Eager to repeat the success of 1965's A Charlie Brown Christmas, CBS instructed director Bill Melendez, producer Lee Mendelson, and writer/creator Charles M. Schulz to craft another Peanuts holiday special that they could rebroadcast year after year indefinitely. Mendelson pushed Halloween as the next logical step and, after bringing back most of the original voice cast and musician Vince Guaraldi, the team produced another seasonal perennial. Freely adapted from one of Schulz's storylines in the Peanuts newspaper comic, It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown was a ratings smash that quickly attained a stature in pop culture comparable to its yuletide predecessor.
Ryan is joined by Cheryl for a deconstruction of this beloved icon of spooky season. Discussion topics include the relatability of disappointment, why Schulz refused to ever resolve the longstanding conflicts in the Peanuts universe, the history behind Halloween's gradual ascension in the public eye (and how Charlie Brown helped shape that), why Snoopy gradually became more and more anthropomorphic as Peanuts evolved, and how The Great Pumpkin serves as a metaphor for both belief in Santa and also God.
