The Great Pumpkin is an unseen character in the comic strip Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz. According to Linus van Pelt, the Great Pumpkin is a supernatural figure who rises from the pumpkin patch on Halloween evening, and flies around bringing toys to sincere and believing children. Linus continues to have faith in the Great Pumpkin, despite his friends' mockery and disbelief. The Great Pumpkin was first mentioned in the strip on October 26, 1959.
Every year, Linus sits in a pumpkin patch (a place Linus believes is the most sincere and lacking in hypocrisy) on Halloween night waiting for the Great Pumpkin to appear. Invariably, the Great Pumpkin fails to turn up, but a humiliated yet undefeated Linus stubbornly vows to wait for him again the following Halloween. Linus acknowledges the similarities between the Great Pumpkin and Santa Claus, the existence of which Linus considers to be ambiguous (in the television special, Linus tells Charlie Brown he'll stop believing in the Great Pumpkin when Charlie Brown stops believing in Santa Claus, while writing to the Great Pumpkin that Santa Claus has better publicity). Charlie Brown attributes Linus's belief in the Great Pumpkin to "denominational differences". Linus is faithful to the belief of the Great Pumpkin, even creating a Great Pumpkin magazine at one point.
The Great Pumpkin was first mentioned by Linus in Peanuts in 1959, and Schulz reworked the premise many times throughout the run of the strip. It inspired the 1966 animated television special It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown and had brief mentions in You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown (1972) (by which Linus almost blows his chances in a school election); It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown (1974) in which Sally expresses her concerns about the Easter Beagle's reality to Linus, citing her previous experience with the non appearance of the Great Pumpkin; and You're a Good Sport, Charlie Brown (1975), wherein Linus enters the pumpkin patch to make a makeshift motorcycle helmet for Charlie Brown for a motocross race, with Charlie being teased as being the Great Pumpkin by some race fans. It was also briefly referenced in The Peanuts Movie (2015), where Linus says he hopes the new kid in town, later revealed as the Little Red-Haired Girl, would be willing to believe in it. The best-known quote regarding Linus and the Great Pumpkin, originally from the comic strip but made famous by the TV special, is: "There are three things I have learned never to discuss with people: religion, politics, and the Great Pumpkin."
While Schulz usually avoided outright politics, he enjoyed his Great Pumpkin strips and incorporating religious references in many comics and animated cartoons.
Although the Great Pumpkin is supposedly believed in only by Linus, the strips of October 29 and November 1, 1961 make mention of claimed officially reported Great Pumpkin sightings in Connecticut, Texas and New Jersey.
Subject ID: 76826
MoreThe Great Pumpkin is an unseen character in the comic strip Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz. According to Linus van Pelt, the Great Pumpkin is a supernatural figure who rises from the pumpkin patch on Halloween evening, and flies around bringing toys to sincere and believing children. Linus continues to have faith in the Great Pumpkin, despite his friends' mockery and disbelief. The Great Pumpkin was first mentioned in the strip on October 26, 1959.
Every year, Linus sits in a pumpkin patch (a place Linus believes is the most sincere and lacking in hypocrisy) on Halloween night waiting for the Great Pumpkin to appear. Invariably, the Great Pumpkin fails to turn up, but a humiliated yet undefeated Linus stubbornly vows to wait for him again the following Halloween. Linus acknowledges the similarities between the Great Pumpkin and Santa Claus, the existence of which Linus considers to be ambiguous (in the television special, Linus tells Charlie Brown he'll stop believing in the Great Pumpkin when Charlie Brown stops believing in Santa Claus, while writing to the Great Pumpkin that Santa Claus has better publicity). Charlie Brown attributes Linus's belief in the Great Pumpkin to "denominational differences". Linus is faithful to the belief of the Great Pumpkin, even creating a Great Pumpkin magazine at one point.
The Great Pumpkin was first mentioned by Linus in Peanuts in 1959, and Schulz reworked the premise many times throughout the run of the strip. It inspired the 1966 animated television special It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown and had brief mentions in You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown (1972) (by which Linus almost blows his chances in a school election); It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown (1974) in which Sally expresses her concerns about the Easter Beagle's reality to Linus, citing her previous experience with the non appearance of the Great Pumpkin; and You're a Good Sport, Charlie Brown (1975), wherein Linus enters the pumpkin patch to make a makeshift motorcycle helmet for Charlie Brown for a motocross race, with Charlie being teased as being the Great Pumpkin by some race fans. It was also briefly referenced in The Peanuts Movie (2015), where Linus says he hopes the new kid in town, later revealed as the Little Red-Haired Girl, would be willing to believe in it. The best-known quote regarding Linus and the Great Pumpkin, originally from the comic strip but made famous by the TV special, is: "There are three things I have learned never to discuss with people: religion, politics, and the Great Pumpkin."
While Schulz usually avoided outright politics, he enjoyed his Great Pumpkin strips and incorporating religious references in many comics and animated cartoons.
Although the Great Pumpkin is supposedly believed in only by Linus, the strips of October 29 and November 1, 1961 make mention of claimed officially reported Great Pumpkin sightings in Connecticut, Texas and New Jersey.
Subject ID: 76826
Subject ID: 76826