Last night they showed the classic cartoon, It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. I watched a bit, but not too carefully. Afterwards a friend and I had occasion to discuss the cartoon. He claims that the ending has been changed. According to him, toward the end, after Linus has been dragged home to bed, the cartoon formerly showed a scene where the Great Pumpkin flies over, proving that if Linus had just stayed awake, he would have been rewarded. I really don’t recall this, but it has been a really long time. My friend speculates the ending could have been altered to appease conservative Christians who may have seen this as unsavory symbolism at best. I suggested he could be imagining things, but his memory is typically more reliable than mine is.
I’ll look at my copy tomorrow and tell you what I see but I don’t recall that particular episode. Perhaps it was some Snoopy bit?
Cool, I have something to do tomorrow!
The same thought had occurred to me, that perhaps there had been some “Snoopy goes by as the Great Pumpkin” sort of thing at the end, which got lost to a commercial.
I saw this cartoon on an annual basis when I was growing up and I never, ever remember seeing TGP. I think that’s a flight-of-fancy too literal and out-of-character for Mr. Schultz.
By the way, anyone have the DVD of this? I just saw a box-set for sale w/the Christmas and Thanksgiving eps too (as well as some more obscure holiday specials)
Seems unlikely, as Charles Schultz was a Christian himself. I mean, not the sort of Christian who would see a flying pumpkin in a kid’s cartoon as some sort of Satanism,but…
…I thought the Great Pumpkin thing was about the absurdity of looking at God like Santa Clause (…bringing presents to all the good children of the world…) I thought it was a delusion on the part of the normally theologically astute Linus (see the Peanut’s Christmas special).
I have the set on Tape (same as the DVD version) everything is intact except it is missing the old Dolly Madison Commercials. No Great Pumpkin unless you count the scene where Snoopy rises from the Pumpkin Patch and an over excited Linus faints thinking it to be the Great Pumpkin.
The old Charlie Brown and Friends cartoon series had one episode involving the great pumpkin, where snoopy was mistaken for him for a few seconds, if i recall correctly, and may have had something to do with bowling. anyone else remember that cartoon from saturday mornings?
kingpengvin is right. My family has it on tape from TV around mid to late 80s. The only thing you see that’s close to the Great Pumpkin is the Snoopy bit. Seeing as commercial breaks are longer these days, I wouldn’t be suprised that it was cut for time.
The only things cut from this year’s broadcast were a Charlie Brown-Lucy football gag and a scene involving Schroeder and the WWI Flying Ace. That actually adds up to three minutes of cuts! At least the new owners brought back all of “I got a rock…”
And no, I have to agree there was no scene in which the Great Pumpkin appears. Linus confuses Snoopy for him (which did air this year), but that’s it. Though it would make an interesting addition. Who wants to travel back in time to 1966 and ask Melendez to add that in?
The Great Pumpkin never appears to Linus. The show has a bit (as mentioned) where Snoopy stands up in the patch and Linus passes out, thinking it is the Great Pumpkin. He wakes and finds (care of Sally, who has spent the evening in the pumpkin patch with him) that it was not the Great Pumpkin. There has never (and I am a pretty big junky so I’m willing to bet on this) been a version where the Great Pumpkin actually appears. I’m more than willing to eat those words, though, if someone comes up with something to document it. Perhaps your friend is thinking of something that occurred in the strip.
Here’s to hoping that Linus eventually finds a pumpkin patch sincere enough to warrant a visit from the Great Pumpkin,
I think Jack Skellington is the Great Pumpking. I bet that Burton got his idea from this… a mysterious pumpkin that comes out and gives toys to children… hmmmm…
Actually, this rang a bell…I thought about it for awhile, read the other posts…thought some more…
I seem to recall that there was a mini-ad for the special that would be stuck in between the Hostess cupcakes commercials (sort of like station identification), and it portrayed a pumpkin-shaped shadow rising up out of the pumpkin patch while Linus’ hair stood on end and there was an “ooooooh” sound effect plus voice-over saying “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown”. They also ran a longer version of the mini-ad during the week before the special to let you know when it was going to be on.
I remember watching it for the first time and feeling as cheated as Linus when the only thing that rose from the pumpkin patch in the actual show was Snoopy!