Long before Tim Burton’s “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” Linus and Charlie Brown argued the relative merits of October and December holidays in “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.”
Now 40 years old, “The Great Pumpkin” wears just as amiably as the beloved “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” It’s 26 minutes of yearning, philosophizing and childhood exploration. Few artists have ever understood the intertwined joys and frustrations of growing up the way the late cartoonist Charles Schulz clearly did.
The Peanuts gang shuffles to and fro in a magical autumn landscape, the purple-bruised sky of late fall enveloping their adult-free neighborhood. Linus waits for the Great Pumpkin to rise and bring toys to good boys and girls, while Snoopy fights the Red Baron and Charlie collects nothing but rocks during trick-or-treat.
What’s striking is how much “South Park” borrows from Peanuts – kids trying to figure out a baffling world on their own terms.
Perhaps your family has the world’s most sincere pumpkin patch. If not, you can get lucky in October anyway by renting this classic.
Each Tuesday, Michael Booth uncovers a movie gem for rewarding family entertainment. Reach him at mbooth@denverpost.com; find the “Screen Team” blog at denverpostbloghouse.com.
