Charlie Brown Christmas: The Story Behind the Classic: "CBS initially balked at A Charlie Brown Christmas. After all, it addressed some challenging themes: Besides the frank expressions of alienation that Peanuts had embraced from the beginning, the show raised questions not only about the commercialization of Christmas ??? 'A racket run by a big eastern syndicate,' Lucy confides to Charlie Brown ??? but about faith itself. And the network execs just didn't think jazz and Christmas mixed."
Who knows how many kids ??? and I'm sure one of them ??? A Charlie Brown Christmas has turned on to jazz. In fact, I'd bet ACBC introduced more people to jazz than Miles Davis' ubiquitous, iconic Kind of Blue. Just like Charles M. Schulz's cartoons, Guaraldi's music doesn't condescend to kids one bit. Children ??? and people in general ??? have significantly better taste than the media often give them credit for, and that realization is one of the many joys of hearing this music.