Totally Un-Scary Halloween Film Festival: It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!
Plenty of questions spring to mind after watching It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!, including “Who gives rocks to trick-or-treaters?,” “What are the odds of all the supposed rocks ending up in Charlie Brown’s candy bag?,” and “Who makes a list of people not to invite to a party?” But there’s one other question that’s going to stay with me:
Why are they all such haters?
If Linus and his stripey hair and worried eyes want to sit outside all night, waiting for the Great Pumpkin to rise up out of the pumpkin patch with his bag of toys for all of the good little girls and boys, why must everyone judge? Don’t they know that not all who wander are lost? He’s a dreamer. A visionary. Jeez, Lucy.
I’ve seen the various Charlie Brown holiday movies off and on since I was a kid. As an adult, I find that they’re not really very plotty–mostly, the kids are mean to each other (specifically, the girls are mean to the boys), and then there are little punchlines. Snoopy dresses up as the World War I Flying Ace and gets shot down, but it doesn’t really pertain to the story much, except when Linus mistakes him for the Great Pumpkin. It’s all a little strange. But then there’s that awesome, classic Vince Guaraldi score, and all is forgiven. Somehow, everything Guaraldi wrote for Charlie Brown is ageless and seasonless, and seems just right, no matter what. And in October, it’s just fall, the way it was meant to be.
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