1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:02,000 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class. It's a production of I 2 00:00:02,080 --> 00:00:10,760 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hello, and welcome to This Day in History Class, 3 00:00:11,119 --> 00:00:16,640 Speaker 1: the most sincere podcast about history. I'm Gay Bluesier and 4 00:00:16,680 --> 00:00:21,000 Speaker 1: in this episode, we're celebrating the Halloween season just like 5 00:00:21,079 --> 00:00:26,480 Speaker 1: everyone else by revisiting the Peanuts Halloween Special for about 6 00:00:26,520 --> 00:00:39,040 Speaker 1: the millionth time. The day was October sixty six. It's 7 00:00:39,040 --> 00:00:42,400 Speaker 1: the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown aired for the very first 8 00:00:42,440 --> 00:00:47,400 Speaker 1: time on CBS. It was the third animated TV special 9 00:00:47,520 --> 00:00:52,240 Speaker 1: based on the popular characters from Charles Schulz's Peanuts comic strip. 10 00:00:53,159 --> 00:00:56,400 Speaker 1: The first special had been a Charlie Brown Christmas In 11 00:00:58,200 --> 00:01:01,400 Speaker 1: and the second was Charlie Brown All Stars in the 12 00:01:01,440 --> 00:01:06,920 Speaker 1: summer of nineteen sixty six. That second special, theme to baseball, 13 00:01:07,360 --> 00:01:11,200 Speaker 1: didn't attract as many viewers as the Christmas episode, and 14 00:01:11,240 --> 00:01:15,760 Speaker 1: it didn't have as much replayability either. What CBS really 15 00:01:15,840 --> 00:01:19,800 Speaker 1: wanted was another holiday theme special that they could air 16 00:01:19,959 --> 00:01:23,880 Speaker 1: every year and gradually build a bigger and bigger audience 17 00:01:23,920 --> 00:01:29,080 Speaker 1: for As history has shown, the Peanuts Halloween Special definitely 18 00:01:29,120 --> 00:01:33,880 Speaker 1: fits that bill. It was written by Charles Scholz, produced 19 00:01:33,920 --> 00:01:39,160 Speaker 1: by Lee Mendelssohn, and directed by Bill Melendez. The network 20 00:01:39,280 --> 00:01:43,880 Speaker 1: didn't care which holiday the creators covered, so Shoals chose 21 00:01:43,959 --> 00:01:48,040 Speaker 1: Halloween as the subject. This was a fairly risky move 22 00:01:48,080 --> 00:01:51,840 Speaker 1: in the nineteen sixties, as most networks still didn't consider 23 00:01:51,920 --> 00:01:56,920 Speaker 1: Halloween to be popular enough to warrant its own TV specials, 24 00:01:56,960 --> 00:02:00,440 Speaker 1: but Scholz thought it was worth the risk because already 25 00:02:00,480 --> 00:02:04,480 Speaker 1: had a good Halloween theme story to pull from. Seven 26 00:02:04,560 --> 00:02:08,720 Speaker 1: years and one day before The Great Pumpkins debut on television, 27 00:02:09,080 --> 00:02:12,799 Speaker 1: the character made his first appearance in the Peanuts comic strip. 28 00:02:13,720 --> 00:02:17,640 Speaker 1: In a later interview, Shoals explained that he first thought 29 00:02:17,639 --> 00:02:21,400 Speaker 1: of the character while writing a storyline where Linus keeps 30 00:02:21,440 --> 00:02:27,720 Speaker 1: confusing Christmas traditions with Halloween. He said, quote, Linus is 31 00:02:27,760 --> 00:02:32,919 Speaker 1: a youngster to whom everything must have significance. Nothing is unimportant. 32 00:02:33,400 --> 00:02:36,680 Speaker 1: Christmas is a big holiday, and it has Santa Claus 33 00:02:36,760 --> 00:02:40,440 Speaker 1: as one of its symbols. Halloween is also a special 34 00:02:40,520 --> 00:02:43,120 Speaker 1: kind of day, so it ought to have some sort 35 00:02:43,160 --> 00:02:47,160 Speaker 1: of a Santa Claus also. This is what bothered Linus, 36 00:02:47,200 --> 00:02:50,240 Speaker 1: and as a matter of fact, it bothers me too. 37 00:02:50,720 --> 00:02:53,600 Speaker 1: So between us, we came up with the Great Pumpkin. 