80 Fun Facts About It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

According to Linus, what does the Great Pumpkin bring for the children who believe?

A bag of toys makes him a Halloween Santa Claus, and that was Schulz's whole joke: a small boy who has muddled one holiday's legend with the next and will not be argued out of it.

In Peanuts, Linus is almost always drawn holding what?

A security blanket: Schulz did not invent the phrase, but Linus made it famous, and dictionaries trace its figurative sense, anything a person clings to for comfort, to his blanket.

What does Charlie Brown get at every house while the other children collect treats?

A rock at each of three houses: producer Lee Mendelson protested that even one was too cruel, which only made his partners triple it, and 'I got a rock' passed into the language.

Whose Halloween party is Charlie Brown surprised to be invited to?

Violet's invitation thrills him, but at the party the girls only want his round head as a model, and sketch a jack-o'-lantern face on the back of it.

What does a furious Sally threaten to do to Linus after her wasted night in the pumpkin patch?

Sue him is exactly what she shouts, 'I'll sue!', in a tirade that ends with her shaking Linus by the shirt; she had given up trick-or-treating and the party to keep him company.

In It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, Snoopy's costume makes him a flying ace from which war?

World War I had entered Peanuts only a year earlier, in a 1965 strip; when Schulz wished the doghouse could really fly on screen, his director took it as a dare: 'I'm an animator! That's what I do!'

In It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, Snoopy imagines his doghouse is which fighter plane?

Sopwith Camel was a real British fighter, and Snoopy's wooden version became so well known that the flight, which its producer called one of animation's most memorable scenes, ended up on a postage stamp.

Which enemy pilot shoots Snoopy down in the dogfight of It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown?

The Red Baron never appears: the dogfight shows only Snoopy on his doghouse, and it convinced the producers that the beagle could carry a scene, and a show, without saying a word.

At the Halloween party, which game does Snoopy sneak into after being shot down?

Apple bobbing is how the downed flying ace gatecrashes the party: he slips into the tub while a girl who cannot stand dog germs is taking her turn, with the result you would expect.

Why is Charlie Brown's ghost costume full of eyeholes?

He had trouble with the scissors, he admits when the others ask where he is; Pig-Pen hides no better, greeted by name at once because his sheet trails its usual cloud of dust.

Which marching song opens the piano medley at the Halloween party, sending Snoopy strutting?

It's a Long Way to Tipperary gets Snoopy marching, but by 'Roses of Picardy', the last of the four songs, he is in tears, and an accidental howl finally sends him off in embarrassment.

Who finally fetches the shivering Linus from the pumpkin patch at 4 a.m.?

Lucy, who has spent the whole special mocking his vigil, gets up unasked at four in the morning, leads him home without a word and puts him to bed.

What does Linus do when he spots a figure he believes is the Great Pumpkin?

He faints just as the shape rises over the pumpkins, and comes round to learn that he swooned at the sight of a beagle and that his one fellow believer has had enough.

Linus says the Great Pumpkin rises from the pumpkin patch that is the most what?

Sincere is a test Linus applies to himself: when nothing comes, he never doubts the Great Pumpkin, only whether his own patch and his own faith measured up.

Linus says there are three things he has learned never to discuss with people: religion, the Great Pumpkin and what?

Politics completes the list, and Linus has cause to add the third: by then his letter has drawn disbelief from Charlie Brown, laughter from Snoopy and the threat of a pounding.

When Linus backs the Great Pumpkin and Charlie Brown backs Santa Claus, what does Charlie Brown say separates them?

Denominational differences is his verdict: to Charlie Brown the two beliefs are rival churches, a joke from Schulz, a Sunday-school teacher who doubted that any one denomination could be sure of the truth.

In his letter, Linus concedes that the Great Pumpkin lags behind Santa Claus in what?

Publicity is Santa's one advantage, Linus writes, before consoling the Great Pumpkin that 'being number two, perhaps you try harder', a line echoing a famous car-rental advertisement of the day.

The morning after, which attempt at comfort from Charlie Brown sends Linus into a furious rant?

That he does stupid things too is meant kindly, but Linus hears only the word 'stupid', and he is still shouting about it as the closing credits roll.

Which running Peanuts gag made its TV-special debut in It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown?

The pulled-away football comes early: shown a signed contract promising the ball will stay put, Charlie Brown runs at it, lands on his back and is told the paper was never notarized.

Linus panics after saying which word in place of 'when' as his friends leave the pumpkin patch?

If: 'I meant when he comes! I'm doomed,' he wails, sure that 'one little slip like that can cause the Great Pumpkin to pass you by', which makes every no-show his own fault.

