On the Greatness of "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown"

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown: it's been referenced in short stories (Sarah Langan's "The Great Pumpkin Arrives At Last") and long novels (Stephen King's Under the Dome), and notoriously spoofed by The Simpsons (in a "Treehouse of Horror" segment).  It has also been a Halloween fixture for nearly a half-century now.  But what is it about this 1966 cartoon that has made it such an enduring classic?

No doubt, when "ITGP,CB" first aired, a large part of the appeal stemmed from seeing the Peanuts comic strip brought to life in vivid autumnal colors.  The wonders of animation allow us to watch Charlie Brown's face flush red with embarrassment, to see Linus's wispy hair promptly stand up straight when Sally berates him, to hear his cute little lisp as he makes his proclamations about the toy-delivering Great Pumpkin.  And as the years and generations pass by, the holiday special continues to delight because it provides a portrait of Halloween celebration in a quainter, bygone era.  Viewers are transported back to a time when Halloween parties involved bobbing for apples, and trick-or-treating meant cutting a pair of eyeholes in a white sheet and then heading out to collect goodies like cookies and popcorn balls (in yesteryear, there's no concern about tainted handouts).

And let's not overlook the obvious here: the cartoon has entertained so many people over the years because it is flat-out funny: the hapless Charlie Brown earning rocks rather than candy for his botched costume; the dust-clouded Pigpen compromising his own would-be disguise; the cantankerous Lucy asserting that "a person should always choose a costume which is in direct contrast to her own personality," and then pulling a witch mask down over her face (Or my favorite bit: Charlie Brown being asked to serve as a model at the Halloween party, only to have a jack-o'-lantern drawn on the back of his big, round head as the girls prepare to carve their pumpkin).  Also, while adults are never seen and only rarely heard (via trombone notes) in the Peanuts world, the child characters amuse us with their incongruously mature diction.  For instance, when Linus retorts that he'll stop believing in the Great Pumpkin once Charlie Brown gives up on Santa Claus, Charlie Brown turns to the camera and professes, "We're obviously separated by denominational differences."  Or who can forget young Sally's litigious rant after a fruitless Halloween night spent waiting with Linus in the pumpkin patch: "I'll sue...You owe me restitution!"

"ITGP,CB" likewise prospers from a clever script.  At first, Snoopy's goofing around as the famous World War I Flying Ace might seem like a mere digression, but the beagle's routine proves central to the plot when Linus mistakes Snoopy for the Great Pumpkin rising climactically from the patch (overwhelmed by this seeming epiphany, Linus of course faints).  The main reason, though, that this cartoon has proven so enduring is because it's so endearing.  There's something touching about watching Lucy, for all her complaints about her "stupid blockhead" brother, get up at 4 A.M. to retrieve the shivering Linus from the pumpkin patch and tuck him into bed.  And Linus himself taps into the child in all of us with his sweetly sincere belief in the existence of the Great Pumpkin.  Even as another Halloween passes by with no sign of the mythic figure, Linus's faith doesn't waver.  He vows to be ready and waiting "next year at this same time."

For forty-four years running, we have returned to keep vigil with him.


Note: It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown airs October 28th at 8 P.M. on ABC.