The Best 'Peanuts' Great Pumpkin Comic Strip Came Out 2 Years Before the Famous TV Special

In 1966, the iconic television special It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown premiered on CBS. In this heartwarming tale, Charlie Brown and the rest of the Peanuts gang partake in usual Halloween activities, such as trick-or-treating and pumpkin carving, save for one character named Linus. Instead of joining in on the fun, Linus devoted his attention to a mythical entity known as the “Great Pumpkin.”

According to Linus, “Each year, the Great Pumpkin rises out of the pumpkin patch that he believes is the most sincere,” subsequently distributing gifts to the children eagerly awaiting his arrival. Throughout the special, Linus pens letters to the Great Pumpkin and attempts to convince others of its existence, all while spending Halloween night in a pumpkin patch.

However, despite his unwavering belief, the Great Pumpkin never appears to him. For those unfamiliar with Linus and the Great Pumpkin, that may be the extent of their knowledge, but devoted readers of the Peanuts comic strip are aware of the extensive backstory surrounding this whimsical character. The Great Pumpkin made its first appearance in a Peanuts comic strip on October 26, 1959.

At that time, Linus was drafting a letter to the Great Pumpkin when Lucy, one of the characters, inquired, “What in the world are you doing?” Linus replied, “Don’t you know? This is the time of year when we all write to the ‘Great Pumpkin’ and tell him what we want for Halloween. The ‘Great Pumpkin’ adores little children. I can envision him now, emerging from the pumpkin patch with his ample bag of toys!”

However, Lucy simply stared at him, completely bewildered. In the following days, Charles Schulz, the creator of Peanuts, released a series of similar strips featuring Linus passionately discussing the Great Pumpkin, while Charlie Brown stared in disbelief. Eventually, Charlie Brown remarked, “You’re crazy.” Despite the Great Pumpkin never materializing or responding to any letters, Charlie Brown and Lucy taunted Linus about it after Halloween.

For several years, Schulz continued the tradition, having Linus write letters to the Great Pumpkin and proclaim his anticipation of its arrival. In 1960, Linus convinced Charlie Brown to join him in the pumpkin patch, and Charlie Brown asked a thought-provoking question. “It just struck me that there must be ten million pumpkin patches in this country… What makes you think we’re in the right one?”

The humorous portrayal of Linus’ belief continued into 1961, with Linus citing the historical record for Great Pumpkin appearances. He mentioned that in 1959, the Great Pumpkin showed up in Boots Rutman’s pumpkin patch in Connecticut, and in 1960, it appeared in R.W. Daniels’ pumpkin patch in Texas. These specific anecdotes added a touch of humor to the strips, and many of the Great Pumpkin comic strips preceding the special made their way into the script for the television special.

One particularly amusing strip depicted Linus explaining to Lucy that he had to believe in the Great Pumpkin, having already sent out 57 pumpkin cards. He proclaimed, “It would be economically disastrous for me not to believe it!” It came as a surprise to find that Linus successfully converted Lucy to Great Pumpkinism in 1962. Lucy even established her own pumpkin patch in hopes of attracting the Great Pumpkin and receiving a multitude of gifts.

However, Linus revealed to Lucy that her pumpkin patch was hypocritical, likely due to her greed, which prompted her to abandon the pumpkin patch and sell her pumpkins instead. Delving into the October Peanuts archives and reading a series of Great Pumpkin comic strips consecutively creates two distinct effects. Firstly, for individuals who have watched the television special numerous times but have not read these strips before, it feels as though they are uncovering deleted scenes from the special.

It's a delightful experience to witness Linus trying different methods to convince his friends about the Great Pumpkin's existence and the various ways they find him ridiculous. Secondly, the strips give Linus a somewhat different persona. In the special, he appears to simply have a quirky belief, but the comic strips portray him as an obsessive fanatic, enhancing the humor surrounding the Great Pumpkin.

This realization becomes particularly amusing when reading all the Peanuts comics from October 1964 in one sitting. Typically, Schulz featured Great Pumpkin-themed strips a few days before Halloween, usually not exceeding a week. However, that year, he took a unique approach. On October 5, 1964, Schulz initiated a multi-week storyline centered around Linus running for class president, an election year event.

The storyline was timely, occurring just a month away from the presidential election. For two consecutive weeks, the comic strip focused primarily on Linus' political campaign. He delivered compelling, even revolutionary speeches, garnering the support of his classmates. Linus seemed poised to win the election when, on October 21, Schulz and Linus took an unexpected turn.

While delivering his final speech before the election, Linus brought up the Great Pumpkin, effectively ending his political aspirations. Although the strip can be understood independently as Linus running for office and how one extreme political stance or misstep can jeopardize a candidate's chances, the fact that Schulz devoted two weeks to ignoring the Great Pumpkin before making it the central focus is quite amusing.