This October 27, the iconic Halloween-themed special “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” will celebrate its 50th anniversary. It is a big part of the pop culture, and series such as The Simpsons and Supernatural have portrayed “The Great Pumpkin” in their Halloween-themed chapters.
“The Great Pumpkin” was first mentioned in the Peanuts comic strip back in 1959. It is considered an important figure for Halloween and believed as the “Charlie Brown Religion.” According to the Peanuts fans, the holiday and the figure are celebrated by singing pumpkin carols on Halloween.
After rumors saying that the special and “The Great Pumpkin” figure is a criticism or a parody of the Christian Evangelism religion, Peanuts creator, Schulz, stated that the sense and the purpose of the special were misunderstood.
Peanuts: A pop culture icon
Peanuts started as a comic strip created by Charles M. Schulz, and it first appeared in newspapers on October 2, 1950. During its first decade, it only appeared in comic strips but gained a lot of success, having more than 300 million readers around the world.
By 1961, Schulz partnered with the animator Bill Melendez, and they thought about taking Peanuts to the television. Two years later, Peanuts first appeared on the TV screen with a different name: “A boy named Charlie Brown.” The animated sequence was released on CBS network.
Two years after its first appearance on TV, Schulz and Melendez made its first holiday-themed special called “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” sponsored by the CocaCola Company. The special was first launched on December 9, 1965.
On October 27, 1966, “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” was premiered, after 16 years of success of Peanuts in the comic strips and three specials aired on TV. Then, It was aired every year on Halloween until the 2000.
After that, Peanuts was both showed in the comic strips and TV all over the world, becoming part of every generation and more famous than ever.
One day after its creator died on February 12, 2000, Peanuts last comic strip was released. To the comic strip, a letter from Schulz was attached where he talked about his retirement after 50 years of Peanuts.
On November 6, 2015, Peanuts was first taken to the big screen with a 3D movie called “The Peanuts Movie.” The story of the film was written by the Brian and Craig Schulz, sons of Charles M. Schulz.
Source: ABC