A Charlie Brown Christmas Now Streaming on Apple TV+

Initial reactions to the program led the broadcasting network to believe they had a significant misstep. The cartoon was subdued—functioning more as a thoughtful exploration of seasonal melancholy rather than a traditional holiday presentation. The tempo was deliberate, the voice acting was performed by inexperienced young actors, and the musical score largely consisted of jazz piano arrangements from a North Beach musician with a mustache known as “Dr. Funk.”

Perhaps most concerningly, “A Charlie Brown Christmas” directly challenged the increasing commercialism surrounding the holiday season, notably through an extended speech delivered by Linus while referencing the story of Jesus’s birth.

“[Network executives stated], ‘We will broadcast it one time, and that will be the end. It was a good effort,’ ” producer Lee Mendelson recounted in a 2006 interview. “[Director Bill Melendez] and I believed we had irrevocably damaged the Charlie Brown franchise upon completion. We tended to concur with the network’s assessment. An animator in the back of the room, having consumed some alcoholic beverages, proclaimed, ‘It will be shown for a century,’ before collapsing. We all considered him to be mistaken, but he proved to be remarkably accurate.”

“A Charlie Brown Christmas” has, naturally, stood the test of time. The 25-minute animated special has been broadcast on network television annually since its 1965 premiere. It aired on CBS until 2000, and subsequently on ABC each year, including dedicated broadcasts celebrating its 40th and 50th anniversaries in 2005 and 2015, respectively. However, for its 55th anniversary, it will not be shown on traditional network television.

In October, Apple secured exclusive broadcast rights to the special, as part of its extensive, multi-billion dollar investment in Apple TV+. The agreement with Wildbrain, Peanuts Worldwide, and the late Mendelson’s production company designates Apple’s streaming service as the sole rights holder for Peanuts content. This means that future specials, such as “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving” and “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown,” will experience a comparable outcome.

This scenario has become increasingly common in the streaming age. Last year, HBO Max obtained exclusive access to new installments of “Sesame Street,” although that arrangement permitted episodes to be shown on PBS at a later time. There is also a provision within the Peanuts agreement requiring Apple to make the specials available for free during a limited period. “The Great Pumpkin” will be accessible without charge from October 30 to November 1, “Thanksgiving” will be available from November 25 to the 27, and “Christmas” will be released considerably earlier this year, from December 11 to the 13.

“[Peanuts creator Charles Schulz] often remarked that he never anticipated the program would still be viewed 25 years later,” his wife Jean Schulz shared in an interview for the same article. “A key reason why Christmas remains so beloved is that in 1965, there were no VCRs or DVDs, so viewers saw the show once and had to wait an entire year to watch it again. Yet, when it returned, it still resonated. It remained endearing.”

More than half a century later, the special continues to be both. It stands as a quintessential piece of American popular culture, simultaneously reflecting its time and offering a subtle critique of it. Naturally, the issues Linus addressed in 1965 have only intensified in the decades since. The media environment has also undergone significant transformations during that period.

In a world defined by constant change, watching “A Charlie Brown Christmas” on television has been a reliable tradition. This year, the short film joins the growing list of content caught up in the streaming conflicts of 2020, as media companies fiercely compete for ownership of established catalogs.

Portrayed as the consistent skeptic and football-pulling adversary, Lucy Van Pelt informs the main character, “Look, Charlie, let’s be realistic. We all understand that Christmas is a major commercial enterprise.” That aspect, at least, has not altered.