The Charlie Brown Specials Originally Had Ads Mixed Throughout Them
It's a tradition for most of us to get the family together in the living room to sit and watch through the timeless classics, the Peanuts specials.
However, it should be noted that we're missing out when we watch A Charlie Brown Christmas, A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, and It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.
The version that we see today isn't the same as the originally aired versions of the show. They've had scenes removed from each of them, and it's not because they didn't any longer fit with the times. No, Charlie Brown is still PC even with these scenes.
When the episodes aired, starting 1966 with A Charlie Brown Christmas, the show had some corporate sponsorships they had to honor; from Coca-Cola and Dolly Madison.
The iconic opener, with the characters ice skating with Snoopy has been edited from the original version, removing the sign in the ice that reads "Brought to you by the people in your town who bottle Coca-Cola."
The ending sequence and credits also featured another nod to the sponsorship from Coca-Cola, with the kids all standing around the Christmas Tree, singing O Tannenbaum as a message comes onto the screen.
"Merry Christmas from the people who bottle Coca-Cola."
In Charlie Brown's All Stars!, a sponsorship can easily be spotted from Dolly Madison, the company who originally made Zingers and the Peanuts themed snack cakes. Of course, the obligatory Coca Cola Message is also present.
The same case goes for my favorite, It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, where the opening scene features costumed kids running through a pumpkin patch. As they run, they pass by a scarecrow holding a Coca-Cola logo, and a random Dolly Madison sign that's planted next to a big pumpkin.
It's kind of ironic, that in a special like A Charlie Brown Christmas, where the message is to ignore the commercialization of Christmas and remember what it's truly about, that there was some in-your-face advertising IN THE CARTOON!
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