One of my favorite Halloween traditions is watching It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.
We have the special on tape, but there's something extra-special about
snuggling in to watch it with the rest of America on network television.
Just to make it more of an event, the special is often coupled with a
second; this year, it was You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown, which has more in common with the Halloween special than one might think.
While Great Pumpkin takes place primarily on Halloween itself, You're Not Elected
is set slightly earlier in October, making it seasonally appropriate
for Halloween, as well as upcoming Election Day. Nobody seems to be
paying much attention to that this year, but when it ran last year, it
seemed especially fitting. Both specials focus primarily on Linus, which
surprised me a bit the first time I watched this. Given the title, I
figured it would focus on Charlie Brown's attempts to get elected. But
while he briefly considers running, he abandons any thought of candidacy
when Lucy's early poll reveals a complete lack of support. Linus has a
much better shot, if only because Lucy is more eager to threaten
physical violence on her brother's behalf, so Linus is the one stuck in
the spotlight while his sister and friends campaign to get him as much
recognition as possible.
You're Not Elected offers some
sly commentary on the political process, emphasizing the importance of
publicity and strong oratory skills and the dangers of mixing politics
and religion. It's no surprise that precocious Linus is a gifted
speaker, and one particularly rousing speech recalls Marc Antony's
"Friends, Romans, countrymen" spiel. But when he lets his passion for
the Great Pumpkin leak into his platform... Well, that's problematic.
What's more, Schulz seems to speak through disillusioned Sally when she
declares that campaigns are nothing but empty promises and that once
elected, officials are bound to just sell out to The Man.
Lucy
is her usual abrasive self in this special, but she channels her energy
in positive directions, and she and Charlie Brown make a surprisingly
good team. Meanwhile, there's a recurring bit with Snoopy, in his Joe
Cool guise, trying to pass himself off as a member of the student body.
He even has his own jazzy theme song performed by Vince Guaraldi to
match the persona. Those scenes aren't as dynamic as his Flying Ace
fantasies, and it's strange to have all the action taking place at
school, so detached from the landmarks of Charlie Brown's yard. But his
contributions are always fun. Other characters like Sally, Schroeder and
Violet have minor roles to play.
This special came out in 1972,
seven years after the first, so it's not the original Charlie Brown
voice cast, but they all sound convincing in their roles, especially
Stephen Shea, who took over the role of Linus for his brother
Christopher. The special ends rather abruptly, and in a different way
than I might have expected. But it feels like an appropriate ending, one
of mingled triumph and defeat. Every accomplishment in the Peanuts
world seems to come tinged with disappointment, every let-down with a
silver lining. Linus is probably my favorite of the human Peanuts
characters, so I was happy to root for him for half an hour, even
though he'd spent the half hour before it waiting fruitlessly for the
Great Pumpkin. Win or lose, it's rewarding to watch Linus and his
supporters make the effort.
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