It’s Halloween night and i’ve just finished observing my favorite Halloween tradition. I was watching It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.
Why do i love this cartoon? It’s because of the themes that it treats. It’s central theme is faith and disappointment. Linus believes in the Great Pumpkin even though his peers are not with him. He maintains the integrity of his faith even in the face of disappointment, the ridicule of his friends and the anger of Sally, who feels she has been cheated out of Tricks or Treats by waiting in the pumpkin patch with him. But Linus takes it all and even sleeps in the cold on the ground waiting faithfully. In the end his faith is stronger than ever and he vows to repeat the vigil next year. In a way this is Charles Schultz’s version of the story of Job.
At the same time it is funny. Charlie Brown gets a bag full of rocks. Snoopy goes toe to toe with the Red Baron and ends up doing an accidental impersonation of the Great Pumpkin. And through it all that great bouncy, jazzy music. It’s wonderful every year.
