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Title:	It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1966) / You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown (1972)
Studio Line:	Paramount Pictures It sure is fun when Charlie Brown and his Peanuts pals get together for the big Halloween celebration. In fact, it's downright spooktacular in a feature whose bag of treats overflows with "charm, wit and wisdom" (Hollywood Reporter). This Halloween is very special for good ol' Charlie Brown. He's finally been invited to a party! Snoopy gets to join the fun, so look out, Red Baron! Linus will find out once and for all if the Great Pumpkin will rise up out of his pumpkin patch "with his bag of toys for all the good children." Nominated for an Emmy Award, It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown is digitally mastered for excellent sound and picture quality. Bonus Feature: You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown The people have spoken (and Lucy's spoken even louder): you're out of the running, Charlie Brown. But can Linus win the class election? Seems so…until he talks about the Great Pumpkin. On election day, the vote is 83 to 83 and only one person has not yet voted: Linus's opponent!
Director:	Bill Melendez
Cast:	Peter Robbins-Charlie Brown, Christopher Shea-Linus Van Pelt, Cathy Steinberg-Sally, Sally Dryer-Lucy, Chris Doran-Schroeder, Bill Melendez-Snoopy, Lisa DeFaria-Patty, Geoffrey Ornstein-Pig-pen, Ann Altieri-Frieda
DVD:	Standard 1.33:1; audio English Digital Mono; subtitles English; closed-captioned; single sided - single layered; 14 chapters; rated NR; 50 min.; $19.99; street date 9/12/00.
Supplements:	Bonus Feature: You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown
Purchase:	DVD | Peanuts Classic Holiday Collection | Peanuts: A Golden Celebration - Charles M. Schulz | Peanuts 2000: The 50th Year of the World's Favorite Comic Strip - David M. Schulz

Picture/Sound/Extras: It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown B/B/F "Peanuts" was arguably the best comic strip of all-time. Personally, I preferred "Calvin and Hobbes", but I think Charles Schulz' creation gets the nod as the superior piece just because it was so original and ground-breaking; "C&H" never could have existed without the precursor of "Peanuts". "C&H" also retired before it got old, which wasn't so for Schulz' strip. Unfortunately, "Peanuts" went into a slow, long decline before Schulz finally pulled the plug at the end of last year. I'm happy he did what he enjoyed for so long, but I must admit the continuation of the cartoon for so long after it became exceedingly inane hurt its legacy with many folks; people who haven't witnessed prime "Peanuts" probably don't think it was a very good strip. Find some old compilation books - check through the racks of used book stores - and you'll discover the truth. Some of the high quality of classic "Peanuts" also comes through in a few of its animated TV specials, two of which appear on this new DVD. The prime attraction here is It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, a fine program from 1966. Of all the "Peanuts" specials, this one probably offers the most "laugh out loud" funny moments as it shows the crew's reactions to Halloween. The show lacks much of a coherent plot as it simply focuses on a few different aspects of the day, from costume creation to trick or treating to Linus' famed crusade to meet the Great Pumpkin. It's all clever and witty and makes for a very entertaining episode. I also felt ITGPCB featured one of the "Peanuts" series better vocal casts. I watched six of these specials back-to-back but this one came first, and I noticed that later Charlie Browns weren't nearly as strong as this show's Peter Robbins; he performed as Charlie Brown from 1965 through 1969 and remains the definitive voice for the part. Others have filled in effectively for the rest of the characters, but none of the subsequent Charlies seem to do the trick. A substantial portion of the show's laughs come from Robbins' line readings, and he helps make the program work even better than it would. It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.33:1 on this single-sided, single-layered DVD; due to those dimensions, the image has not been enhanced for 16X9 televisions. Considering the source of this material - a TV broadcast older than I am - I expected little from this presentation but I was pleasantly surprised by the fairly high-quality of the picture. Sharpness generally appeared clear and crisp, though some mild softness could interfere with the image from time to time. Moiré effects and jagged edges did not present concerns. The source material looked fairly clean; the print betrayed some slight grit and a few blotches but usually appeared fresh and free of defects. One odd problem: a very distinct jitter affects the image at the two minute, 55 second mark and last about two seconds. Minor frame jitter also occurs at times, but those instances last only a portion of a second and aren't as significant as the other event. Colors were quite strong and pleasing, with nicely-replicated hues throughout the movie. All of the oranges and other tones are reproduced cleanly and