Every autumn, as the leaves begin to change, painting the wild New England hills with a beautiful array of warm colors and as the farmers begin to harvest the last of their crops, we all prepare for one of the greatest times of year; beginning to come inside from the summer heat and come together as we wait out the frigid cold, preparing for the several holidays to come. I love this time of year for many reasons, but one of my favorite parts of this season is the return of one of my favorite traditions, watching the Peanuts holiday specials.
For the unaware, the Peanuts holiday specials are animated short films made for television in the 1960s and 70s, based on the characters from the Peanuts comic strip by Charles M Schulz. The Peanuts was a comic strip that ran for 50 years, and in my opinion, has cemented itself as the greatest comic strip of all time. Featuring an incredible cast of characters, including cultural icons such as Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and Woodstock, the comic does an excellent job at both appealing to young children and to adults, by making simple jokes yet also commentating on life and living as an adult. For example, in the very first strip ever printed, the first three panels of the strip depict Charlie Brown in the background walking to and past Shermy and Patty while Shermy repeatedly says “Here comes good ol’ Charlie Brown!”, which is followed by the next panel, in which Charlie Brown leaves the frame while Shermy says “How I hate him!”.
The television specials run with this idea, perfectly capturing the essence of the strip. They also take advantage of the extra time they had compared to a daily syndicated strip; allowing them to expand on the world of the strip, adding beautiful, immersive backgrounds and running gags not possible in a four-panel strip, like Charlie Brown getting a rock at every house he goes to while trick-or-treating. This wonderful visual experience is completed with a soundtrack from the most underrated jazz pianist of the late 20th century, Vince Guaraldi. Guaraldi spent the final 12 years of his life composing the soundtracks for these specials from 1964 to 1976, and made some of my favorite classical jazz albums of all time (including the only Christmas album acceptable to listen to outside of that season), on the same caliber as Duke Ellington and John Coltrane. These visuals, combined with Guaraldi’s music, create a setting and emotion that is geographically agnostic. Whether you are from New England, California, Minnesota, or anywhere else in North America, it feels like any of these stories could have happened in your childhood backyard.
While all the specials do this excellently, there is one that stands above the rest; that being It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!. The special has two main plots that are both written perfectly to celebrate Halloween. The main plot focuses on Linus, who decides to spend Halloween night in a pumpkin patch waiting for the Great Pumpkin, a Santa-esque figure that only he believes in. The second plot focuses on the rest of the gang and the World War I flying ace (Curse you, Red Baron!) as they go trick-or-treating before going to a Halloween party. This special is one of the best short films of all time, as all of the main characters are thoroughly explored throughout the story. It is also paired with some of Vince Guaraldi’s best works, including The Great Pumpkin Waltz.
To view these films, all of the major ones can be found on Apple TV (along with some created after Schulz’s death, which I find insulting to his legacy), and a collection of the specials made in the 1960s can be found for free on the Internet Archive.
