It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown may not be scary, but is family-friendly

It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown is considered one of the best Halloween specials ever. It is one of several Charlie Brown holidays specials that are watched yearly.

These specials have been around for more than 50 years and they are still as popular as ever. This raises a huge question, why are these specials so loved. Let’s take an in depth look at It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown and try to answer that question.

It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown was the second Peanuts holiday special. It was first aired on October 27th, 1966 on CBS. It was created and written by Charles M. Schulz and was directed by Bill Melendez. Ever since 2006, it usually airs around twice a year in the month of October. If you want to watch it other times of the year, you can buy it on DVD, Blu-Ray or 4K. In 1966, this special was nominated for an Emmy award.

Plot

The plot of this special is pretty simple. The special starts with Linus and Lucy going to a pumpkin patch to pick a pumpkin. Lucy ends up picking the biggest one. Of course, poor Linus is forced to carry the pumpkin home. After the opening credits we see Linus writing a letter to the great pumpkin.

Charlie Brown and the rest of the Peanuts gang try to explain to him that their is no such thing as the great pumpkin,but he still mails the letter to the great pumpkin. Linus decides to skip trick or treating to wait at the pumpkin patch for the great pumpkin to arrive. He talks Sally into waiting with him. The rest of the Peanuts gang goes trick or treating and then goes to a Halloween party. Linus waits the whole night for the great pumpkin, with no success. The next morning he vows that the great pumpkin will come some day.

Review

This special is a short, sweet and to the point special. It’s a nice little special to watch during the Halloween season to get into the spirit. Most Halloween specials are scary in nature, but this is one of the few exceptions. If you want a more light-hearted take on Halloween, this is a perfect special to you. It’s honestly hard to come up with a legit complaint about this special. The end of the story is really good, it shows that Linus, even if he doesn’t have an proof of the great pumpkins existence, he still believes he will see it one day. Overall this is a good special and I would recommend watching it.

The major critics also seem to agree with me. Rotten tomatoes gave it a 94 percent rating and IMDb gave it an 8.2 out of 10.