accurately. Black levels also look deep and rich, and shadow detail was just fine. The occasional softness and mild dirtiness of the print keep it from offering a really great image, but overall I was quite pleased by the appearance of this show. ITGPCB also provides relatively satisfying monaural audio. Dialogue sounded clear and crisp, with no edginess or dull qualities. Effects were sporadic and cartoonish but seemed acceptably clean and accurate. Vince Guaraldi's music seemed fairly lively and even offered some mild bass at times. The overall production showed some thinness commonly found in recordings of the era, but I found it to provide some pretty nice sound. Picture/Sound/Extras: You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown C/C+/F In regard to supplemental features, I had trouble assessing a grade because I wasn't sure which point of view I should take. A second "Peanuts" special appears on this DVD, and the folks at Paramount seem to consider it a "bonus feature". I decided to regard this DVD as a "double-feature" just because it seems so odd to have a "bonus feature" of this sort that lasts as long as the main program. As such, I took the view that this disc included two full-length TV shows but no extras. I was surprised to discover that ITGCB was the third "Peanuts" special after the prior year's A Charlie Brown Christmas and June 1966's Charlie Brown's All-Stars; logically, I thought A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving would have been second. However, it turns out the latter actually came tenth, with this DVD's You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown and many others hitting screens before ACBT's 1973 premiere. You'll earn no bonus points for figuring out why YNECB hit the airwaves in 1972, but in case you're not sure, it's because that was an election year. The program offers a mild satire of the ways of the politicos as Linus runs for class president. With Lucy as his campaign manager and Charlie Brown, Snoopy and Woodstock assisting, events are sure to be wacky. And they are for the most part throughout this mildly entertaining special. YNECB suffers slightly from its pairing with the superior Halloween show, but it nonetheless holds up fairly well on its own. The program deftly and subtly looks at the silliness of the electoral process and can be amusing and entertaining. As I earlier mentioned, this and all post-1969 "Peanuts" shows suffer somewhat from the lack of Peter Robbins as Charlie Brown, but it's still a pretty fun and effective special. You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.33:1 on this single-sided, single-layered DVD; due to those dimensions, the image has not been enhanced for 16X9 televisions. Despite the fact it's newer than the Halloween show, YNECB hasn't held up as well over the years and the picture shows many more problems. Sharpness seems fairly comparable to Great Pumpkin though it often looks slightly softer. I also detected no signs of moiré effects or jagged edges. Print flaws were much more substantial, however, as YNECB generally looked rather dirty. I saw a lot more grit and a few more blotches throughout the show, all of which made it seem rougher. Colors lacked the boldness of the Halloween special and came across as somewhat bland and flat; they weren't terribly pale or weak, but they definitely could have looked brighter. Black level also seemed a little less intense, though they remained acceptable and shadow detail - already not much of a concern in a brightly-lit cartoon - was fine. The program was watchable but somewhat disappointing after the high quality of the preceding presentation. The same also goes for the monaural audio of YNECB, although the differences seemed less substantial. Dialogue generally appeared clear and acceptably crisp, though some distinct edginess cropped up at times, especially during slightly loud crowd scenes. This harshness also affected some of the effects, which were relatively clean but a little rough at times. The music seemed slightly flat but still offered a bit of bass on occasion. For a 28-year-old cheaply-made TV cartoon, the audio seems adequate but somewhat flawed. Overall, this DVD offers a nice package of "Peanuts" specials. While It' s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown clearly is the superior program - and it also looks and sounds better as well - the "bonus" show, You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown provides some wit and entertainment as well. The biggest concern related to this DVD comes from its relatively high list price: the disc runs $19.95, which seems pretty steep for roughly 50 minutes of material. I enjoyed both specials but I'm not sure the content merits the cost. Note that this DVD also can be purchased in a boxed set called The Peanuts Classic Holiday Collection. That package also includes A Charlie Brown Christmas/It's Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown and A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving/The Mayflower Voyagers and it lists for $59.95. Yes, your math is correct: there's no discount for purchasing all three DVDs together, and the only bonus is that they come in a nice slipcase. Menu: DVD Movie Guide | Archive | Top