A Charlie Brown Christmas: The Making of a Tradition

My childhood memories of Peanuts (to me it was simply Snoopy cartoons) [b:It's the Great Pumpkin: The Making of a Television Classic 20483111 It's the Great Pumpkin The Making of a Television Classic Charles M. Schulz https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1400881891s/20483111.jpg 32579200]was [b:A Charlie Brown Christmas: The Making of a Tradition 17349271 A Charlie Brown Christmas The Making of a Tradition Charles M. Schulz https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1375673529s/17349271.jpg 24090344]. I remember watching the Christmas special all the time live on TV and possibly recorded on VHS. The TV specials are neat on their own, but the treasures that these “Making of a Television Classic” coffee table books bring to any family is fabulous! From actor/voice biographies, to screen plays, to musical numbers, and behind the scenes details it is all entertainingly wonderful. A perfect gift book. Now you can also find [b:It's the Great Pumpkin: The Making of a Television Classic 20483111 It's the Great Pumpkin The Making of a Television Classic Charles M. Schulz https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1400881891s/20483111.jpg 32579200] as well! I received this product free for the purpose of reviewing it. I received no other compensation for this review. The opinions expressed in this review are my personal, honest opinions. Your experience may vary. Please read my full disclosure policy for more details.

I received this book as a Christmas gift (thanks, Emily!) and know I will treasure it always. It chronicles the history of the making of the first animated Peanuts film. It's a great behind-the-scenes of an American classic that almost didn't happen at all! 

Excerpts from Charles Schulz interviews and the rest of the collaborators piece together the story of how they all came together to work one of my favorite Christmas specials. According to those who worked with him, Schulz seemed like such a nice guy. And the rest of the team got along as well. It was just one of those things that was just meant to be and came together. 

What makes this such a great gift is that not only do you get a better sense of the people who created the animated film, you also get to see the process. Loads of sketches and storyboard pics are included as well as the music and lyrics to Christmas Time is Here and Linus & Lucy. But my absolute favorites are the original ads and commercials used to promote the cartoon and the Vince Guaraldi Trio albums. And each corner of the lower right-hand pages contains a single still from the special which forms a flip book of the opening scenes from the cartoon special. And I can't forget to mention that the illustrated cells and script to the entire show are also included!