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It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown [31 DVDs of Halloween]

by | Oct 21, 2012 | Stuff I Watch | 0 comments

Today’s DVD pick shouldn’t really be surprising to anyone. If you’ve been following along with the countdown, you know I’ve teased it several times already. It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown is the definitive animated Halloween special and its appearance on my countdown was inevitable. The only reason it hasn’t appeared sooner is because I was waiting for a nice, brisk Fall day with lots of colorful leaves on the ground to take these photos.

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown - Front Cover

As someone who was born and grew up in the 80’s, it’s hard to believe this special was made back in 1966. It’s just as relateable and relevant to kids today as it ever was. I imagine one day my own kids (when I eventually get around to having some) will watch this for the very first time and it will become part of their Halloween tradition too. It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown is, in a word, timeless (overlooking Sally’s “welcome to the 20th century” remark, that is).

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown - Back Cover

One of my favorite things about this Halloween special (which goes for all Peanuts specials, really) has to be the music. Vince Guaraldi’s tranquil jazz is a permanent fixture of all my holiday soundtracks. I also love the muted autumn color palette and texture of the cloudy night sky. The scenes where Snoopy explores the countryside as the World War I Flying Ace are among my favorites.

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown - DVD

Though I still maintain that I like Garfield’s Halloween Adventure better, it just doesn’t feel like Halloween until I’ve seen The Great Pumpkin. I don’t think I’ve ever gone a single Halloween without watching it. It’s an odd thing, watching something over and over again every year just to usher in a holiday, isn’t it? We all know exactly how the story goes. We know that Charlie Brown is never going to kick that football. We know that Linus, despite having the most sincere pumpkin patch as far as the eye can see, will never get to meet The Great Pumpkin. Like a favorite bedtime story, I look forward to hearing it every year.

“I got a rock.”

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hY-FaTuuglo

Spooky Screenshots

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

What is 31 DVDs of Halloween?

As a spe­cial fea­ture for the Hal­loween Count­down, I’m show­cas­ing 31 Hal­loween DVDs from my per­sonal col­lec­tion. I have a lot of Halloween-related and hor­ror DVDs in gen­eral, but for this year’s count­down I’m only going to focus on my absolute favorites–the ones I con­sider 100% essen­tial for my enjoy­ment of the holiday.