Which US network first broadcast It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown?

CBS had asked for it: after A Charlie Brown Christmas the network rang the producers to say 'We need another holiday blockbuster', and Schulz reached for the most obvious holiday left.

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown was first broadcast, before its American premiere, in which country?

Canada's CBC put the special on air shortly before the American network did, so the famous premiere date of October 27, 1966 was not in fact the world's first showing.

Which Western did It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown tie for first place in its debut week's Nielsen ratings?

Bonanza had kept A Charlie Brown Christmas down to second place in the ratings ten months earlier; this time the Peanuts gang drew level with the Cartwrights at the top.

Which science-fiction series aired on NBC against the first broadcast of It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown?

Star Trek, seven weeks into its first season, sent out 'Miri' that night, an episode about a planet run by children, and was outdrawn by a cartoon about children waiting in a pumpkin patch.

Roughly what share of US viewers watched the Great Pumpkin special's 1966 debut?

49%, roughly 17 million viewers; after that success the network repeated the special every year for decades.

What does Linus vow to do in his rant over the closing credits of It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown?

Wait again next year is the promise, and Schulz kept it for him: Linus went back to the pumpkin patch in the strip almost every October until the final Halloween of Peanuts in 1999.

After the 1966 broadcast, what did sympathetic viewers mail to Charlie Brown for years?

Candy poured into Schulz's studio from viewers who felt sorry for him after his trick-or-treat haul, and producer Lee Mendelson said the parcels kept coming for years.

Who directed It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown and also supplied Snoopy's voice?

Bill Melendez never meant to voice the dog: Schulz would not let Snoopy talk, so he recorded himself speaking gibberish, sped up the tape and kept the job for four decades.

The director of It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, a Disney and Warner Brothers veteran, was born in which country?

Mexico: born in Hermosillo, he joined Disney in 1938, worked on Pinocchio, Fantasia, Dumbo and Bambi, and moved to Warner Brothers after the animators' strike of 1941.

Who voiced Charlie Brown in It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown?

Peter Robbins was nine when he first played Charlie Brown and was replaced at fourteen, but his recorded 'AAUGH!' went on being used in the specials after he had gone.

While trick-or-treating, what does Lucy ask for at the door, embarrassed at having to?

Extra candy for her brother is what she begs at the first house, explaining that he is off sitting in a pumpkin patch, and grumbling that it is 'so embarrassing to have to ask' for 'that blockhead Linus'.

During It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, why was Sally's young voice actress rushed to the studio one night?

She had a loose tooth, and her mother rang to warn that once it fell out she would have a terrible lisp, so producer Lee Mendelson got her to the microphone that same night, just in time.

Which word did Sally's young voice actress find so hard that it was recorded one syllable at a time?

Restitution, which a furious Sally demands from Linus, defeated the young actress, so the producer recorded 'res-ti-tu-tion' in pieces and spliced it together; the line became his favourite moment in the special.

Who composed the jazz score for It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown?

Vince Guaraldi went on scoring Peanuts specials for the rest of his life: he died at 47 in 1976, on the evening of the day he finished recording the music for another of them.

Linus's recurring theme, first heard as he writes his letter, is called The Great Pumpkin what?

Waltz: The Great Pumpkin Waltz treats Linus's vigil tenderly where spooky music might be expected; its composer re-recorded it in 1968, and pianist George Winston later covered it on a tribute album.

Which Peanuts theme opens the Great Pumpkin special?

Linus and Lucy opens the show in what historian Derrick Bang calls arguably its best arrangement; by his account the music came first for once, and the wordless opening was animated to fit it.

The 2018 soundtrack album of It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown included sound effects for what reason?

The master tapes were missing, so the album was lifted from the broadcast audio, effects and all; the reels turned up after producer Lee Mendelson asked his children to hunt for them, and a clean edition followed in 2022.

Which radio hit led Lee Mendelson to hire the pianist for Peanuts in 1963?

Cast Your Fate to the Wind was on the radio when producer Lee Mendelson needed music for a Peanuts documentary; he tracked down its composer, who soon rang back to play him the first Peanuts theme down the telephone.

In It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, the downed Snoopy crosses the countryside of which country on foot?

France: the flying ace imagines himself shot down behind enemy lines and creeps across the French countryside, a journey that ends when he gatecrashes the children's Halloween party.

In The Simpsons' 2008 parody of It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, which character awaits the 'Grand Pumpkin'?

Milhouse's tears bring the Grand Pumpkin to life, and unlike Linus's hero it really does show up, a monster appalled to learn that people carve and eat pumpkins every Halloween.

