Lee Mendelson on Vince Guaraldi & "A Charlie Brown Christmas" - TelevisionAcademy.com/Interviews

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[@irish89055]

the greatest jazz... RIP Vince

[@fennis26]

Classic. Funny thing how everyone in the production and at CBS thought it sucked, only to turn out a hit. Vince Guraldi nailed it.

[@clemdane]

Absolute genius.

[@voicetube]

I just watched it again (and bought a lot of the VG album on iTunes) - CB Xmas is one of the GREATS!! Thanks so much for posting this glimpse of a Behind the Scenes of a classic!!

[@wildbob]

excellent.

[@CurtisAmusements]

He brought together all the people who did do those things, as well as the animators, cast, and everyone else who wouldn't otherwise have worked on the production -- which wouldn't have happened (at least with that specific mix of people who worked on it) without him. True, someone else could have produced "A Charlie Brown Christmas", but it may never have come out so well. He also convinced CBS to put up the money for the show.

[@burpo]

Jazz was pretty popular in the 60s. It was cool that Peanuts used it, but was it that revolutionary? I mean, Chuck Jones' Tom and Jerry, The Pink Panther and many Disney shorts were using jazz.

[@Fordham1969]

Actually,he did do some writing,he wrote the lyrics to "Christmas Time is Here".He also helped with the outline of the show,which he clearly states here.But most importantly,as has already been mentioned in prior comments,he brought all the various elements together. For example,he was the jazz fan,Shulz wasn't,so without him it would have sounded completely different.He also was in charge of picking which kids voiced the characters,another key aspect to the shows success.

[@DammitBobby]

I think a charlie brown Christmas is a perfect example of using religion to compliment your media. Most of the time when you make things christian they end up coming out corny