It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

source: It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

Trailer—It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

While the rest of the Peanuts gang are preparing for their usual Halloween rituals, Linus is busy writing his letter to 'The Great Pumpkin', a figure who is seems to be a cross between Santa Claus and Pumpkinhead who he believes gives Halloween presents only to kids that really deserve it. He is ridiculed by everyone apart from Sally who is the only one who will join him in the pumpkin patch. The trick-or-treating goes well for everyone apart from poor Charlie Brown who is only given rocks. That's probably what would happen to me if I went trick-or-treating as a child. Meanwhile, Snoopy dresses up as a WWI fighter pilot and pretends to be shot down behind enemy lines. But there's not enough of Pigpen, who is my favorite character. A great TV special indeed. Kids back in 1966 didn't know how good they had it. With all of today's CGI technology I guess we have forgotten that, sometimes, the simple stories and animation can be the most endearing.

I was born in 1966. Since I can remember, I've been a Peanuts fan. It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown was a must watch show for me every Halloween since about the age of 4. Eating a TV dinner and watching it in the den was the highlight of Halloween. It got me primed to go trick or treating. As an adult with children in their 20's, I still stop what I'm doing to watch Linus sit in the pumpkin patch with Sally. I know that its silly but at the end of the show, I always feel let down just like Linus. My kids shake their heads when I start going off that by now he should know better. I will be an old woman and still watching It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown. It reminds of a simpler time when kids could off in groups to trick or treat. You could get popcorn balls and candy apples along with other goodies. If Halloween fell on a school day, teachers kept you busy working a cool project in hopes of keeping you calm.

So...It has the Red baron Snoopy WWI fantasy...and that is what you remember. That is the most awesome part of any Charlie Brown movie. And...beyond that you have a kid making up a story and believing it that would, almost 30 years later, be spoofed in an episode of the Simpsons. So it has staying power. But really, it's a childhood classic that you love first because it is wonderful and touching, then later because it's nostalgic, and then later because it is a generational tradition. In other words it stands the test of time like the Godfather and so many other pure classics.

A Halloween classic that never gets old. The Peanuts gang goes trick-or-treating while Linus sits in a pumpkin patch, waiting for the Great Pumpkin. All the kids are so adorable in this early special, especially Sally. The script is terrific and full of funny lines ("There are three things that I've learned never to discuss with people: religion, politics, and the Great Pumpkin."). Fantastic Vince Guaraldi music, Lucy and the football, Charlie Brown's pathetic ghost costume, the WWI flying ace, poison dog lips, and "I got a rock" are among the wonderful things about this timeless gem. I've seen it dozens, if not hundreds, of times since I was a child and it never gets old. They don't make 'em like this anymore.

Linus is the eternal optimist. Charlie Brown the eternal pessimist. In this feature, Linus gets center stage. Who knows where this supposed legend of the Great Pumpkin emerging in the pumpkin patch and bringing gifts. It is a kind of convoluted Christmas story (at Halloween) with the same kinds of promises but without the religious implications. Of course, sitting there means that you don't go trick-or-treating with the other kids (though our Charlie ends up with a bag of rocks instead of candy), and so one must take a leap of faith. Sally, who loves Linus, is brought into the fold with dire consequences. This is a nice take on the myth born of Charles Schultz. Where did he come up with the story? We don't know, but the whole Peanuts gang ends up affected by it.

This special is great. I love the background music, especially the upbeat tempo played while Charlie Brown dances because he has finally been invited to a Halloween party...by mistake. The scene with Snoopy and the Red Baron is an abrupt switch from the storyline, but it is very well done; 5 minutes or so without any talking. Did anyone notice how big the moon is in the pumpkin patch? It is huge!

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1966) *** (out of 4) The Peanuts gang is celebrating Halloween with Charlie Brown getting invited to his first party and Limus waiting for the Great Pumpkin to show up. I can't say I've ever seen, read or watched anything that dealt with the Peanut gang so this was a new experience for me and I really liked it. The movie certainly isn't anything special but it's certainly very cute and I reckon that was the whole point of it. The only stuff I didn't care too much for was Snoopy and his WW1 scenes, which I thought took away from the more interesting aspects of the film. I liked the trick or treating scenes with one character getting the same thing over and over. I like the teasing that Limus gets while skipping the good stuff in exchange for waiting for something that isn't coming. The comedy still holds up quite well for this pleasant little short.