Review of It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1966) by Lindsay M — 03 Nov 2008
"Let's face it...Santa Claus has had more publicity," writes steadfast Linus to his Halloween hero, The Great Pumpkin, in pop-cultural institution "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown". "But," he continues "being number two, perhaps you try harder." The line's apparently a reference to an old ad for car-rental company Avis. Today, the joke's outdated, and hasn't aged quite as well as the much-loved special that features it. The rest of "ITGPCB" isn't start-to-finish spectacular, either: the scenes with Snoopy strutting his stuff as a "WW1 flying ace" are boring, and the Charlie Brown-gets-rocks-in-his-treat-bag sequence runs a little long. But the rest of the special's remained beloved for a reason. There's something rather lovely about the gleeful nose-in-the-air jig that Charlie Brown embarks upon, when he thinks he's finally been invited to a party, and about dopey, faithful Linus' annual vigil, as he waits for a giant gift-giving pumpkin that he's never seen. "Each year the Great Pumpkin rises out of the pumpkin patch that he thinks is the most sincere. I don't see *how* a pumpkin patch could be more sincere than this one," declares Linus. Me, neither, Linus---and I'll gladly join you and your earnestness for Great Pumpkin duty any year. (But no more car-rental jokes, OK?).
By me, The Coast.
This review of It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1966) was written by Lindsay M on 03 Nov 2008.
It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown has generally received very positive reviews.
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