Future-Proofing A Charlie Brown Christmas + a Giveaway!
I am a Peanuts Ambassador, and any opinions expressed are 100% my own and entirely a result of my great love for Charlie Brown and all of his friends.
I know you’ve all been anxiously awaiting the next post in our A Charlie Brown Christmas series, and here it is. Sorry I kept you waiting so long! The Peanuts are worth waiting for though, don’t you think?
So far, we’ve learned a little about the Schulz family, the voices behind the characters, and the Peanuts music. This month we have an interview with Ron Smith, who is bringing us some fascinating insights into the cutting-edge 4K technology that is making our favorite holiday TV classic looking bright and shiny. Ron has worked on the Peanuts specials in three different jobs: first at CBS, which was airing the Peanuts series at the time; then at Paramount, which was distributing the show at the time; and now at Technicolor, where he and his team work to restore and update the original films.
What does 4K really mean to your favorite Peanuts specials? The picture quality will be better than you’ve ever seen it on any television screen with a richer image that is closer to the original film than any previous digital version of the special. Peanuts is at the forefront of this technology, which “future-proofs”A Charlie Brown Christmas and the other Peanuts specials for the day when ultra-high-definition TVs are the standard in every household. The soundtrack has also been cleaned and restored, so it will sound fabulous on your home theaters.
From the viewer’s point of view, what’s the first thing we’ll notice now that the special is in 4K?
That it actually fits on your widescreen television! The picture is now designed for that screen. All the other presentations are designed for the old 4×3 screens.
You’ll also notice the soundtrack and music have been upgraded for modern viewing: it’s in stereo surround 5.1 We’re lucky that the original negative exists for these shows, and all the original soundtracks and magnetic tracks. We were able to go in, separate those tracks, and clean them up, along with the sound effects. You’ll get that nice stereo music in your surround speakers. So the special not only looks better, but sounds more current, too.
Is there any scene in particular where we’ll notice the difference?
When I watch one of the shows at home, everything looks kind of small. Particularly any of the group scenes, the skating in the beginning, the rehearsal scenes for the Christmas play, they all look kind of distant. Now you’ll be able to see it much more clearly.
Where do you start when you’re doing this work?
Like any good project, you have to start with research. There’s a lot of information to be had out there. I was amazed to find how many websites there are devoted to the show. I found everything from show listings, descriptions, and some downright fanatical—meaning, created by big fans—analyses of each episode.
Some of it was just cataloguing all the shows. Of the 80 or 90 shows that have been done, 55 of the titles contain “Charlie Brown,” and 14 of them start with the word “It’s.” When you’re working on 10 or 20 at the same time—and when the first two you’re working on are Christmas shows—it gets really confusing! So we knew we were going to have to be really careful with the elements.
We have the original film elements on A Charlie Brown Christmas. Since this is priceless and irreplaceable art, we do a film inspection to see if it needs to be repaired. There may be cement splices in it, and when the show is 50 years old, those splices can come loose and appear a little bit jagged. So we make sure the show is completely repaired. We check for any obvious wear and tear, and make sure that the film will hold up going through a scanner. That’s how we digitize it. Each frame becomes a digital data file, and each one needs to be cleaned and color-corrected.
This also happens with the sound. You take the analog or magnetic soundtrack and digitize it. The first thing is we take out the snap, crackle, and pop, and clean up the individual tracks, then recombine them to make the restored version.
The scanner also takes a picture of the surface dirt on each frame, so we can figure out where it is, which makes it easier to clean and restore. And there was a lot of dirt.
What are some of the dos and don’ts of restoring classic animation? Is there a danger that it can it look “too good,” so you lose the charm of the hand-drawn originals?
There are some classic mistakes. It can look too sharp or over-enhanced. With the Charlie Brown stuff, you have to embrace the original look. The picture changes from frame to frame. You’ve got to realize you can’t fix everything. You’ve basically got to take the show as a whole, not nitpick it, then go back and smooth it out.
We were lucky to have the original artwork, the original cels, so we could see what the original colors were for characters and what they wore. Everyone in Peanuts family has been involved in this in some way, and they’ve been very helpful.
How important is it for classic animation to be restored?
For every film that gets restored, there are 1,000 that haven’t been restored. There’s always an underlying race-the-clock mentality that’s associated with preservation. So many films have been lost and so many are at risk. Particularly with shows like this, we want our kids and our kids’ kids to experience the same things we did.
Separate from your professional experience, are you personally a fan of Peanuts and A Charlie Brown Christmas?
Coincidentally, I am. I know I’m not alone. It’s probably my favorite Christmas show, no doubt. If the Linus scene doesn’t get you all choked up, then nothing will. My kids like it, and my daughter has a child who just turned 5, and she loves it. I’ll take her for a ride in my car and play the soundtrack, and when the picture comes up on the player, she’s in heaven. It just makes it that much more special that I can re-experience it through their eyes.
One of the things that really struck me when we started working on it here at Technicolor was that I discovered I wasn’t the only one with special relationship to the material. The colorists here, grown men and women, were fighting over the project. That’s how fondly it’s remembered by so many people.
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This might be my favorite interview of the series thus far. Nothing makes me happier than knowing the best people are working on keeping the Peanuts films in the best condition. And you could hear in Ron’s voice how much working on this project means to him. It was touching. Okay; I’m going to go grab a tissue, but you should get started entering this month’s giveaway. It’s a fun one!
Peanuts inflatables from Gemmy are an easy and charming way to decorate your home or yard for the holidays. The inflatables feature Snoopy in a variety of fun-filled Christmas poses and settings—all guaranteed to set the mood for your annual festivities! (Styles vary and will be distributed randomly.)
