59 years ago today, Peanuts sparked a whole new Halloween season tradition with the premiere of It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, but it’s much harder to watch now than it was through the decades thanks to changes from the streaming era. Charles M. Schulz’s Peanuts franchise has become a major icon in pop culture ever since the original comic strip made its debut decades ago, and part of that success comes from the many animated specials that sparked from it. Because not only did they air on broadcast television every year since their premiere, their timeless quality means they never really aged either.
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On October 27, 1966, It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown made its broadcast debut with CBS, and had been steadily airing on televisions every year in the decades since. But thanks to some streaming and rights shake ups in the 2020s, it’s much tougher to watch if you don’t have access to the Apple TV+ streaming service. Which means it also has unfortunately lost some of that magic that helped it to become such an icon in the past few decades since its premiere.
It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown Started a Whole New Halloween Tradition
It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown was the second of the Peanuts holiday specials ever released, and the third animated film for the franchise overall. Set during the night of Halloween, the main focus of the special is on Linus as he writes a letter to the titular Great Pumpkin. Although the other kids make fun of him, Linus is adamant that this mysterious figure would appear to him in a pumpkin patch on Halloween night and grant his wish. Thus he decides to spend the night waiting as Charlie Brown’s younger sister Sally decides to stick around and wait with him.
Naturally, the Great Pumpkin never does arrive and Linus is left waiting until 4AM for something to happen. But despite the failure, Linus himself is undeterred and is ready to wait again next year despite how much Charlie Brown tries to get him to accept the truth. It’s another example of Linus’ unwavering faith in magical things like this as seen during A Charlie Brown Christmas before, but taken to a comedic new level. It’s something that had aired yearly with CBS for decades before the rights were bought by Apple and changed the special’s trajectory forever.
How the Streaming Era Changed Charlie Brown
Following its acquisition of the entire Peanuts animated film library back in 2020, Apple TV+ has now locked down the streaming rights for It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown and more through to 2030. While it’s now easy to access whenever you want, Apple TV+ has certainly taken some of the spark out of what made these Peanuts specials so special. These were a yearly occurring broadcast that helped to commemorate the holiday, and helped bring in the season for TV viewers everywhere. But with the shift away from broadcast TV, these once easily (and affordably accessed) children’s programs are now being kept behind a paywall.
They used to be specials that anyone could watch as long as they had access to some kind of linear television, and didn’t require a cable or internet hook up to watch. But now that it’s walled behind Apple TV+, only those who pay for the service will be able to keep up the tradition. After decades of being such a Halloween staple, it’s now just another one of the many franchises barred off into different streaming platforms. There’s something a bit sad about all of that.
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Image courtesy of Focus Features.
