It’s officially October!
My absolute favorite time of the year, October is full of cooler temps, falling leaves, pumpkin everything, and–my favorite–all things spooky.
But, let’s be real. When I say “all things spooky,” I’m not talking about blood or gore or horror. I’m talking more about the nostalgic spooky of my childhood. Things like “Bugs Bunny’s Halloween Special” or “Casper the Friendly Ghost.” In other words, you’re more likely to find me watching “Ernest Scared Stupid” or “Hocus Pocus” than you are to find me watching one of the “Saw” movies or “Friday the 13th.”
Which is why my absolute favorite October tradition is “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.” You can’t get any more benignly “spooky” than that–just the way I like it. I can recite every line from memory, and my Halloween decor consists of many Great Pumpkin references (and even a Great Pumpkin sweatshirt that I wear way beyond the four weeks of October).
So, in honor of “The Great Pumpkin,” as well as the Peanuts gang itself, which got its start on this day back in 1950, when Charles M. Schultz’s comic strip debuted in just seven US newspapers, (it would eventually run in more than 2,600), here are a few facts you might not know about the seminal television classic:
1. Not everyone was a fan of Charlie Brown’s iconic “I got a rock” moment.
Producer Lee Mendelson told SFGATE, “I remember when Mr. Schulz suggested they drop a rock in the bag. I thought that was really cruel. [Animator] Bill Melendez said, ‘No! That’s funny, [but only if it’s] two or three times.’” Audiences had a strong reaction to Charlie Brown’s misfortune nonetheless, and for years after its premiere, sympathetic viewers sent candy to the show’s creators for Charlie Brown.
2. The young voice actors had trouble pronouncing some of the words.
Part of the charm of the Peanuts gang is the often “adult” words many of its child characters use. This was fine in the comic strips but posed a bit of a problem when actual children were brought in to voice the lines. The word “restitution” caused some problems for young Kathy Steinberg, who played the voice of Sally. During the scene when Sally yells at the pumpkin patch, “I demand restitution!” Mendelson recalled that Steinberg had to pronounce the tough word syllabically, and the team was had to splice the clips together. The end result of “res-ti-tu-tion'” actually ended up being quite charming, however.
3. A loose tooth almost derailed the show.
Speaking of Steinburg, the young actress developed a loose front tooth halfway through filming. For fear of a lisp ruining the uniformity of Sally’s voice, the six-year-old was rushed to the studio that night to complete her lines. Her tooth fell out the next day.
4. And that wasn’t the only issue with the child actors….
Anne Altieri, who portrayed both Violet and Frieda, was so nervous to be part of the show that she threw up every time she was done with a recording session.
5. Despite its wholesome plot, the Great Pumpkin is actually a metaphor for something deeper.
Charles Schulz has stated in interviews that the character of Linus, who is central to the plot of “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown,” is representative of the cartoonist’s spiritual side. Schulz’s wife Jean says that although the show’s storyline is simple and innocent, its underlying message has come to mean that hope prevails. “I think as he wrote it,” she says, “they realized that [Linus’] face is the same face that people wait for Santa Claus with and is the same face that we all employ when we step out the door. It’s a hope and a trust and a faith.”
And that’s why, every year, I hang on a sign on my front door that read simply:
“I believe in the Great Pumpkin.”
Happy October, everyone!
