Submit on: Saturday 8th of November 2008 at 12.53 pm
by Ron Cloer
November 8, 2008 A few days ago I plopped down on the couch for an hour or two of television with my family. Unexpected I was enthralled by a clever, funny, beautifully drawn cartoon. The music was a perfect mesh with the storyline. This is a great cartoon. Was it one of the newer cartoons that begin with “viewer discretion advised”? No. It was called “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charles Brown” and it was made in 1966.
Before you write this off as an overly sentimental trip into nostalgia, let me explain. Some older cartoons don’t play back well after you return to them years later. They are filled with poorly drawn images, lame jokes with fake laughter, and distracting sound effects. Rising above lesser cartoons, “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” retains its power to entertain. The simple backgrounds, iconic characters, most sincere pumpkin patch and classic autumn feeling music make this a great show. The music is so good that it’s worth mentioning that the score was composed and performed by Vince Guaraldi.
Top 10 reasons why I love this show -
10. When Lucy stabs a pumpkin, Linus screams “You didn’t tell me that you were going to kill it.”
9. The joy that Charlie Brown feels when he’s chosen as a model only to find out that it’s for a pumpkin carving.
8. Linus’ mad blanket skills and eternal optimism.
7. The funny way they say “tricks or treats” instead of “trick or treat”
6. Snoopy as a WWI flying ace who climbs in the cockpit of his Sopwith Camel in search of the Red Baron only to be shot down, his doghouse riddled with bullet holes, black smoke pouring from the engine and the valiant Snoopy going down with his plane.
5. “There are 3 things I’ve learned to never to discuss with people “Religion, Politics, and the Great Pumpkin”
4. Snoopy dancing/crying/marching/directing/howling routine to Schroeder’s piano playing.
3. This classic exchange while in the pumpkin patch.
“I thought little girls always believed everything told to them” – Linus
“Welcome to the 20th century” – Sally
2. “I got a chocolate bar”
“I got a quarter”
“I got a rock” – Charlie Brown
1. Lucy producing a signed document to prove that she won’t pull the football away from Charlie Brown this time, only to find that “it was never notorized”.
