Interview with Sally Dryer, the voice of Violet in A Charlie Brown Christmas #Giveaway

Have you ever wanted to ask one of your favorite characters a question? How about a character you grew up watching, and was a classic cartoon character? Well when I think of my favorite characters I loved as a child, one that stands out the most for me is, Peanuts Lucy. And having the best job in the world gave me the chance to speak to the voice of Lucy (In one of my favorite TV specials, It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown) Sally Dryer! Sally was also the voice of Violet in A Charlie Brown Christmas. 

 I remember getting mad at Violet as a child, when she laughed at the little tree, the poor little tree….  Of course the tree was one of my favorite parts of the special. Yes we have a little tree, and it is a an adorable decoration I love to use each year. I even have a miniature tree to decorate my desk at work.

I was very fortunate to be able to chat with Sally Dryer, the voice of Violet in A Charlie Brown Christmas. Sally also played Lucy in other specials, including It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. Voice of Violet in A Charlie Brown Christmas and Lucy in It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown Sally Dryer played her first Peanuts role at age 8: Violet in A Charlie Brown Christmas. 

She got the job because her older sister worked for producer Lee Mendelson—first as a babysitter, and then as an assistant—and included her little sister Sally when they were casting the roles for the first Peanuts special. Raised in Burlingame, California (where Mendelson ran his production company), south of San Francisco, Dryer was later cast as Lucy in It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, “because my voice had a crabbiness to it it”! 

She also provided the voice of Lucy in Charlie Brown’s All Stars (1966), You’re in Love, Charlie Brown (1967), and He’s Your Dog, Charlie Brown (1968), and, “after my voice changed,” played Patty in A Boy Named Charlie Brown (1969). Today she lives in the historic former mining town of Jerome, Arizona, where she co-owns Nellie Bly, the largest bricks-and-mortar kaleidoscope store in the world.

There were so many great questions asked by myself and my fellow ambassadors. Here is some of the fun interview with Sally Dryer: 

What was it like for you to do this as your first job? - Yes, my first job at age 8! It was unknown at that point, an experiment. Lee Mendelson had approached Charles Schulz for years to do an animated special, and Schulz always said no. Finally, he said, “I’ll do it, but it has to be real kids’ voices.” For me, it was a fun way to get out of school. We didn’t know what it become, for sure! 
Can you describe the process of how they recorded your voices? - There were a group of kids in Southern California: the boy who played Linus, Peter Robbins [Charlie Brown], and the original Lucy were in Los Angeles, where they recorded with Bill Melendez. Lee Mendelson recorded with us in San Francisco at a studio on Van Ness Ave.

They’d record us one at a time: Lee Mendelson would say a line to us, and we’d repeat it. We’d try to repeat with inflections he gave us. Sometimes we’d hit it on the first try, and other times we'd have to go over and over and over again. I remember when we were recording the Great Pumpkin, the girl who played Sally spent hours trying to say “You owe me restitution!” The miracle was done with editing. They’d use the lines they wanted and assemble it all.

I think we went to studio 3 or 4 times. There were some group lines, like “You blockhead, Charlie Brown,” that we did as a group. We’d have to make 3 or 4 attempts.

                  

(Were you excited to be cast as Lucy?) - It was a good thing. I had no idea how bratty my voice was, but all my neighbors were like, “Oh yeah, she’s Lucy all right!”  The neighborhood knew before I did! Lucy was more fun to play. You get to say what you think!  She’s such a smart aleck. You get to really embrace that crabby person within you and it’s okay.

What did you think of finished shows? - It was pretty abstract. I remember my sister worked so hard in helping to produce them, I think we critiqued them more based on that.  Hearing your voice, you think, “I don’t sound like that.” I was disconnected to it, really. 

What did you get paid? - I got paid a whopping $100 per show!  It was the 60s and an unknown thing. My mother’s philosophy was, “Whatever—just have fun.” That’s what it was about. I occasionally get residuals, sometimes 9 dollars and 33 cents, sometimes a couple hundred dollars.  I had to put it in a college fund. Fortunately, I went to a state school in California!

Were you a celebrity among your friends? - I think so, but it was so short-lived. As teens, we didn’t watch it at all. I was kind of mortified to be that cranky girl. But I don’t have that problem anymore.  Now I love it.

Did you ever meet Sparky? - Yes, I met him at least 4 times. We went up to Santa Rosa to do a photo shoot for a book called Charlie Brown and Charles Schulz. He was working on a strip at his drafting table, and he explained to me that he felt he had to do a term paper every day. He was a kind and gentle and soft-spoken, very impressive guy.

Do you watch the specials? - I watch occasionally if I happen to be home when they air.  It is funny – several years ago there were “Get Met” commercials, and I heard Lucy’s voice and thought, “That sounds a lot like me.” There was a period after our voices changed that the cast didn’t sound like the originals, and they had to get new actors to correct that.

Were you a fan of Peanuts before doing the series? - No, I didn’t know very much about it at all.  My mother read the comic strip in the San Francisco Chronicle, but I wasn’t familiar with it at all.

 Is Lucy your favorite character? - Snoopy’s got to be my favorite character, really. I love Lucy’s frankness and willingness to say anything, but Snoopy’s the most entertaining thing ever. 

Do you have any Peanuts memorabilia that’s special to you? - I have a whole display case of things that people have given me over the years and some cels that Charles Schulz signed to me.

Do you ever find yourself using the dialogue in your real life?- Oh, absolutely—all the time! I work as a volunteer dog technician in an animal clinic, and I always say “Dog lips are not poison! No iodine! No ‘blecch’!”  I’ll find myself saying, “I got a rock!”  It’s always right there.

Taking to Violet/Lucy was like taking a trip back to my childhood. I am sure it must have been an amazing thing for 8 year old Sally, to be part of a legacy like this is something that is very special.

One of Susan’s Disney Family readers will win A Charlie Brown Christmas prize pack! Prize pack will include a Peanuts goodies to enjoy! Would you like to win?  Please let me know what you love about the A Charlie Brown Christmas special. Do you have a favorite scene, or character? My most favorite scene is with the little Christmas tree, when they add the ornament and the tree sags, it just makes me feel for that tree! There are also other ways to enter, please enter below.

 

Win it:

One winner will win A Charlie Brown Christmas prize pack!

a Rafflecopter giveaway
 



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