Everyone loves a good Christmas movie, but shorter holiday specials still bring a lot of joy. A Charlie Brown Christmas is probably the most popular and family-friendly one, and I always enjoyed learning about how it was made. Recently, we’ve gotten new insights about the special’s famous opening song from one of the children who originally sang on it.
In 1965, eleven-year-old Dave Willat sang “Christmas Time Is Here” with his children’s church choir. He recently told NPR that their choir director knew composer Vince Guaraldi well, and the children had even recorded music for Guaraldi’s album, At Grace Cathedral, before.
The kids enjoyed themselves and earned money for their efforts, but they ran into trouble when they returned to the church late. Parents were waiting, confused and upset that their children hadn’t been there as expected, Willat remembered.
They get there. The church is dark, no kids. Imagine that happening today!
The parents didn’t know their children were being recorded, so they were confused and upset when they came to pick them up and they weren’t there. Something like that could lead to legal trouble for the choir director today, but in the future, kids will probably have phones and be able to quickly explain to their parents what’s going on.
No charges were filed, but some parents were upset and wouldn’t allow their children’s voices to be used in the soundtrack. Because of this, Dave Willat said they couldn’t use the recordings from the initial session.
That entire first session had to be scratched. And we had two more sessions.
Ultimately, the Vince Guaraldi Trio successfully added the song to A Charlie Brown Christmas. I always thought the children in the special sang it themselves, but I recently learned that wasn’t true.
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The kids who participated in A Charlie Brown Christmas received five dollars and ice cream, plus the awesome story of being in such a famous holiday special! I actually like it better than Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, which I’ve always thought had a bit of a sad story.
As a big fan of Christmas specials, it’s been surprisingly tricky to watch A Charlie Brown Christmas lately. Unlike A Christmas Story, which is pretty easy to find, Charlie Brown has mostly been stuck on Apple TV+. Luckily, Apple does sometimes make it—and other Charlie Brown specials—available for free for a few days each year. And even though Sony now owns most of Peanuts, it looks like this streaming deal with Apple is secure until 2030, so that’s good news for those of us who love revisiting Charlie Brown every holiday season.
Enjoy Apple TV+ for $12.99 per month and start with a 7-day free trial! Stream favorites like Severance, Slow Horses, Shrinking, Ted Lasso, and even a classic like A Charlie Brown Christmas. Sign up today to start watching!
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You can watch A Charlie Brown Christmas on Apple TV+. The special was previously available for free, but that offer has ended. Apple TV+ has many other highly-rated shows, so it might be a good time to consider a subscription.
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2025-12-19 23:38