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Description

Peanuts A Charlie Brown Christmas Pair of Layout Drawings Including "Tree Lot" 28" Pan Original Art (Bill Melendez, 1965). In preparation for animating the first Peanuts television special, many rough layouts for the cartoon's backgrounds were made, and here are two rare examples, with the first an amazing image of the Christmas Tree lot where Charlie Brown and Linus go to pick out a tree for their school play. Although it's considered a rough in black fine line marker, the images of the trees, the lights overhead, and the two boys make for a wonderful scene that stretches from edge to edge. Also included is a 12 field sheet with two thumbnail pan images of snowy outdoor scenes; the bottom image has a solitary figure (Charlie Brown?) walking away in the distance. The approximate image sizes are 10.5" x 3.25" and 11.25" x 3.5". Oddly enough, television networks weren't interested in a thirty-minute Peanuts animated special despite the growing popularity of Charles Schulz's newspaper comic strip. It took an appearance of the Peanuts kids on the cover of Time Magazine to secure Coca-Cola as a sponsor at the last minute, and the special was completed ten days before it was broadcast on December 9, 1965. One special was all it took - even though Bill Melendez thought it would be a disaster, the public loved it and called it a classic. We couldn't agree more; soon, the floodgates opened and many more Peanuts specials followed. These rare preliminary background drawings are in Very Good condition with minor handling and edge wear, with some very light age-related paper toning.


Auction Info

Auction Dates
October, 2025
17th-21st Friday-Tuesday
Bids + Registered Phone Bidders: 24
Lot Tracking Activity: N/A
Page Views: 769

Buyer's Premium per Lot:
20% of the successful bid per lot.

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Sold on Oct 18, 2025 for: $22,800.00
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