38 00:02:54,680 --> 00:02:58,360 Speaker 1: The Santa inspired legend. They came up with was that 39 00:02:58,440 --> 00:03:01,520 Speaker 1: the Great Pumpkin rise is from his pumpkin patch on 40 00:03:01,639 --> 00:03:05,560 Speaker 1: Halloween night and flies through the air, delivering gifts to 41 00:03:05,600 --> 00:03:09,320 Speaker 1: all the good children of the world. Now, of course, 42 00:03:09,440 --> 00:03:13,040 Speaker 1: free toys are always nice, but what Linus really seems 43 00:03:13,080 --> 00:03:15,960 Speaker 1: to be after is the approval of the Great Pumpkin, 44 00:03:16,400 --> 00:03:19,160 Speaker 1: who is said to appear only to those who wait 45 00:03:19,240 --> 00:03:24,040 Speaker 1: for him in the most Sincere Pumpkin Patch. Neither Linus 46 00:03:24,280 --> 00:03:28,080 Speaker 1: nor Shoals ever elaborate on what makes a pumpkin patch 47 00:03:28,200 --> 00:03:31,600 Speaker 1: more or less sincere, and the rest of the Peanuts 48 00:03:31,600 --> 00:03:36,040 Speaker 1: gang wisely don't raise the question. In the comic strip, 49 00:03:36,160 --> 00:03:38,960 Speaker 1: it suggested that Linus may not be the only one 50 00:03:39,000 --> 00:03:42,280 Speaker 1: who believes in the Great Pumpkin, but in the TV special, 51 00:03:42,400 --> 00:03:45,160 Speaker 1: he's very much alone in his faith, and the other 52 00:03:45,280 --> 00:03:48,880 Speaker 1: kids make sure he knows it. Linus may be the 53 00:03:48,960 --> 00:03:52,120 Speaker 1: only true follower of the Great Pumpkin, but there were 54 00:03:52,320 --> 00:03:55,000 Speaker 1: some people who thought he might be real in a 55 00:03:55,080 --> 00:03:59,880 Speaker 1: different way. Two years after the special first aired, Charles 56 00:04:00,000 --> 00:04:04,400 Speaker 1: Shoals revealed that he had received letters from numerous academics 57 00:04:04,480 --> 00:04:08,400 Speaker 1: asking where the Great Pumpkin myth had come from. The 58 00:04:08,480 --> 00:04:11,560 Speaker 1: scholars were convinced that it had to be based on 59 00:04:11,720 --> 00:04:16,000 Speaker 1: some real world legend. Shoals didn't have the heart to 60 00:04:16,040 --> 00:04:18,560 Speaker 1: tell them he made the whole thing up, so he 61 00:04:18,720 --> 00:04:23,479 Speaker 1: just suggested that they ask Lioness instead. The truth is 62 00:04:23,520 --> 00:04:26,680 Speaker 1: that Shoals conceived of The Great Pumpkin as a kind 63 00:04:26,720 --> 00:04:31,240 Speaker 1: of satire on Santa clause. The cartoonists didn't believe in 64 00:04:31,320 --> 00:04:36,159 Speaker 1: Santa and disliked the idea that unfortunate children must be 65 00:04:36,320 --> 00:04:41,200 Speaker 1: very disappointed when Santa inevitably fails to show up. The 66 00:04:41,279 --> 00:04:45,599 Speaker 1: Great Pumpkin is an expression of that cycle, serving as 67 00:04:45,640 --> 00:04:48,560 Speaker 1: both a symbol of hope and a source of disappointment 68 00:04:48,800 --> 00:04:52,719 Speaker 1: for Lioness. But it's worth noting that while some children 69 00:04:52,800 --> 00:04:56,640 Speaker 1: might lose faith in Santa like Shoals had, Linus is 70 00:04:56,760 --> 00:05:01,400 Speaker 1: undeterred when the Great Pumpkin fails to appear to him. 71 00:05:01,440 --> 00:05:04,520 Speaker 1: It's just a sign that next year he'll have to 72 00:05:04,560 --> 00:05:09,200 Speaker 1: find a pumpkin patch that's even more sincere. So far, 73 00:05:09,440 --> 00:05:11,800 Speaker 1: we've talked a lot about Lynus in The Great Pumpkin, 74 00:05:12,160 --> 00:05:14,640 Speaker 1: but there are