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"It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown Unofficial Summary"

Posted by mattben on 10-30-07 at 08:44 PM
The unofficial and unpromised summary of an animated holiday classic:

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

Previously on Peanuts

A kite got caught in a tree, the baseball team lost another game (although Pigpen was safe in a cloud of dust), Lucy botch the field goal hold again, Schroeder was still composing his Ode to Beethoven, Charlie Brown lamented his continued unrequieted love for the little red haired girl, Snoopy was still hungry, and the adults all "Bwaaa Bwaaa Bwaaad" in subway loudspeaker language.


A Patch of Dreams

♫♪ Roll out the Pumpkin, we'll have a pie full of fun. ♫♪

Linus enjoys rolling a big pumpkin into the house. But, Oh No! He aarghs, "You didn't tell me you were gonna kill it," as he watches Lucy carve the pumpkin. Linus gets sick to his guts in an alternate universe anti-vegetarian way about the "pumpkin innards." Oh, the humanity.

It's football time with Lucy again. Charlie Brown doesn't believe she won't pull it away and leave him flat on his back again. For rebuttal, she offers a signed document testifying that she won't pull the football away. "A signed document," he says. It must be true, then. Fooled again. The "document was never notarized," she says.

All due respect to Kevin Costner, but Linus' dreams and holiday history lessons are a little mixed up. Most kids believe that Santa Clause brings them presents on Christmas, but Linus is more in sync with the mall's merchandise timetable. According to him, if you believe and ask him with sincerity, all the good boys and girls will be paid a visit by the Great Pumpkin on Halloween, who gives them lots of toys and presents from his cornucopia-like carved maw.

Linus writes his letter to the Great Pumpkin, asking him to come visit. He will rise up from the pumpkin patch and fly through the air distributing toys for all. Charlie Brown doesn't think so. "We have denominational differences," he says. Grin. Snoopy laughs hilariously. Lucy thinks he's an idiot. Everyone thinks the Great Pumpkin is a fake. Linus would be happy being ignorant if The Great Pumpkin his a fake. Little Sally comes by with love in her eyes. Linus gets a date with Charlie Brown's little sister at the pumpkin patch.

Of course none of the other kids believe him. If there really was a Great Pumpkin guy, why isn't there a movie out already about him? They know better, but Linus keeps the faith. He mails his "Dear Great Pumpkin" wish letter. Chuck gets a letter himself.

Our Hero!

Charlie Brown is usually the butt of everyone's jokes and a social pariah, but this time it's gonna be different. He's become popular, and has been invited to a Halloween party. Oh the joy. Lucy, bothersome fussbudget that she is, says it's a misprint or spam mail or such. "There's two lists: the invite and do not invite list. You must have been put on the wrong list." Unperturbed, Charlie Brown smiles on and happily falls on his back again trying to kick the football through the goalposts of life.

Trick or Treat Time

Sally looks forward to dancing with Linus at the party. Almost everyone's costumed as a ghost. Charlie Brown messes up, of course, unless he's coming as an alien ghost with a dozen eye stalks. Lucy, of course, is not a ghost. She must have bewitched some construction crew on the way over out of one of their traffic cones. Snoopy comes as a World War I flying ace, complete with crop prop.

The kids head off to the Halloween party and stop by party pooper Linus' pumpkin patch to try to convince him to stop being a misguided lunatic. He's not fazed. He waxes euphorically about the story of the Great Pumpkin. He's going to wait it out 'till his eyes can see the glory of the coming of the Lord Great Pumpkin. The Great Pumpkin only comes to one pumpkin patch, and Linus feels he's found the sacred ground. Chuck's little sister Sally has a crush on the idealistic Linus, so she stays with him, even though she's not so interested in the Great Pumpkin. She plays hard to get, saying "If you try to hold my hand, I'll slug you." They wait under the dark sky next to each other with wide smiles on their faces in anticipation.

The trick or treating commences. Such diversity! Ghosts and witches. You'd figure they could accessorize a bit more, to prevent the embarrassing "same dress" fashion faux paus. Pigpen's ghost sheet of course is dusty. Lucy negotiates for extra candy for her missing blockhead brother.

There's a thriving Peanuts sidewalk trading market where everyone tries to dump their underperforming candy stock for better tasting opportunities. There are goodies all around. Charlie Brown's in trouble, though, because, shades of coals from Newcastle, he says, "I got a rock."

If he were smart, he'd start a new fad for pet rocks. He'd make a killing marketing it. The overhead costs are so minimal.

♫♪ Snoopy in the Sky with Goggles ♫♪

Snoopy the World War I flying ace climbs aboard his Sopwith Camel, which looks suspiciously like his dog house. The drone of the engine throbs under him. He's taking flak. Furious maneuvering. He does a loop de loop. Snoopy's hunting for the Red Baron. He's hit, full of holes. Like a good captain, he's going down with the smoking ship. Good news: the crash landing was a soft one. Now he's got to make his way across the French countryside back to allied lines.

The gang stops by the pumpkin patch again and rag on Linus and Sally. They still believe. Sally's got her reputation to think of sticking around with Linus.

Finally we get the Halloween party. Is it a strip Halloween party? Er, at least they took their costumes off. The better to dance with you, little red riding hood. Chuck gets abused yet again by Lucy, as she and the girls practice their pumpkin face drawing on the back of his head. "Thank you Charlie Brown, you were a perfect model."

