It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
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| It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown | |
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| Genre | Animated TV Special |
|---|---|
| Created by | Charles M. Schulz |
| Directed by | Bill Meléndez |
| Voices of | Bill Meléndez (Snoopy) Peter Robbins (Charlie Brown) Sally Dryer (Lucy) Kathy Steinberg (Sally Brown) Christopher Shea (Linus) Gabrielle DeFaria Ritter (Pig-Pen) Lisa DeFaria (Patty) Ann Altieri (Frieda) Glenn Mendelson (Schroeder, Shermy) |
| Theme music composer | Vince Guaraldi |
| Composer(s) | Vince Guaraldi |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| Language(s) | English |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Lee Mendelson |
| Editor(s) | Robert T. Gillis Steven Melendez |
| Camera setup | Nick Vasu |
| Running time | 25 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | CBS (1966-2000), ABC (2001-present) |
| First shown in | October 27, 1966 |
It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown is a critically-acclaimed animated television special, based on the comic strip Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz.
It was the third Peanuts special (and first Halloween special) to be produced and animated by Bill Meléndez. Its initial broadcast took place on October 27th, 1966 on the CBS network, preempting My Three Sons; CBS re-aired the special annually through 2000, with ABC picking up the rights beginning in 2001. The program was nominated for an Emmy award. It has been issued on home video several times, including a Remastered Deluxe Edition of the special released by Warner Home Video on September 2, 2008 with the bonus feature It's Magic, Charlie Brown which was released in 1981.[1]
To celebrate its 40th Anniversary, a retrospective book was published in 2006 entitled, It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown: The Making of a Television Classic with the entire script, never-before-seen photographs, storyboard excerpts, and interviews with the original child actors who provided the voices of the Peanuts gang.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
The story opens with Linus and Lucy going out into a nearby pumpkin patch to find a pumpkin to use as a jack-o'-lantern. After rejecting a couple of smaller choices by Linus, Lucy points to the biggest pumpkin in the bunch, which Linus clumsily rolls back home. When they get home, Lucy takes a big knife and slices into the pumpkin to gut it, at which point a horrified Linus says, "Ohhhh, you didn't tell me you were going to kill it!", and starts crying.
With autumn already in full swing, Charlie Brown is busy raking leaves with Snoopy's help. Linus sees the pile and jumps right in the middle of it, forgetting he had a wet lollipop (called a sucker in this special) in his possession. Moments later Lucy comes with a football for Charlie Brown to kick, but he initially refuses. Lucy shows him a contract, which she says promises she won't pull the ball away, but when Charlie Brown is about to kick the ball, she does pull it away, which sends him landing flat on his back, like always.
Later, Linus writes a letter to The Great Pumpkin, to Charlie Brown's disbelief, Snoopy's laughter, Patty's assurance that the Great Pumpkin is a fake, and even to Lucy's violent threat to make Linus stop ("You better cut it out right now or I'll pound you!"). Linus laments in the letter that "more people believe in Santa Claus than in [The Great Pumpkin], but let's face it; Santa Claus has had more publicity. But being number two, perhaps you try harder" (a tongue-in-cheek jab at Avis Rent-A-Car's popular slogan of the day).
After Linus mails his letter to the Great Pumpkin (using his blanket to open the mailbox after Lucy refuses to help), Charlie Brown dances when he receives an invitation to go to Violet's Halloween party. His bubble is quickly burst by Lucy who mentions there were two lists, people to invite and people not to invite; Lucy is certain Charlie Brown's name was on the wrong list.
On Halloween night, the gang gets their costumes ready. Lucy dresses as a witch, while the other kids dress up as ghosts. Pig-Pen is easily recognized by his trademark cloud of dust, while Charlie Brown has eyeholes cut out all over his sheet, matter-of-factly stating he had a little trouble with the scissors.
Before going trick-or-treating, the gang stops off at the pumpkin patch to make fun of Linus's missing out on all the fun as last year (especially when he asks if they came to sing "pumpkin carols"). But Linus is convinced that the Great Pumpkin will indeed come because he thinks the patch he's in is sincere enough and even convinces Sally to stick around to wait with him. The rest of the gang go off leaving Sally and Linus behind. Earlier, Sally was making a ghost costume after initially choosing to go along trick-or-treating, but had a change of heart with Linus' story of the Great Pumpkin.