In 2001, the yearly broadcast of It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown moved to which network?

ABC's deal ended the special's 35-year run on the network that had commissioned it, though not the tradition: it stayed on the air every October until 2019.

Which tech company made the classic Peanuts specials exclusive to its streaming service in 2020?

Apple's exclusivity meant that in 2020, for the first time since 1966, October passed without the special on broadcast television; since 2022 the company has offered it free to non-subscribers for one weekend each year.

A 2021 licensing deal let which broadcaster air It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown for one year only?

PBS got the special for a single October: the agreement lapsed in 2022, and since then the only free showings have been short streaming windows from the rights holder.

The child voices in It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown mixed Hollywood actors with children from where?

The producer's own neighborhood near San Francisco supplied several of the voices; the girl who played Sally was so young that she could not yet read and had to be fed her lines one at a time.

Schulz reworked the Great Pumpkin idea for a 1974 special in which Linus awaits whom?

The Easter Beagle really does turn up, because this time Schulz gave the part to Snoopy, who dances in handing out eggs to everyone but Charlie Brown; a once-burned Sally needs convincing.

Which Peanuts special aired between A Charlie Brown Christmas and It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown?

Charlie Brown's All Stars!, a baseball story shown in June 1966, did well, but the network wanted another holiday 'blockbuster' and came straight back to ask for one.

What nickname did Peanuts creator Charles Schulz go by?

Sparky came from Spark Plug, the horse in the comic strip Barney Google: an uncle gave the boy the name, so the future cartoonist was named after a cartoon.

Sally Brown's pet name for Linus in the comic strip is what?

My Sweet Babboo is what she calls the boy she waits beside in the pumpkin patch, and his stock reply through years of strips, a shouted 'I'm not your Sweet Babboo!', never once put her off.

Which online game added a licensed Great Pumpkin Island in October 2010?

Poptropica sent players to help Linus wait in the pumpkin patch, and stayed true to the special: the Great Pumpkin never comes, only Snoopy with a pumpkin on his head.

What does Linus's sister do to the pumpkin he brings home, to his horror?

Cuts into it: as the knife goes in to make a jack-o'-lantern, a horrified Linus wails that she never told him she was going to kill it.

In It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, why is the signed promise of a fair kick declared worthless?

It was never notarized, the loophole Linus's sister reveals once Charlie Brown is flat on his back. It was the first of the TV specials to stage the comic strip's yearly kicking gag.

Which animated sitcom spoofed It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown in 2008 with a man-eating Grand Pumpkin?

The Simpsons sent Milhouse to keep the vigil, redrawing its characters in Peanuts style and licensing the original jazz themes. Lawyers nonetheless made the writers swap Great for Grand in the title.

In It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, Linus's sister wears which costume as the opposite of her personality?

A witch is her choice, on the theory that a costume should show the reverse of your nature. Nearly every other child in the group simply goes as a ghost.

In It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, what is wrong with the ghost costume Charlie Brown cuts for himself?

Too many eyeholes pepper the sheet after his scissor work goes wrong. The joke was borrowed from a 1956 Halloween strip in which Linus was the clumsy cutter.

Charles Schulz invented the Great Pumpkin by having Linus muddle Halloween with which other holiday?

Christmas supplied the template: a gift-bringer who rewards believers and gets mail every year. Schulz said he wanted nothing deeper than the comedy of a child confusing two holidays.

In It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, what instantly gives Pig-Pen away beneath his ghost costume?

His cloud of dust trails him even under a sheet, so the others name him at once. The grime dates back to 1954, when the character first wandered into the comic strip.

At the Halloween party in It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, what gets drawn on Charlie Brown's bald head?

A jack-o'-lantern design is sketched there because the host wants a model: his round, bald head makes the perfect stand-in for a pumpkin.

Which soft drink co-sponsored the first airing of It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown with Dolly Madison cakes?

Coca-Cola had bankrolled the very first Peanuts special a year earlier and stayed on. Its on-screen credits were later trimmed from the print, so repeat viewers do not see them.

Which department store's Thanksgiving parade added a balloon of Snoopy as the flying ace in 1968?

Macy's floated the goggles-and-scarf Snoopy over Manhattan two years after It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown turned the daydreaming pilot into a household favourite.

The flying-ace Snoopy of It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown later decorated the blimps of which insurance company?

MetLife painted him, goggles and scarf included, on airships that hovered over sports events. The insurer dropped the Peanuts gang in 2016 after 31 years, then brought Snoopy back in 2023.

