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October 27, 1966
It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown is a 1966 American animated Halloween television special based on the comic strip Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz. The third Peanuts special, and the second holiday-themed special, to be created, it was written by Schulz along with director/animator Bill Melendez and producer Lee Mendelson. The cast included Peter Robbins as Charlie Brown, Christopher Shea as Linus Van Pelt, Sally Dryer as Lucy Van Pelt, and Melendez as Snoopy. The special features music composed by jazz pianist Vince Guaraldi, whose contributions include the theme song "Linus and Lucy". It aired on broadcast television every year from its debut in 1966 until 2020 when it became an Apple TV+ exclusive.
It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown follows the children of the Peanuts comics as they celebrate Halloween, while Linus forgoes celebrations to wait in a pumpkin patch for the mythical Great Pumpkin. The sequence following Snoopy as a World War I flying ace and its depiction of Lucy pulling a football away from Charlie Brown have both become widely recognized in pop culture. The program was highly successful, watched by 49% of American television viewers in its debut broadcast. It received widespread critical acclaim, particularly for its artistic style and music score, and it is often regarded as the best of the Peanuts television specials. The success of It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown led to the development of the Halloween special as a television genre.
Storyline[]
Linus and Lucy Van Pelt go to a pumpkin patch, where they select a pumpkin and bring it home. Linus is upset when Lucy begins carving it for a jack-o'-lantern. Later, Charlie Brown rakes leaves with Snoopy, only to have Linus jump in the pile. Lucy offers to hold a football for Charlie Brown to kick, but she pulls it away and causes him to land on his back. Linus works on a letter to the Great Pumpkin to the derision of other characters, but Sally Brown takes interest in the idea. Charlie Brown then shows up to announce that he was invited to a Halloween party hosted by Violet. Lucy assumes the invitation was sent by mistake. On Halloween night, the children prepare their costumes for trick-or-treating. On the way, they stop at the pumpkin patch to jeer at Linus for missing the festivities. Linus persuades Sally, due to her infatuation with him, to join him. The other children go trick-or-treating, but Charlie Brown is disappointed when he only gets rocks.
Snoopy, dressed as a flying ace from World War I, climbs aboard his doghouse and imagines that it is a Sopwith Camel fighter plane and that he is engaging in a dogfight with the unseen Red Baron. Snoopy is then shown crashing and navigating the countryside behind enemy lines. After going back to the pumpkin patch to tease Linus and Sally again, the children go to Violet's Halloween party. The girls ask Charlie Brown to serve as their model, initially to his delight, then embarrassment, when they use the back of his head to canvas potential jack-o'-lantern designs. Snoopy's voyage ends at Violet's party. He sneaks into the apple bobbing tank while Lucy is bobbing for apples and then becomes emotional listening to Schroeder playing on the piano. In the pumpkin patch, Linus sees a figure and he faints, believing it to be the Great Pumpkin. The figure is Snoopy, and Sally yells at Linus for embarrassing her.
At 4 a.m., Lucy retrieves the sleeping Linus from the pumpkin patch, leads him into the house, and puts him to bed. Charlie Brown and Linus commiserate about Halloween the next day. Charlie Brown attempts to console Linus by explaining that he has done many stupid things in his life. Linus is offended by Charlie Brown's remark and loudly proclaims that the Great Pumpkin will surely come to the pumpkin patch next year.
Sound Effects Used[]
- Bill Melendez Timpani Hit Sound
- DePatie-Freleng Airplane Sound
- H-B CARTOON, AIRPLANE - PROP PLANE DIVE AND SWOOP BY 02
- Looney Tunes Cartoon Fall Sound (One of the takes is briefly heard as Linus jumps into a pile of leaves.)
- Sound Ideas, BOUNCE, CARTOON - SINGLE TIMPANI BOUNCE 01
- Sound Ideas, CARTOON, AIRPLANE - PROP PLANE DIVE AND SWOOP BY
- Sound Ideas, CARTOON, CART - WHEELBARROW WITH RATTLY WHEEL ROLLING, RATTLE 02
- Sound Ideas, CARTOON, CROWD - SHORT BOO FROM CROWD
- Sound Ideas, CARTOON, LAUGHTER - GROUP OF LITTLE GIRLS, LAUGHING AND GIGGLING
- Sound Ideas, CARTOON, RATTLE - MARBLE ROLLING AROUND IN METAL FUNNEL
- Sound Ideas, CARTOON, SKID - SHORT, LOW SKID
- Sound Ideas, CARTOON, WHISTLE - SLIDE WHISTLE: FAST SLIDE UP, ZIP 01
- Sound Ideas, HIT, CARTOON - BIG HEAD BONK (Used when Linus faints after seeing Snoopy.)
- Sound Ideas, RUN, CARTOON - FAST RUN, LONG/SHORT
- Sound Ideas, SKID, CARTOON - SCREECHY SKID (Heard once in a lower pitch.)
- Stuka Siren (A brief selection of an unknown imitation recording is played repetitively as Snoopy's Sopwith Camel begins to dive and make a crash landing.)
Other Audio Used[]
Image Gallery[]
It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1966)/Image Gallery