a Charlie Brown Christmas page 7 by ric gustafson
In Feb 1965, James Aubrey had a long talk with Frank Stanton. Stanton was the president of CBS. After talking, it was decided that Aubrey and CBS would part ways. Aubrey had a talk with the Chairman of CBS Bill Paley. Despite a plea, Aubrey and CBS parted ways.
Now with Aubrey gone, CBS could now broadcast specials. A holiday special that Coca Cola was going to sponsor was ' Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'. Because of production delays, the special could not be broadcast until March of 1966. Coca Cola now run by J Paul Austin wanted a holiday special for Thanksgiving Christmas 1965.
One day, a McCann Erickson executive named John Allen noticed a Time Magazine cover about Peanuts and Charles Schultz. The date of the Time Magazine cover was April 9 1965. Allen had seen the documentary about Schultz and Peanuts. Allen knew that Lee Mendelson produced the documentary.
Could Mendelson and Schultz pull off a Christmas special in a short period of time?.
Allen picked up the phone.
research help: ' Charlie Brown's Christmas Miracle' by Michael Keane
Peace and God's blessings. Love Ric
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