The Great Pumpkin
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The Great Pumpkin is an unseen character in the comic strip Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz.
The Great Pumpkin is supposed to be a Santa Claus-like being that seems to exist only in the imagination of Linus van Pelt. Every year, Linus sits in a pumpkin patch on Halloween night waiting for the Great Pumpkin to appear. According to Linus, the Great Pumpkin rises out of the pumpkin patch he finds to be most "sincere". ("Look around you! Nothing but sincerity as far as the eye can see!") The Great Pumpkin then flies through the air to deliver toys to all the good little children in the world. In one strip, Linus claims that the Great Pumpkin has in fact been seen by people other than himself in pumpkin patches across the country, if not the world, indicating that if the Great Pumpkin is indeed imaginary, his existence is at least believed in by people other than (and even more suggestible than) Linus. The fact that Linus is, aside from his pumpkin faith, one of the most sober-minded characters in the strip seems to be a point in his favor.
Invariably, the Great Pumpkin fails to appear, and a humiliated but undefeated Linus vows to wait for him again the following Halloween.
The strip's other characters generally do not believe in the Great Pumpkin. Linus's sister Lucy, in particular, is embarrassed at his behavior each Halloween.
Occasionally, Linus will convince another character (such as Sally, Peppermint Patty, or Marcie) to wait with him for the Great Pumpkin, but this never goes well either. The animated television special It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown depicts one such Halloween, with Sally joining Linus in the pumpkin patch. Someone did arise from the pumpkin patch that night -- Snoopy, in his World War I flying ace outfit. Sally then screamed outrage over missing trick-or-treating (and missing out on the candy).
Linus takes his mission to inform the public of the Great Pumpkin's existence very seriously, and once jeopardized his campaign for student body president by mentioning him in a campaign speech (a storyline adapted as the animated special You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown). He regularly goes from door to door to spread the word of the Great Pumpkin. Invariably, the person to whom he is speaking slams the door in his face. Stressing the importance of faith in the Great Pumpkin, Linus states that one must never say "If the Great Pumpkin comes", but rather, "When the Great Pumpkin comes"; a lack of sufficient faith, he avers, might cause the Great Pumpkin to pass one by at the critical time.
Schulz stated that he never intended for the Great Pumpkin to be regarded as real by Peanuts readers; he simply thought it would be funny if one of the characters got Halloween confused with Christmas. Linus's seemingly unshakable belief in the Great Pumpkin, and his desire to foster the same belief in others, has been interpreted as a parody of Christian evangelism by some critics. Others have seen Linus' belief in the Great Pumpkin as symbolic of the struggles that anyone in a non-conventional faith has to face in an environment dominated by a specific faith. As noted, Schulz never claimed any motivation beyond simple humor, and it is possible he would have regarded these deep interpretations with some bemusement.
Pop Culture
There is an episode of Robot Chicken on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim where the Great Pumpkin does appear. Unfortunately, he goes on a killing spree leaving most of the characters dead before being eaten himself by the Kite-Eating Tree.| Peanuts | |
|---|---|
| Characters | |
| 5 | Charlotte Braun | Charlie Brown | Sally Brown | Eudora | Franklin | Frieda | The Great Pumpkin | Kite-Eating Tree | Lila | Little Red-Haired Girl | Marcie | Miss Othmar | Patty | Peggy Jean | Peppermint Patty | José Peterson | Pig-Pen | Poochie | Roy | Schroeder | Shermy | Joe Shlabotnik | Snoopy | Snoopy's siblings | Thibault | Linus van Pelt | Lucy van Pelt | Rerun van Pelt | Violet | Woodstock | |
| Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (and Don't Come Back!) > A Boy Named Charlie Brown (feature film) | Race For Your Life, Charlie Brown | Snoopy, Come Home | |
| Other Media | |
| A Charlie Brown Christmas (soundtrack album) | The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show | Linus and Lucy | Snoopy | Snoopy's Silly Sports Spectacular | This is America, Charlie Brown | You're a Good Man… |
| People | |
| Vince Guaraldi > Donna Johnson | Bill Melendez | Charles M. Schulz |