During trick-or-treating, everyone else gets assorted candy, gum, apples, cookies, popcorn balls, and even money. But at every house, Charlie Brown gets the same thing — a rock. After tricks-or-treats, and another quick stop at the pumpkin patch to rib Linus and Sally again, the gang all go off to Violet's Halloween party.
Meanwhile, Charlie Brown's dog Snoopy, wearing his World War I flying ace gear, climbs aboard his Sopwith Camel (in reality, his doghouse) to do battle with the Red Baron. After being shot down, Snoopy makes his way across the countryside, before briefly crashing the Halloween party. He then makes his way to the pumpkin patch where Linus and Sally are still waiting for the Great Pumpkin to show up. Linus hears Snoopy's rustling, and believes it's really the Great Pumpkin, and when Snoopy (still hidden in the shadows) rises above the pumpkins, Linus promptly faints. When Sally sees it's only Snoopy, she becomes outraged over missing tricks-or-treats AND the Halloween Party, and threatens to "sue" Linus. She storms out of the pumpkin patch with the other kids, leaving Linus by himself, still convinced the Great Pumpkin will come.
When 4:00 a.m. rolls around on November 1st, Lucy gets up to check on Linus. Seeing his bed empty, she goes out to the pumpkin patch to find him lying on the ground shivering, covered in his security blanket. Lucy grudgingly walks him home and to his room, removing his shoes and he passes out in his own bed as she puts the covers on him before angrily walking out of his room.
Later on that day, Linus and Charlie Brown are at the rock wall talking about last night's events. When Charlie Brown tries to console Linus saying "I've done a lot of stupid things in my life, too", Linus blows a fuse and angrily vows to Charlie Brown that the Great Pumpkin will come next year, his ranting continuing as the end credits roll.
[edit] Viewer response
Charlie Brown's repeated line of "I got a rock", caused some stir among many viewers of the show, according to Charles Schulz in the book and retrospective TV special "Happy Birthday, Charlie Brown". Schulz said that after the program first aired, bags and boxes of candy came in from all of the world..."just for Charlie Brown."
[edit] Production
[edit] ABC telecast edits
To make room for the longer commercial breaks during modern airings, ABC cut two scenes, which were later restored when aired in conjunction with You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown):
- Lucy pleading Charlie Brown to kick the football, and subsequently pulling it away as he tries to do so. This is the first instance of what becomes a staple in Peanuts specials.[citation needed]
- Snoopy (as the World War I flying ace) prompting Schroeder to play WWI era songs.
[edit] Music
All music was performed by the Vince Guaraldi Sextet. The World War I songs played by Schroeder on his toy piano while Snoopy dances are:
- The "Happy" Songs:
- The "Sad" Songs:
- "There's a Long, Long Trail A-Winding"
- "Roses of Picardy"[2]
[edit] Film Credits
- Written by Charles M. Schulz
- Directed by Bill Melendez
- Produced by Lee Mendleson and Bill Melendez
- Music Composed and Performed by Vince Guaraldi
- Music Supervised, Arranged and Conducted by John Scott Trotter
- Animators: Bob Carlson, John Freeman, Ruth Kissane, Bill Littlejohn, Frank Smith, Rudy Zamora
- Layout: Bernard Gruver, Ed Levitt
- Backgrounds: Dean Spille
- Ink and Paint: Flora Hastings, Faith Kovaleski, Beverly Robbins, Eleanor Warren
- Camera: Nick Vasu
- Picture and Sound Editing: Robert Gillis
- Assistant Editor: Steven Cuitlahuac Melendez
- Recorded by Producers Sound Service
- A LEE MENDLESON/BILL MELENDEZ Production
- In Cooperation With UNITED FEATURE SYNDICATE, INC.
- (c)1966 United Feature Syndicate, Inc.
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.dvdizzy.com/greatpumpkin.html
- ^ "Soundtracks for It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" (in English). http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060550/soundtrack. Retrieved on 2008-12-02.
[edit] External links
- Official site
- It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown at the Internet Movie Database
- ABC feature page for It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
| Preceded by “Charlie Brown's All-Stars” |
Peanuts television specials | Followed by “You're in Love, Charlie Brown” |