Snoopy is still trekking across the landscape, dodging mortars and gunfire.

It's bob for apples time. "Lucy, you should be good at this, you have the perfect mouth for it." Snoopy provides surprising comedic relief by doing his Jaws imitation in the apple bobbing tub. He and Lucy exchange dog cooties. ♫♪ What do you get when you bite the apple with a girl? You get enough germs to catch pneumonia. ♫♪

Schroeder provides the musical entertainment as Snoopy conducts. He must be off his medication since he's going through quite a lot of mood swings as the music changes.

Back to the Pumpkin Patch

Linus and Sally are a bit sweaty and covered in loose pumpkin leave fragments as they arise from from their roll in the patch, and they almost miss the Great Pumpkin's eclipse in front of the full harvest moon. They hear a rustle. Expectation! Linus spots him rising up, and faints in ecstasy at His arrival. Alas, it turns out it's just Snoopy coming back from his dogfight with the Red Baron. Sally is a bit upset she wasted her Halloween night (except for the time with Linus). "I was robbed! You kept me up all night waiting for the Great Pumpkin, and all I got was a Beagle. I could have had candies and treats and stuff. I'll sue."

But Linus is a die-hard true believer, and won't give up. "Aren't you going to wait?" he asks as Sally marches off. He's going to keep waiting. "Don't you want to see if -- oops, I mean when -- the Great Pumpkin comes?" He raises his arms to the heavens, "Oh Great Pumpkin, where are you?"

Finally Lucy comes out to fetch a shivering Linus and drag him and his blanket into the house and back to bed. Their parents must still be living it up at their own costume party.

Charlie Brown and Linus finish up with musings about the moral and meaning of it all. "I went trick or treating and all I got was a bag of rocks. You spent all night in a pumpkin patch waiting for the Great Pumpkin who didn't come. I've done a lot of stupid things in my life, too." Linus is upset. "Stupid! What do you mean, stupid!" "Wait till next year. I'll find a really sincere pumpkin patch, and I'll be waiting for him to appear. You'll see! He'll appear!"


Next time on Peanuts, it's a Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, followed by a Charlie Brown Christmas.


Let's have a pumpkin seed spitting contest.


Table of contents

Messages in this discussion
"RE: It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown Unofficial Summary"
Posted by agman on 10-30-07 at 09:23 PM
LAST EDITED ON 11-01-07 AT 03:15 PM (EST)

I'd say that just about sums it up! Are you doing anything for Halloween? My kids love this episode and we will watch it before I take them Trick-or-treating!



"RE: It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown Unofficial Summary"
Posted by dabo on 10-30-07 at 09:45 PM
Wait... Did I miss it!!!!!

AAUGH!!!

Thanx for the summary.


"RE: It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown Unofficial Summary"
Posted by Sagebrush Dan on 11-01-07 at 01:16 PM
Yeah, I missed it too. I had made a mental note to watch it, but that note disappeared into the black unknown.


Transcribed by Sharnina


"RE: It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown Unofficial Summary"
Posted by bondt007 on 11-01-07 at 03:20 PM
HA! Glad that I'm not the only one that happens to...


>Issued by "Q" and RollDdice

Charter Member, April 2001; Club Anti-DAW


"RE: It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown Unofficial Summary"
Posted by mysticwolf on 10-30-07 at 09:57 PM
Nice job, but let me guess...

You want this to stand as your previous summary experience so you can do a TAR summary. It's Estee's and the Mod's call, but I think the prerequisite rule says it has to be a Reality show summary.


If The Great Pumpkin ranks as a reality show for you, um... Well, I suppose that could explain a few things. hehehehe. (Wouldn't it be easier to just suck it up and recap Kid Nation? I know you watch. *shrug*)


"RE: It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown Unofficial Summary"
Posted by arkiegrl on 10-30-07 at 10:40 PM

Yeah, it's really more of a documentary.


"RE: It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown Unofficial Summary"
Posted by mattben on 10-30-07 at 11:52 PM
I'll do tomorrow's Kid Nation, too. This was just a fun warmup to share. For the kids, you know.



"RE: It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown Unofficial Summary"
Posted by samboohoo on 11-01-07 at 11:37 AM
Personally I think it's a cheap ruse in order to run up his DAW count.


Woo Hoo! I love me some Arkie!


"RE: It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown Unofficial Summary"
Posted by Prof_ Wagstaff on 11-01-07 at 11:46 AM
Hehehehe


Hit and Run by foonermints.
All people are born alike - except Republicans and Democrats.-- Marx


"NO FAIR!"
Posted by Molaholic on 10-30-07 at 10:37 PM
You forgot to post a big WEST COAST SPOILER alert....



Great Pumpkin hell, it was the Great agman!
look familiar?


"RE: It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown Unofficial Summary"
Posted by Estee on 10-31-07 at 08:07 AM
I guess I'm supposed to be thankful that you didn't call a press conference to announce your great achievement and then spend half an hour in the audience asking yourself softball questions so you could look good in front of a like-minded crowd.

"RE: It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown Unofficial Summary"
Posted by jbug on 10-31-07 at 12:31 PM


"RE: It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown Unofficial Summary"
Posted by mattben on 11-01-07 at 11:21 AM
I like that one, jbug.



"RE: It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown Unofficial Summary"
Posted by bystander on 11-01-07 at 12:00 PM
Was this a repeat? I may have seen it before.