It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown! premiered on CBS on this day 60 years ago. The special itself needs no introduction, but it was a lot more popular than you probably realize. Roughly 50 million homes tuned in to watch the miserable—er, I mean, “heartwarming” misadventures of Charlie Brown and the gang. It marked the first animated appearance of Snoopy as the famous World War I Flying Ace, and solidified “The Great Pumpkin” into pop culture lingo for eternity.
You’ve all seen it. Countless times. However, you’ve possibly never seen the whole thing, as the broadcast version as we know it…is trimmed. You see, Great Pumpkin was brought to you by “the people in your town who bottle Coca-Cola,” and “the folks who bake Dolly Madison cakes.” As such, the opening titles included references to the sponsors, complete with unique animation.
And it wasn’t just the intro that was cut short. Ever notice how Great Pumpkin kind of ends abruptly during the end credits? Well, that’s because the brands were originally repeated there as well. Unfortunately, finding a quality upload of this is extremely difficult. Good luck hearing whatever the hell Linus is ranting and raving about here! Although I think it’s an orange creature who he just so happens to be blindly glazing before the November elections. Stupid Linus.
Sadly these portions of the special were removed from future broadcasts and subsequently all home video releases. This was because Coca-Cola famously went out of business the following year, and no one has bothered to check if Dolly Madison cakes are sold anymore. Also, Charlie “I hate how commercialized Christmas is” Brown is a fucking two-faced hypocritical blockhead. You may be complain about capitalism publicly, Chuck, but you’re more than happy to sell out to a soft drink empire to pay the bills.
All jokes aside, it’s a real bummer It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown! is no longer broadcast on television, and now calls Apple its streaming home/prison. Holiday specials are cross-generational. They are what future generations inherit from us and subsequently bind us together as a culture. Think of how many children over the decades have grown up loving Peanuts because their parents shared it with them. I do genuinely wonder if that will be lost now, with Snoopy being stuck on a streaming platform primarily targeted towards adults. We are losing the sacred texts. Good grief indeed.
Have the power tonight, y’all! Be safe, be well, be you!