Your yard needs this, and your neighbors will be jealous! Giveaway is open to US residents who are 18 and older. Ends 11/28/14. Good luck!
-48 Comments-
I had a snoopy snow cone machine when I was a little kid:)
I’ve never had a snoopy sno-cone machine! We always enjoyed (and still do) watching Charlie Brown’s Christmas every year, and listening to Charlie Brown music while decorating for Christmas!! Our lawn would look great with an inflatable snoopy 🙂
My yard could definitely use a Snoopy decoration! My young grandsons would LOVE it and would probably want to go out every day to say hi to it! Right now we usually just string lights across the gutters of our house. We like the multi-colored lights look.
I didn’t have one but my sister did. We worked up some good arm muscles with that thing!
Well up until a couple of years ago I decorated the whole outside and inside of my house for Christmas but due to a vindictive ex boyfriend he destroyed or donated all of my decorations , collections that I have had for over 35 years and some that had been passed down to me. Yes, I would love to display Snoopy in my yard and if I am fortunate enough to win him I would find him a partner so we wouldn’t be out there my himself.
I never had a Snoopy Sno-cone machine, but my yard could use a little Snoopy Love =)
we always decorate! my kids would love to have this in the yard!
I used to love my snoopy sno-cone machine!!! That brings back so many memories!
Our yard could definitely use love from snoopy. How excited our Grandkids would be to see our yard decorated in Snoopy!
WHEN I WAS YOUNG I HAD ONE AND LOVED IT!!!!
I never had a snoopy snow cone machine as a kid, but my friend did and we used it all the time.
When I was a kids I had the red Snoopy sno cone machine.
I decorate with blue and silver
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When myself and my three brothers were younger we did have one of those Snoopy Snow Cone Machines, I wish we still had it now-
Yes, when I was a kid I had a Snoopy Sno-Cone Machine and I loved that thing. I loved that I could make my own snow cones and pick out the flavor of it. I always loved grape and cherry. To this day, I still enjoy snow cones and I think this is why.
Yes when i was young i had a Snoopy snow cone maker and loved it! Bet now my kids would love it to!
Yes, I did.
I’ve never owed a Snoopy snow cone machine before (unfortunately) but I remember them. Also, we decorate inside quite a bit but we only do a little decorating on the outside so my yard could definitely use a little love from Snoopy this holiday season 🙂
I’ve never had a Snoopy Sno-Cone Machine.
I never had a snoopy snow cone machine but I would have loved one.
I love to decorate for christmas. Our yard sure could use a visit from Snoopy!
My brother and I used to have a Snoopy Sno-Cone machine with a handle you would crank to shave the ice. However, my mother sold it in a garage sale years ago, so upset about it.
I’d love to have Snoopy visit for Christmas! Haha. Thanks.
I would love to win this because we live out in the Golden Valley, AZ desert and the kids in the neighborhood don’t get to enjoy the holidays very much because most people out here are retired. I try to decorate for every holiday but when you are retired and on SS you don’t have much money to spend.
Yes I had one as a kid and I bought Ione for my grandson for Christmas love to have snoopy in my yard
I don’t think I ever had a Snoopy Sno-Cone machine- although I always asked my parents for one.
I have never had a snow cone machine but I think I’d love one! We don’t decorate outside. I don’t like winter and certainly don’t want to deal with outdoor decorations in winter. I must say that I love them on other people’s property though!
I never had a Snoopy Sno-Cone machine, but I would have liked one.
I had a snoopy snow cone machine when I was a kid! It took forever to grind those ice cubes, but it was so worth it
I love to decorate, I just got done putting out a small light up Snoopy by his Snoopy house that I made out of wood!! This Snoopy would fit in perfect in my display!
No I have never had one.
I did have a snoopy Icie machine! I got it for Christmas when I was 10 I believe and I was driving my mom crazy cause I would use all of the ice from the ice tray and I always forgot to put more water in them to freeze more lol
I DID have a Snoopy Sno-Cone Machine. I really, really loved that thing.
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I did have a Snoopy Snow cone machine!!!! I wish I would have kept it. Not sure what happened to it.
I don’t recall ever having a Snoopy snow cone machine 🙁 and we just recently moved into our first ever house so we will get to decorate this year for the Holidays so I would love to be able to put Snoopy in our yard as our first official decoration in our new house :)!
We do a single strand of colored lights along our house with a cute reindeer roasting marshmallows over a fire blow up, Our yard would love some Peanuts love!
Yes I’ve had a Snoopy Sno-Cone Machine
No I never had a Snoopy Sno Cone Machine
I don’t really decorate so i’d use this to get started
We always decorate out yard and house for the holidays but we can always use a little Snoopy love to go with our decor.
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i usually put up lights but thats it and this would make my yard look so good
I love to decorate the yard with lights around the frame of the house and also in some of our trees. This would really help the front yard as besides lights I do not have many other Christmas things to put on the front lawn itself.
No, I have never had a Snoopy Sno-Cone Machine. Yes, my yard could use a little love from Snoopy.
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I have never had a Snoopy Snow Cone Machine.
We don’t normally decorate the outside of our house, but we are going to start this year. We have a 2 year old little guy that loves Christmas lights.
I did have one when I was young
I never had a snow cone machine. We usually just decorate inside the house, I would love to have this Snoopy for the yard.
I like to decorate the outside of the house with beautiful lights and a snoopy inflatable would be a wonderful addition.
My husband goes all out with the lights, lol he’s very proud of them. I stay inside the warm house and watch with the kids. 🙂