Its the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown!!!!

This is one of my all time favorite Halloween cartoons! Every year I cant wait to see it, my kids are pretty much beyond the cartoon stage and are no fun when it comes on but I hype it up anyways! I am watching for show times this year and cant wait till the Great Pumpkin returns!




Here is an excerpt from Wickepedia:
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 Linus and Lucy finally 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 wailing.

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, completely forgetting that he was holding a wet lollipop (called a "sucker" in this special) in his possession. Linus tells Charlie Brown and Snoopy to "never jump into a pile of leaves with a wet sucker". Charlie Brown and Snoopy are angry at Linus for destroying the leaves, which Charlie Brown was raking. Lucy then comes by with a football for Charlie Brown to kick, but Charlie Brown refuses. Charlie Brown tells Lucy that she just wants him to kick the football, slide on his back and kill himself. Lucy tells Charlie Brown that this time, Charlie Brown is going to trust Lucy. She shows Charlie Brown a contract, which she says that she promises not to pull the football away, but when Charlie Brown is about to kick the football, Lucy does pull it away (breaking the promise, that she made to Charlie Brown that she will not pull the football away), which sends Charlie Brown landing flat on his back, like always ("Peculiar thing about this document, it was never notarized.").

Later on, 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 you [The Great Pumpkin], but let's face it; Santa Claus has had more publicity. But being number 2, 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 tells Linus that she is not going to help him), 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. Charlie Brown is disappointed. Linus passes by Charlie Brown, and while holding a sign that says "Welcome Great Pumpkin", goes into the pumpkin patch and starts waiting for the Great Pumpkin to arrive.


On Halloween night, the gang gets their costumes ready. Sally is cutting a sheet's eyes open (making it look like a ghost costume); but when she is done with it, she puts it up and gets startled by it, thinking that it is really a ghost. Lucy dresses as a witch, while the other kids dress up as ghosts. Pig-Pen is easily recognized by his trademark cloud of dust. One of the kids asks Lucy where Charlie Brown is. "Here I am.", Charlie Brown says, and he has eyeholes cut out all over his sheet, matter-of-factly stating that he had a little trouble with the scissors. Snoopy comes by, dressed up as a World War I flying ace. Lucy says that "now, I've heard everything". She tells the kids that they will go trick-or-treating, and then a stop to Violet's Halloween party. The kids start cheering.


Before going trick-or-treating, however, the gang stops at the pumpkin patch to make fun of Linus' missing-out-on-all-the-fun-just-like-last-year (especially when Linus asks Lucy if they came to sing "pumpkin carols"). But Linus is convinced that the Great Pumpkin will indeed come, because he thinks that the patch, that he is in is sincere enough, and even convinces Sally to stick around to wait with him.

The rest of the gang go off, leaving Linus and Sally behind. As noted earlier, Sally was making a ghost costume after initially choosing to go trick-or-treating, but had a change of heart with Linus' story about the Great Pumpkin.



During trick-or-treating, everyone else gets assorted candy, apples, gum, cookies, money, and popcorn balls. 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 goes to Violet's Halloween party.


Meanwhile, Snoopy (wearing his World War I flying ace gear) climbs aboard his Sopwith Camel (in reality, his doghouse) to battle the Red Baron. After being shot down (losing the battle), 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 arrive. Linus hears Snoopy's rustling, and believes that it is really the Great Pumpkin, and when Snoopy (still hidden in the shadows) rises above the pumpkins, Linus promptly faints. When Sally sees that it is only Snoopy, she becomes outraged over missing tricks-or-treats and the Halloween party, and threatens to "sue" Linus. Sally storms out of the pumpkin patch with the other kids (with their costumes off, and in regular clothing), leaving Linus by himself. Linus asks the kids if they are going to wait to greet the Great Pumpkin. He tells them that it won't be long now. He tells them that if the Great Pumpkin comes, he'll still put in a good word for them; realizing that he accidentally said, "If" and that he meant, "When he comes.". He says that he is doomed and that one little slip like that can cause "The Great Pumpkin to Pass You By". The camera zooms out, showing the whole pumpkin patch. Linus then cries, "Oh Great Pumpkin, where are you?!".


When 4:00 AM rolls around on November 1, Lucy gets out of her bed to check on Linus. Seeing that Linus' bed is empty, she goes out to the pumpkin patch only to find Linus lying on the ground, shivering and covered in his blanket. Showing how much she cares for Linus (despite thinking that the Great Pumpkin is nonsense), Lucy walks him home to his room and takes his shoes off, and Linus passes out in his own bed, as Lucy puts the covers on him before storming out of his room.

Later on that day, Charlie Brown and Linus 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, and his ranting continues, as the credits roll.