Peanuts Producer Weighs in on Getting a Great Pumpkin or Christmas Special Sequels (Exclusive)

No holiday season feels complete without watching the Peanuts specials It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, or A Charlie Brown Christmas, but the impact of those specials from decades ago has prevented the franchise from returning to those beloved holidays for fresh takes on the premises. Craig Schulz, son of creator Charles Schulz and producer on new Peanuts specials, recently confirmed that he and his collaborators have discussed the possibility of delivering new specials centered around these holidays, but they know how revered those stories and that the Peanuts team finds ways to explore the margins of traditions for new adventures. The latest Peanuts special, Snoopy Presents: One-of-a-Kind Marcie, premieres on Apple TV+ on August 18th.

“In all those cases, it’s led to extensive conversations between myself, my son, our group here in Santa Rosa, which consists of over 20 people, and what we think is right or wrong,” Schulz shared with ComicBook.com about delivering new specials honoring Halloween or Christmas. “And we have had ideas for a Christmas special, but the three biggies — Christmas, Pumpkin, and Thanksgiving — are so sacrosanct, we just won’t touch anything near that. But we weren’t afraid to go on the edges, so we thought about that. But we like the road we’re going down right now rather than just trying to play off something like that. So we’ll see where it ends up.”

He continued, “New Year’s is a good example. We did [Snoopy Presents: For Auld Lang Syne], which is a play on New Year’s. And New Year’s had been done probably at least twice in the past, in the animation specials. So it was a different take on that, and I think it added a lot of emotion that maybe the original one didn’t necessarily have. It was a good story, but I think we tried to bring emotion to it, and that’s what my son Brian just really, really hammers home. If there’s not emotion, let’s not do it. And he just drives it on every single line, basically, which is good.”

The new Peanuts special is described, “Sometimes the people who make the biggest difference, aren’t the ones who grab the spotlight. In Snoopy Presents: One-of-a-Kind Marcie, we get to see first-hand how our lovable introvert, Marcie, makes a monumental difference from behind the scenes both for her friends and her community. To train for the school golf championship, Marcie assists Peppermint Patty as her caddie, offering thoughtful and deliberate advice to help her win. Meanwhile, after coming up with brilliant solutions to her classmates’ problems — from hallway traffic jams to lunchtime pizza shortages — Marcie is unexpectedly elected as class president…a role she never wanted. Suddenly thrust into the spotlight, Marcie struggles to cope with the expectations of her new job and retreats as far from the public eye as possible. As the golf championship begins, Marcie is still in hiding and Peppermint Patty is forced to tee off with Charlie Brown filling in as her caddie. But after some wise advice and a little introspection, Marcie realizes she can still make a difference for her friends and the school — she’ll just have to buck other people’s expectations and do it her own unique way.”

Snoopy Presents: One-of-a-Kind Marcie premieres on Apple TV+ on August 18th. Stay tuned for updates on the future of the Peanuts franchise.

Would you like to see a new special focusing on these iconic holidays? Let us know in the comments!