In It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, what does Snoopy do by accident that ends his dance beside the piano?

He howls, carried away as the tunes swing between jaunty and tearful, then slinks out of the party in embarrassment. The scene follows his long solo journey behind enemy lines.

In the Peanuts comic strip, who keeps calling the Great Pumpkin a squash or a grape, to the annoyance of Linus?

Marcie fumbles the name again and again in the comic strip, yet she is one of the few to humour Linus, even going door to door with him handing out leaflets.

In It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, what sticky treat is Linus holding when he dives into the leaf pile?

A lollipop, wet from licking, goes into the pile with him. Charlie Brown and Snoopy had been busy raking those leaves into a tidy heap.

In the last Halloween strips Charles Schulz drew, in 1999, Snoopy creeps up on Linus and Sally while driving what?

A Zamboni rumbles into the patch, and Sally is furious all over again. Ice was a Schulz passion: he built and owned a skating rink in California and played hockey into old age.

Before It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown was written, the network told Lee Mendelson the special had to be what?

A blockbuster was the order, which put real strain on the writers: that summer's second Peanuts special had been liked but less celebrated than the first.

In It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, how does Linus's sister explain Charlie Brown's surprise party invitation?

A mix-up of two lists, she says: the host kept one of kids to invite and one of kids to leave out, and his name must have landed on the wrong one.

In 1983 strips, what does Snoopy's desert brother Spike bring along that Linus mistakes for the Great Pumpkin?

A cactus, Spike's travelling companion on a cross-country trip to visit Snoopy, fools Linus when the pair wander into the patch on Halloween night.

In 1982 Peanuts strips, which stray object thrown by Charlie Brown flattens Linus and Sally in the pumpkin patch?

A bowling ball escapes through the alley's front door mid-tournament and ploughs through the patch. Linus stays convinced afterwards that the Great Pumpkin itself knocked him down.

Which Peanuts character, stumbling about under a bedsheet, is mistaken for the Great Pumpkin in 1996 strips?

Rerun had forgotten to cut any holes to see through, so he blundered around the yard all night with no idea where he was going.

Which gift does Peppermint Patty request from the Great Pumpkin, getting herself banished from the patch by Linus?

A baseball glove is what she writes away for, and Linus is outraged: believers are meant to accept whatever the Great Pumpkin brings, not place orders as though he were Santa.

Which post is Linus running for in You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown when a Great Pumpkin speech nearly sinks him?

Student body president is the prize, and he scrapes home by a single vote, delivered by his own opponent. In the 1964 strip story behind the special, the same speech cost him the race.

Arranger John Scott Trotter of It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown spent 17 years as which crooner's music director?

Bing Crosby relied on him from 1937 to 1954, on radio and on record. Trotter joined the Peanuts team with this special and stayed for ten more, plus a feature film.

Snoopy the flying ace is the logo of an airport named for Charles Schulz in which California county?

Sonoma County's airport took the cartoonist's name because he lived nearby for more than 30 years, and its emblem shows the pilot persona that the 1966 Halloween cartoon made famous.

At the 1967 Emmys, It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown lost its category to which Gene Kelly fairy-tale musical?

Jack and the Beanstalk, which Kelly directed and starred in for Hanna-Barbera, mixed live actors with cartoon characters and beat two Peanuts specials to the prize.

Where did Lee Mendelson find some of the untrained youngsters who voiced It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown?

His own neighborhood supplied several of the voices, alongside trained child actors. The director insisted that real kids, never adults, speak for every Peanuts character.

In It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, what does Sally ask once trick-or-treating is explained to her?

Whether it is legal is her worry: going door to door demanding treats seems suspicious to a first-timer. She ends up skipping it altogether to keep Linus company in the patch.

Which boy who spoke the first line in Peanuts history has a small part in It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown?

Shermy delivered the opening words of the debut strip on October 2, 1950, but had faded to a bit player by 1966 and later vanished from the comic altogether.

The director of It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown first animated Peanuts in adverts for which carmaker?

Ford used the Peanuts kids to sell its Falcon compact, and when the first TV special came along, Charles Schulz recommended the animator who had drawn those spots.

In It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, Linus's sister reads which magazine, its cover showing her own face?

TV Guide is in her hands as Linus comes in from writing to the Great Pumpkin, and the cover portrait is of the reader herself, an in-joke that is easy to miss.

In 1966 strips, where does Peppermint Patty buy a dozen pumpkins to set up her own patch for the Great Pumpkin?

A supermarket supplies all twelve, but a friend warns her that Linus would never count a shop-bought patch as genuine, and Linus is stumped when she phones him for a ruling.