Skip to main content

It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown






A few days ago, my girls and I sat together in the living room and watched It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown.  I have seen this charming special countless times over the years and have enjoyed it immensely.  There was something special about this viewing that I wanted to talk about in this blog.

Peanuts was the brainchild of Charles Schultz, who had first created Peanuts as a comic strip in 1950 and it ran daily until 2000.  Schultz was contacted about making his Peanuts Gang into several holiday specials through the years.  It's The Great Pumpkin, A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, and A Charlie Brown Christmas are Hoff Family favorites.

Anyone who knows me knows immediately knows that I connect to music.  (see my last two blogs)  In the recent years, I have paid more attention to the music in background.  Scored, crafted, and performed by Vince Guaraldi.  He is the one who wrote the Peanuts Theme entitled Linus and Lucy and that wonderful theme is the hallmark of the Peanuts Gang.  I can honestly say that I developed a love of jazz music because of Vince.  He manages to incorporate jazz elements into his music, and create a familiarity with each listen.

I was delighted to find the full soundtrack of the special in YouTube.  One song, Snoopy and the Leaf has always captured my attention.  Snoopy blows a falling leaf into a leaf pile, aided by the fancy footwork of a flute player, expertly demonstrating the flight of the leaf in the air with soaring notes.  Another standout tune is The Great Pumpkin Waltz.  Its gentle, lilting presence captures Linus' innocent heart as he writes a letter to The Great Pumpkin.  Other terrific cues are The Graveyard Theme, which plays over the title sequence and Breathless, which chronicles Snoopy's journey as a World War One Flying Ace.





Great Pumpkin appeals to the kids and the kid at heart.  How the children interact with once anther is expertly captured by Schultz and it still stands the test of time today.  One of my favorite bits was when Lucy told the other kids that in order for a costume to be effective, you have to choose a costume that is direct contrast to your personality.  She then slips on a Witch hat and mask.  Sarah sat and laughed that comedic bit.  Seeing her get the joke was a highlight for me!




It amazes me that there is still dialogue that we catch with each viewing that we didn't notice before.  For example, when Sally first joins Linus in the pumpkin patch, he asks is she wants to sing Pumpkin Carols.  That line elicited some belly laughs from all of us!



Whether you have seen this cartoon a million times or just now viewing it for the first time, it's magic will captured and enchant you.  Go relive some moments by seeing it again on YouTube.

To listen to the main theme, click here.

To catch the full soundtrack for The Great Pumpkin, click here.





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Expose'-Exposure

                            Sometimes, people play with love, falling in love is just a game..... Picture this:  1984.  Girl bands and groups on the radio were nothing new.  Madonna, The Pointer Sisters, the Bangles, and Lisa Lisa and the Cult Jam were just a smattering of female artists that ruled the airwaves with their unique hits.  However, 1984 was the year that introduced a new style of music called Freestyle (a singable chorus, drum machines, and keyboard solos),  and it was performed by a group of three ladies calling themselves Expose'.  This hot new female band consisted of an eclectic mix of women:  Ann Curless, Gioia Bruno (pronounced Joy-a) and Jeanette Jurado.  These women went on to define an era of dance music and set records in the music industry that are tough to beat even today.  This blog will focus on the singles released from their smash, Lat...
Post a Comment
Read more

Pointer Sisters-Break Out

If you were growing up in the 70's and 80's, and listening to the radio, the Pointer Sisters were ubiquitous; their songs saturated the airwaves.  There was not a time that I didn't enjoy one of their many hits, and this blog will focus on the singles of  their Triple Platinum album Break out . When the Pointers were recording songs for what would become Break Out , they were already stars in their own right.  They had a Grammy to their name for Best Country Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group for a song that they wrote called Fairytale .  They had amassed several gold singles and gold albums, and they had a massive hits in the early 80's with songs like He's So Shy and Slow Hand . The album, prior to Break Out,  was entitled So Excited.   The first single off the album was the snoozer American Music , which charted in the Pop Top Twenty.  The song's sluggish performance  affected the second single that was released enti...
5 comments
Read more

Pointer Sisters-Contact

Thanks to the stratospheric success of the album Break Out , The Pointer Sisters were the hottest female R&B band in the US, and were on an undeniable roll.  It goes without saying that when a group had a mega hit with an album, the public and record label executives expect a major followup.  The Pointers were more then capable and ready to deliver just that. Even as Ruth Pointer's lead vocals saturated the radio airwaves with Neutron Dance , she joined her sisters Anita and June to start recording songs for the next album.  The Pointers had an ace in the hole with their record producer Richard Perry.  Perry, in his infinite wisdom, wanted to replicate the success of Break Out .  The best way to do it was to invite back the writers that turned out such hits as Automatic , Jump (For My Love) , and Neutron Dance .  In addition, Richard had heard that a new group of guys that had recently formed Mr. Mister and liked some of their demos that the...
Post a Comment
Read more