The special follows the adventures of Charlie Brown and his friends as they get red for Halloween. At the start, Linus is dutifully carrying home a pumpkin for his sister Lucy. Apparently unaware that she intends to make a jack-o’-lantern out of her find, Linus shrieks, “Ohh! You didn’t tell me you were going to KILL it!” and starts sobbing as Lucy cuts of the top to begin her creation. Everyone else is getting their costumes ready for the big night of tricks-or-treats. Everyone that is, except Linus. Instead of joining in the preparations, Linus is writing a letter to ‘The Great Pumpkin’ in hopes that he’ll be able to convince him to rise out of his mystical pumpkin patch that night and deliver a mass of toys to all those who believe in him.
The problem is, no one believes in him, except Linus.
Charlie Brown has a sense of disbelief about the whole thing, Snoopy laughs, Violet assures everyone the Great Pumpkin is a fake, and in true Lucy fashion, she just threatens her little brother: “You better cut it out right now or I’ll pound you!” No matter the ribbing or the threats, Linus stays true to his beliefs and goes out to the pumpkin patch that night. Sally (Charlie Brown’s little sister) is the only one of the gang who feels caught in the middle. Saddled with a huge crush on Linus, she doesn’t know if she should stay in the pumpkin patch with her sweetie, or go out for tricks-or-treats. In the end, the crush wins out and Linus has a companion in the patch.
No matter how many times I’ve watched It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (I’ve lost count), it’s a thoroughly enjoyable experience. The running gags are nothing over the top, yet clever. For some reason, everyone but Lucy is dressed as a ghost as they go out for candy and it’s not a problem, everyone get the candy they want, except Charlie Brown who ends up with a bag of rocks. It fits with the character, but it leaves you still rooting for the guy to catch a break. While all of this is going on, Snoopy is of course trying to once again defeat the Red Baron. While it doesn’t really tie into the main story all that well, some of us never get tired of seeing a beagle imagining himself as a World War One fighter ace for some reason. I know I don’t.
The animation is very much in keeping with the look of Charles Schulz’s original comic strip. Some of the plot points that the special was based on have been altered a bit but the look is definitely there and there’s quite a bit of nice detail present in the hand drawn animation that seems absent from a lot of the computer animated cartoons that are so popular today. At any rate, the jokes are still funny, the characters are still fun and because of that, It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown is a wonderful show, no matter what your age.
It’s Magic, Charlie Brown
The second feature on this disc It’s Magic, Charlie Brown, a special that originally aired in 1981, is okay, but definitely not one of the better shows in the Peanuts cannon. Charlie Brown decides that Snoopy needs to educate himself, and gives him his library card to go get a few books. Snoopy checks out a book on magic, and decides to put on magic show (under the stage name “The Great Houndini”), recruiting Marcie as one assistant and announcer, and Sally as his silent assistant. In the show, he pulls a rabbit out of his hat (actually Woodstock with rabbit ears), then does a ring trick that’s goes a bit wrong. Both of these tricks raise the ire of one heckler who doesn’t see the humor the others see, but Snoopy quickly shuts him up both times. He also does the “stick-in-the-hole” trick to Franklin, the “amputation-decapitation” trick to Peppermint Patty, cutting Linus’s security blanket into strips (which appears to fail), the “levitation” trick to Lucy van Pelt, and biggest of all, making Charlie Brown literally disappear.
Unfortunately, a sudden rainstorm ends the show early, and Charlie Brown is left invisible. Convinced he is going to remain that way for the rest of his life, he prepares to “roam the world as a lost soul”, and Sally begins moving her stuff into his room. While Snoopy searches for a counter spell, Charlie Brown realizes he has a golden opportunity to kick Lucy’s football. Taking advantage of his invisibility, Charlie Brown finally kicks the ball out of Lucy’s hand and taunts her about it. Lucy is at a loss to know what is going on as she can only hear Charlie Brown’s voice. But when he tries another attempt, Snoopy casts the counter spell to make him visible again just as he runs toward the football, and this time Lucy does her usual prank, with Charlie Brown again landing flat on his back.
This special doesn’t have the originality of It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown but at least Charlie brown finally gets to kick that football!
The DVD is presented in the standard format, preserving the aspect ratio of its original television exhibition. Though this title has been released several times before, I’ve never seen it look better. Digitally remastered, the colors are vibrant and deep and there are only a few moments of noticeable cloudiness. The audio is presented in a crisp sounding Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound and subtitles are available in English, French, Spanish, Japanese, Thai, Chinese and Portuguese.
It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (Remastered Deluxe Edition) has one notable special feature.
• We Need a Blockbuster Charlie Brown (13:57) – Animator Bill Meléndez, Fred Silverman, Monte Schulz and others discuss the pressure from CBS to produce a hit after the success of A Charlie Brown Christmas. They also discuss the inspiration for, and the process involved in making It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.
