While the best Christmas movies deserve their shine during the holiday season, holiday television specials still have their place for those short and sweet hits of fun. A Charlie Brown Christmas is perhaps the most family-friendly and popular of them all, and I loved jumping into behind-the-scenes facts about the special many years ago. Now, thanks to one of the former kids who sang it, we have new information about the beloved Christmas song from the intro.
Dave Willat was eleven years old when he sang "Christmas Time Is Here" along with the rest of his children's church choir back in 1965. Willat, who recently spoke to NPR about the experience, explained their choir director had a longstanding relationship with composer Vince Guaraldi, and the children had previously recorded for him for his album At Grace Cathedral.
The children had fun and were paid for their work, but there was only one problem: they were late getting back to the church and met by parents who were confused and angry that their children were not there like they assumed. Willat recalled:
They get there. The church is dark, no kids. Imagine that happening today!
The parents were not told in advance about the recording session, and were understandably confused and upset when they showed up to get their children and they weren't there. I think if that happened in 2025, the choir director might be arrested, but also kids would have cell phones and likely be able to fill their parents in on what's happening much sooner.
It doesn't sound like any charges were filed, but a few angry parents refused to sign release forms to have their child's voice featured on the soundtrack. As such, Dave Willat explained they weren't able to use the footage from the first session of recording:
That entire first session had to be scratched. And we had two more sessions.
They got it done in the end, and the Vince Guaraldi Trio was able to include the song in A Charlie Brown Christmas. I guess I always assumed the song was sung by the child voice actors for the actual special, but as I now know, that wasn't the case.
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The children were given five dollars and ice cream for contributing to A Charlie Brown Christmas and, obviously, got bragging rights for being part of one of the most iconic holiday TV specials of all time. I prefer it to Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, which I've always maintained is messed up.
Unfortunately, A Charlie Brown Christmas has been more difficult to watch in recent years than other classics, like A Christmas Story. Those with an Apple TV+ subscription have open access to it and other Charlie Brown specials, and occasionally everyone else does when Apple makes it free on certain days of the year. Despite Sony's recent acquisition of a majority controlling stake in Peanuts, the streaming deal is expected to remain in place until 2030.
A Charlie Brown Christmas is available to stream on Apple TV+. Unfortunately, the free viewing window for the special ended recently, but with plenty of acclaimed shows on the platform, now would be a great time to subscribe.
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