It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown



When I look at the clip above, I can practically taste the pumpkin-shaped candy corn bits that I used to use in gingerbread haunted houses (they were tasty, but you got sick of them FAST, so you'd have half the bag left for arts and crafts). For many people, this remains THE Halloween Special. Indeed, of all the shows on this site, it's the only one that is still broadcast regularly. Most of the others disappeared from the airways in the 1990s.



IT'S THE GREAT PUMPKIN, CHARLIE BROWN pre-dates most of the other TV specials on this site by a solid decade, and comes from before the days when the tropes of the genre had really been codified. It doesn't go for any of the three basic plotlines of Halloween specials (The Spooky Old Lady Who is Actually Nice, The Person Who Doesn't Love Halloween Until the End of the Show, and The Chaotic Adventure That Ends With a Disco Party). It exists in a wonderful world of its own.

This was the second Peanuts special produced, following the groundbreaking "A Charlie Brown Christmas," and holds onto the distinctive, jazzy style of its predecessor, including music by Vince Guaraldi (something that most later Peanuts specials sadly lacked), all against a gorgeous autumnal backdrop.


Of all Halloween specials, this certainly holds the title for Most Dramatic Effect on Pop Culture (a title it will probably never lose, though there's always a chance that The Worst Witch will catch on as a midnight movie with audience participation and gradually take over). It remains the special that springs to most people's mind when they think of Halloween cartoons.

Consider the phrases that have entered our cultural lexicon because of it:

"All I got was a rock!"
"Clearly, we are separated by denominational differences."
"You didn't tell me you were going to kill it!"
And, my favorite, Sally's line about trick or treating: "Are you sure it's legal? I wouldn't want to be accused of taking part in a rumble."

And, of course, one absolutely can NOT have a pumpkin patch anymore without trying to make it "sincere."

Some might complain that the Flying Ace sequence goes on a bit too long, and they have a point - I'm more interested in the Great Pumpkin, the party, and the trick-or-treating than in the Snoopy subplot, which isn't all that Halloweeny. But this is a minor complaint. Any show that looks like this one and features the gorgeous "Great Pumpkin Waltz" by Vince Guaraldi gets a free pass on such things.

9 comments:

StevenMcFlyjr said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
GaryBoz said...

I think this actually was the 3rd Peanuts special. After the Christmas episode there was a release in the Spring called "Charlie Brown's All-Stars" or something close to that. Good write up.

Tiki Amy said...

No question, this is the quintessential cartoon Halloween special... my all-time favorite!

Chris Heffernan said...

Definitely the best of the bunch. The WW1 flying ace bit does seem to go on a little long, but that music that is played during those scenes is such a powerful Halloween memory for me that I become 7-years old again every time I hear it.

C-Man said...

Long Live The Great Pumpkin!!!!

Shannon said...

Awwww.... the video has been removed... :-(

GaryBoz said...

Some of you may recall that in the early 80's there was a Saturday morning cartoon show entitled "The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show." One episode featured a short about the Great Pumpkin. I believe it was written to be the following year after this special. I've seen it on You Tube from time to time.

Anonymous said...

The flute in the music during Snoopy's time behind enemy lines is my definitive Halloween music.

Anonymous said...

I agree, that flute piece is so great!! I wish I could find the albumn with just the Great Pumpkin music, even though I have a great double cd by Vince Guaraldi that has the Pumpkin Waltz on it. The flute piece with Snoopy blowing the leaf into the air is a great one, too!

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