Schulz Museum marks 50 years of ‘Peanuts’ Thanksgiving TV special

It’s not a menu everyone would welcome for Thanksgiving dinner: two slices of toast, some pretzel sticks, a handful of popcorn and a few jelly beans.

But that’s what good ol’ Charlie Brown and his dog Snoopy serve their guests in the beloved animated TV special “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving,” which premiered in 1973.

“Peppermint Patty invites herself over to Charlie Brown’s house for Thanksgiving and he’s supposed to go to his grandma’s house, so he tries to fake it,” said Benjamin Clark, curator at the Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center in Santa Rosa.

The museum will celebrate the 50th anniversary of “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving” with a special program featuring actors Todd Barbee, who voiced Charlie Brown in the special, and Robin Kohn, who played Lucy Van Pelt.

“I was about 10 when I auditioned for the voice of Charlie Brown,” said Barbee, now 60, living in San Anselmo and working as a freelance creative director and designer.

His father, Chuck Barbee, was “Peanuts” animation producer Lee Mendelson’s director of photography.

“So Lee had mentioned to Dad that they were having auditions for ‘Peanuts’ character voices for upcoming specials,” Barbee said. “At the time, Lee and Dad were traveling all over the world shooting specials for network television.”

It might sound like the younger Barbee had an “in,” but he was one of many who auditioned for the role.

Because Mendelson and “Peanuts” comic strip creator Charles Schulz wanted children’s voices for the characters, turnover in the cast was inevitable.

“The guy who did the voice for ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas’ (released in 1965) was too old,” Barbee said. “They wanted a voice that hadn’t changed yet.”

Barbee went on to lend his voice to the round-headed cartoon kid in “It’s a Mystery, Charlie Brown” and “It’s the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown.”

He also voiced the character Franklin in “There’s No Time for Love, Charlie Brown” and Russell Anderson, a candidate for class president, in “You’re Not Elected, Charlie Brown.”

“By the time they were ready to do a new show, my voice had changed,” Barbee said. “To this day, when people find out I was the voice of Charlie Brown, they get so excited.”

But when they ask him to speak in Charlie Brown’s voice, he has to decline. That’s not possible anymore. But Barbee is proud of his history.

“Just being the voice of Charlie Brown has been a really unique and wonderful thing, just because it’s such a part of American culture,” he said.

Born in 1922 in Minneapolis, Schulz moved to Sonoma County in 1958 and died in 2000 in Santa Rosa, after writing and drawing the "Peanuts" comic strip for nearly 50 years.

“Peanuts” made its first appearance on Oct. 2, 1950. At its height, the comic strip ran in as many as 2,800 newspapers, and reprints still run in many papers, including The Press Democrat.

Kohn, who provided the voice for Lucy in “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving,” also did the same for “There’s No Time for Love, Charlie Brown” and “You’re Not Elected, Charlie Brown,” as well as for the theatrical film “Snoopy Come Home.”

“I started when I was 9 and finished when I was 12,” said Kohn, 61, who lives in San Jose. “I didn’t realize how big a deal it was. I got a lot of attention for it.”

Nowadays, she said, “I work as a real estate agent for the Santa Clara Parks and Recreation Department, so I buy land for new parks.”

The child actors recorded their parts separately. “They never had the kids in the studio together,” Kohn said.

“Charles Schulz was there once or twice when I was recording,” Barbee remembered.

As it turned out, Barbee and Kohn were classmates years later at Redwood High School in Larkspur.

“Once in a while, Todd and I get together. It’ll be fun to see him again,” Kohn said. “I am exited to be part of supporting the Schulz Museum and keeping this tradition alive.”

Saturday’s event at the museum also will feature Jason Mendelson of Lee Mendelson Film Productions. Jason is the son of the late “Peanuts” TV producer Lee Mendelson.

Earlier this year, Jason and his brother Sean restored and released the late jazz pianist Vince Guaraldi’s original soundtrack of “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving” for the first time.

“I don’t know why the original soundtracks were never released,” said Jason, who lives in Burlingame. “We didn’t know we had the original recordings in our archives. They were rediscovered in 2022.”

One of the highlights of the soundtrack is a rare vocal by Guaraldi on “Little Birdie,” a salute to Snoopy’s pal Woodstock.

The lyrics begin, “Little birdie, why do you fly upside-down? It’s amazing the way you get around.”

As for seeing the show itself, you have plenty of options. Apple TV+ will make “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving” available free to nonsubscribers Saturday and Sunday.

“A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving” will be shown at the Charles M. Schulz Museum at 10:45 a.m. and 12:45, 3, 3:30 and 4 p.m. Saturday and at 10:45 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Nov. 24-25.

The show, shown in rotation with other “Peanuts” films, is included in museum admission, which is $5 to $12, or free for children 3 and younger.

You can reach Staff Writer Dan Taylor at dan.taylor@pressdemocrat.com or 707-521-5243. On Twitter @danarts.