10 Memorable Moments From It’s The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown!

There are certain things that people look forward to every single year that signify when autumn comes around – the changing of the leaves, the slight chill in the air, and (of course) The Great Pumpkin.

Despite ABC not airing It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown! on television for the first time since gaining the program back in 2001, Apple TV+ has picked it up to remind us that the simple yet lovable character created by Charles M. Schultz will always be here. The half-hour special will be available for free from Oct 30-Nov 1 and has plenty of memorable moments for fans to reminisce over.

10 Linus and Lucy pick a pumpkin

The very first scene to open the Halloween special is as classic as can be – Lucy and Linus make their way to the neighborhood pumpkin patch (where Linus takes a single bite of an apple and proceeds to throw it away) and Lucy decidedly picks her favorite pumpkin, which also happens to be the biggest. Linus rolls it home for her and she starts to carve it with a gigantic chef’s knife, prompting Linus to start sobbing and cry out, “You didn’t tell me you were gonna kill it!”

9 Snoopy helps Charlie Brown rake leaves/Lucy pulls the football away

It wouldn’t be a Charlie Brown special if Lucy didn’t pull the football away while he tried to kick it. In this scene, Snoopy plays his part as man’s best friend and helps Charlie Brown rake up the leaves, only to have Linus cannonball the pile whilst holding a gigantic lollipop. Afterward, Lucy gives Charlie Brown a signed document stating that she’ll hold the football for him, only to pull it away at the last moment due to the fact that the document was never notarized.

8 Linus writes his letter to The Great Pumpkin

“There’s three things you never discuss with people – religion, politics, and The Great Pumpkin.” One of Linus’ greatest lines gets delivered in this scene where he writes a letter to TGP asking for presents (the same way a child would for Santa Claus). Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and Lucy all pester him and tell him what a fool he is, but he continues to believe that TGP is real and takes off to mail his letter.

7 Linus mails his letter like a boss

Proving somebody wrong is satisfying, especially doing it in such a calm and poised manner that proves they’re unfazed by naysayers. In this scene, regardless of all the flack that Linus gets from the gang about believing in TGP, he decides that he’s going to mail his letter anyway.

When he reaches the mailbox it’s revealed that he’s much too short to reach the handle and Lucy arrogantly states that she won’t help him. So, Linus pulls out his inner Indian Jones and uses his blanket to whip the mailbox open, followed by proving that he’s the master of the laws of physics by tossing the letter through the air and into the open mailbox like a magician. Eat your heart out, Lucy.

6  The gang puts their Halloween costumes on

The town where The Peanuts live must have the best postal service in the world since Linus apparently mailed his letter the morning of Halloween, followed by the rest of the gang dressing up in their costumes later that night. The scene includes Sally getting scared by her own ghost costume, Lucy fittingly going as a witch, Charlie Brown’s classic dozen-hole ghost costume, and the arrival of the World War I flying ace.

5 The gang goes Trick-or-Treating

While Linus and Sally sit in the pumpkin patch and sing pumpkin carols, the rest of the gang goes out to trick-or-treat. The scene not only includes Lucy having to ask every house for extra candy due to the fact that Linus misses out on it every year, but it also contains one of Charlie Brown’s most infamous lines when the kids discuss what they got in their goodie bags. Some kids get candy, gum, popcorn balls, even money – Charlie Brown gets a rock.

4 The World War I flying ace sequence

This particular scene is one that audiences (at first glance) might gloss over or even skip altogether when it comes up on the screen, but given a thorough watching and the brilliance of the direction in this shot is palpable.

The camera does an amazing job of presenting Snoopy’s dog-house as a World War I fighter-plane by rocking back-and-forth/vibrating to present the illusion of movement and really gives the audience the true feeling of what Snoopy’s imagination looked like. Quite brilliant.

3 The Halloween party, Charlie Brown used as a model for a Jack-O’Lantern

To be honest, this was a rather bland party with next to nothing happening (the episode was close to wrapping up) but it was lucky enough to contain arguably the funniest moment in the entire special. Lucy and a few of the girls tell Charlie Brown that they need to use him as a model, immediately elating him. He’s quickly brought down from his high when the girls use a marker to draw a face on the back of his bald head in order to model how they’ll carve their pumpkin. Good grief.

2 Snoopy rises out of the pumpkin patch

What’s that?! It’s the Great Pumpkin! It’s the Great Pumpkin!!! Nope, it’s just a beagle dressed as a fighter-pilot. Linus and Sally spend the entire night in the pumpkin patch (missing tricks-or-treats and the Halloween party) and Sally insists that she’s had enough waiting. At that very moment, a shadowy figure rises out of the pumpkin patch and Linus immediately takes it for The Great Pumpkin and faints from excitement. During his blackout, the shadow is revealed to be Snoopy and Sally goes off on one of the greatest rants of all time. Nothing compares to the wrath of a woman who has been cheated out of tricks-or-treats.

1 Linus declaring that The Great Pumpkin will still turn up next year

Linus deserves some serious respect for sticking to his beliefs (however farfetched) when he declares that TGP will show up the following Halloween despite being a no-show once again. In the final scene of the special, Charlie Brown and Linus essentially give a quick recap of what happened over the last half-hour with Charlie informing Linus that he’s done some stupid things as well (referring to Linus spending all night in the pumpkin patch). This quickly causes Linus to launch into a tirade that rivaled Sally’s wherein he informs Charlie Brown that TGP will rise up next year!

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