It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1966)

We’re going to keep the trend going and look at a short film today for our featured Letterboxd List review. That’s right, what better way to kick off the month of October than with entry number 73 on the Top 250 Highest Rated Short Films…It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1966).

Title: It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

Director: Bill Melendez

Runtime: 25 minutes

Released: October 27, 1966 (United States television)

Available on: AppleTV+

When you think of Halloween, what’s the first thing that comes to mind?

Candy? Costumes? Scary movies?

Well, if you’re Linus, it’s the Great Pumpkin. That’s right, the Great Pumpkin is to Halloween as Santa is to Christmas for Linus. His plans for Halloween are to wait in the pumpkin patch, certain that the Great Pumpkin will come and visit.

Seems like that would be enough to fill the runtime of twenty-five minutes, right? Well, possibly, but we are also treated to two additional subplots.

We have Lucy, Pigpen, Sally, and Charlie Brown all heading out to go trick-or-treating along with the misfortunes of Charlie Brown at each house. Additionally, we have Snoopy becoming a flying ace as he battles the Red Baron. There are even a few instances where the plotlines blend into one another.

Yes, it touches on denominational differences, in this case the differences just happen to be Christmas and Halloween. But it is done in a subtle way that doesn’t ever distract from the story.

Overall, It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1966) is always an enjoyable watch for me. Whether you’ve seen it one time or a million times, go and watch it again.

A perfect way to start October and begin the countdown to the Great Pumpkin.

So, what are your thoughts on It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1966)?

Let me know in the comments below or by reaching out to me on social media!