Southern Fried Nostalgia & Fandom -- It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown (1966) TV Special Review

Today is the 50th anniversary of the classic Peanuts cartoon special It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, which debuted on the CBS American television broadcasting channel on Thursday, October 27, 1966.  

This special, the second featuring the cast of American cartoonist Charles M. Schulz's classic and iconic Peanuts comic strip, was created to capitalize on the great success of 1965's  A Charlie Brown Christmas.

When It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown debuted on television nearly half of all TV viewing audiences at the time turned in to watch it, making it the first Peanuts special to debut at No. 1.

 

Although the Christmas special is arguably more widely recognized, both producer Lee Mendelson and animator Bill Melendez considered It’s The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown to be a bigger success. 

As I have pointed out in a previous post, the Peanuts specials -- particularly the holiday specials -- are timeless classics that hold a warm place in the nostalgic part of this blogger's heart. As a child growing up in the 80s and a teen in the 90s, I found myself eagerly waiting every Halloween to watch this holiday masterpiece. Even now as a 40 year old pseudo-adult, I still enjoy the tradition of watching this classic piece of my childhood around Halloween night.  

Oh Linus, you blockhead!

 

SPOILER ALERT!  

This goes out for anyone who has lived under a rock [possibly one of the rocks that Charlie Brown got in his candy bag] and never actually watched the special.

Unlike the equally outstanding Christmas special, this Halloween tale largely centers around Charlie Brown's blanket-toting pal, Linus, who -- for reasons never fully explained -- believes that a spirit called The Great Pumpkin would rise out of a pumpkin patch on Halloween night and deliver toys to children who sincerely believe in him. As the other children get ready for Trick-or-Treating and Halloween parties, Linus prepares to spend the evening sitting in a pumpkin patch waiting for the appearance of the entity. 

The other kids mock Linus for his beliefs and for missing out on Halloween, but Charlie Brown's young sister, Sally, is willing to put her crush on Linus over her desire to go on her very first Trick-or-Treat outing and wait with him.

Perhaps the holiday episode is best remembered for Snoopy's first animated appearance as the World War I flying ace, and his infamous imaginary air battle in his Sopwith Camel (doghouse) with the legendary Red Baron in one of the most iconic animated sequences ever produced. Snoopy imagines himself in a spectacular dogfight with the German ace, who inevitably shoots down the beagle.

"Curse you, Red Baron!"

The show continues to follow the kids enjoying Halloween by first going Trick-or-Treating -- with Lucy lamenting that she always has to ask for an extra piece for that blockhead Linus, and Charlie Brown getting rocks for some reason instead of treats. After stopping off at the pumpkin patch to mock Linus and Sally (who by this point is starting to get rightfully get pissed at Linus and worried about all the fun she was missing out on) the kids go to Violet's house for a Halloween party.

Meanwhile Snoopy's imaginary journey as the heroic flying ace continues as he travels behind enemy lines, crossing rivers and battlefields, then taking shelter in an imaginary farmhouse (aka Violet's house where the party is taking place) to avoid enemy patrols.

Later on Linus and Sally, after having a rough night waiting in vain for the Great Pumpkin and missing out on Halloween fun -- although someone finally did show up to meet them. Was it the Great Pumpkin rising out of the pumpkin patch?! Alas no, it was our furry little flying ace who apparently made it across German occupied French-Belgian territory and back to Allied lines.

It's the Great....beagle?!

With her first Halloween night ruined, Sally angrily tells off Linus, yelling that he owes her restitution -- which is probably later given to her from his share of Halloween candy that Linus's older sister, Lucy is forced to ask for.  

The story ends with Linus waiting in the pumpkin patch most of the night, until Lucy shows up later to bring him home and to bed, and ultimately learning absolutely nothing from the whole ordeal as he rants into the closing credits about waiting again next year for the Great Pumpkin, to Charlie Brown's look of exasperation. 

It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown is full of humor -- much of it at Charlie Brown's expense. Among them one of the now infamous place kicking scenes with Lucy, where we learn that signed documents mean nothing unless they have been notarized; and later on with Violet and Lucy using the back of Charlie Brown's bald head as a model for a jack-o-lantern. Not to mention his Halloween costume, which thanks to that blockhead having a little trouble with a pair of scissors, makes him look like a big white potato.

Oh and let's not forget the most famous line of this special -- one that still makes me grin every time I hear it:

"I got a rock."

Like the Christmas special, It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown also includes the memorable music of the legendary Jazz composer Vince Guaraldi, particularly his most famous piece Linus and Lucy which played in the opening sequence where the two characters walk out to the pumpkin patch to find a suitable pumpkin for a jack-o-lantern. 

The legacy of this holiday classic continues on today in Peanuts comic strips and children's books, as well as American popular culture with references and themes related to the Great Pumpkin. One of my personal favorites was the parody of the special on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim series Robot Chicken. 
 

No matter how old it has aged, this timeless classic never fails to lose it's charm. Like all Peanuts comics and television specials, there is always a message. I will leave y'all with the most profoundly philosophical message from this special:

"Never jump in a pile of leaves with a wet sucker."
~Linus Van Pelt

Yeah, I wish I'd heard that particular message one late autumn afternoon when I was six, and that was a candy apple rather than a sucker.