plenty of other standout moments of the 75 00:05:14,680 --> 00:05:19,440 Speaker 1: special worth mentioning. For starters, there's the heartbreaking scene where 76 00:05:19,520 --> 00:05:23,200 Speaker 1: Charlie Brown discovers his candy bag is actually full of 77 00:05:23,279 --> 00:05:27,640 Speaker 1: rocks and that his neighbors are the true monsters. After 78 00:05:27,720 --> 00:05:31,760 Speaker 1: the special premiered, plenty of viewers shared poor Charlie Brown's 79 00:05:31,800 --> 00:05:35,840 Speaker 1: pain and wanted to make things right. Every Halloween for 80 00:05:35,920 --> 00:05:40,440 Speaker 1: years to come, Charles Shull's office in California was flooded 81 00:05:40,480 --> 00:05:44,520 Speaker 1: with bags and boxes of candy addressed to Charlie Brown. 82 00:05:45,440 --> 00:05:48,480 Speaker 1: Oh and apparently the ten year old boy who voiced 83 00:05:48,560 --> 00:05:52,000 Speaker 1: Charlie Brown also got rocks as a prank when he 84 00:05:52,040 --> 00:05:55,240 Speaker 1: went trick or treating that year, so hopefully someone sent 85 00:05:55,400 --> 00:05:59,240 Speaker 1: him some actual candy too. Another notable moment in the 86 00:05:59,279 --> 00:06:02,680 Speaker 1: show is Newpy's surreal adventure as a World War One 87 00:06:02,839 --> 00:06:06,279 Speaker 1: flying ace. In the comic strip, this was a well 88 00:06:06,400 --> 00:06:10,200 Speaker 1: established side of Snoopy's character, but the Halloween Special was 89 00:06:10,240 --> 00:06:12,359 Speaker 1: the first time viewers got to see one of his 90 00:06:12,520 --> 00:06:17,799 Speaker 1: doghouse dog fights in motion. And lastly, there's the scene 91 00:06:17,839 --> 00:06:21,839 Speaker 1: where Lucy pulls the football away from Charlie Brown. It's 92 00:06:21,839 --> 00:06:25,039 Speaker 1: one of the most famous gags in comic strip history, 93 00:06:25,080 --> 00:06:28,000 Speaker 1: and the Halloween Special marks the very first time it 94 00:06:28,080 --> 00:06:32,880 Speaker 1: appeared in animation, though it certainly wasn't the last It's 95 00:06:32,920 --> 00:06:36,320 Speaker 1: the Great Pumpkin. Charlie Brown was a massive success the 96 00:06:36,400 --> 00:06:39,960 Speaker 1: year it debuted, claiming nearly fifty percent of the viewing 97 00:06:40,000 --> 00:06:44,000 Speaker 1: audience for its time slot. The high ratings ensured there 98 00:06:44,000 --> 00:06:47,320 Speaker 1: would be many more Peanuts specials to come, though, if 99 00:06:47,360 --> 00:06:51,080 Speaker 1: you ask me, none have been quite as funny, charming, 100 00:06:51,560 --> 00:06:57,040 Speaker 1: or sincere as The Great Pumpkin. I'm Gay, Bluesier, and 101 00:06:57,160 --> 00:06:59,960 Speaker 1: hopefully you now know a little more about history today 102 00:07:00,360 --> 00:07:03,360 Speaker 1: than you did yesterday. If you'd like to keep up 103 00:07:03,400 --> 00:07:06,320 Speaker 1: with the show, you can follow us on Twitter, Facebook, 104 00:07:06,360 --> 00:07:09,840 Speaker 1: and Instagram at t d I h C Show, and 105 00:07:09,880 --> 00:07:12,480 Speaker 1: you can also write to us at this Day at 106 00:07:12,520 --> 00:07:16,760 Speaker 1: I heeart media dot com. Thanks as always to Channeler 107 00:07:16,840 --> 00:07:19,760 Speaker 1: Mays for producing the show, and thank you for listening. 108 00:07:20,240 --> 00:07:23,320 Speaker 1: I'll see you back here again tomorrow for another Spooky 109 00:07:23,440 --> 00:07:33,760 Speaker 1: Day in History class. For more podcasts from I Heart Radio, 110 00:07:33,920 --> 00:07:36,440 Speaker 1: visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or where ever 111 00:07:36,440 --> 00:07:37,680 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.