on December 5, 2019 [6 favorites]

I always assumed this was one of those classics that has remained the same for 50+ years, so this is fascinating and I'll watch the whole thing when I have a bit more time.

It turns out that what we think of as "classic" TV specials, especially Christmas specials, aren't always the original version. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer has had a few different versions, notably the original 1964 broadcast didn't have Santa visit the Island of Misfit Toys -- this was added the next year after viewers complained that Santa didn't keep his promise. There are a few other interesting tidbits in the Wikipedia article.
posted by asnider at 8:39 AM on December 6, 2019 [4 favorites]

Why did you use this YouTube link instead of the final edit on Vimeo?
posted by koavf at 2:06 PM on December 5

Can we get a video detailing the differences between them?
posted by darksasami at 1:58 PM on December 6, 2019 [1 favorite]