| “ | I got a rock. | ” |
— Charlie Brown's response to what the adults keep putting in his trick-or-treat bag | ||
Charles "Charlie" Brown is the main character from the popular newspaper comic strip Peanuts. He is a child with a round-shaped head who possesses endless determination and hope in spite of his constant failures and being dominated by his insecurities, whether it be his always-losing baseball team, getting his kite stuck in a tree, or Lucy always pulling away the football before he can kick it. In 2002, he and his dog Snoopy were ranked #8 in TV Guide's Top 50 Greatest Cartoon Characters.
Appearances in Halloween specials[]
Peanuts[]
In the franchise's iconic Halloween special, It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, Charlie Brown is first seen raking a pile of leaves, even getting help from Snoopy, but their hard work is ruined when Linus jumps into the leaves. Afterward, Lucy tricks him into trying to kick the football that she keeps pulling away for the first of many times in the animated realm. His mood is brightened, however, when he receives an invitation to Violet's Halloween party, something he usually never gets, although Lucy is certain he wasn't supposed to be invited. When the kids all dress up as ghosts to go trick-or-treating, Charlie Brown's costume has more holes than necessary because he had trouble cutting them. The neighbors apparently do not think highly of him for this and keep giving him rocks instead of candy. (Real-life viewers, who were a lot less cruel, reportedly sent in some of their candy to Charlie Brown after the special aired.) Later, at the party, Lucy and Violet ask him to model for the Jack-o-lantern they're about to carve; unfortunately, as he soon learns, this involves drawing the pumpkin's face on the back of his head. At the end of the special, he is seen at the brick wall with Linus, lamenting how all he got for Halloween was a bag full of rocks and ink stains on the back of his head.
In "Great Pumpkin", a Halloween-themed segment from The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show, Charlie Brown participates in a junior bowling tournament on Halloween night. He does surprisingly well at the game, only to slip up in the last round by throwing his bowling ball out of the bowling alley, sending it careening through the pumpkin patch in which Linus and Sally, joined by Snoopy this time, are again waiting for the Great Pumpkin.
Charlie Brown's most recent Halloween-themed cartoon was The Snoopy Show episode "The Curse of a Fuzzy Face".
Other Halloween productions[]
At the beginning of "Treehouse of Horror II", the second Halloween episode of The Simpsons, the Peanuts gang, including Charlie Brown, make a brief cameo trick-or-treating in front of the Simpsons' house.
Mentions in other Halloween specials[]
In the opening scene for The Simpsons episode "Treehouse of Horror XIV", Bart Simpson comes home from trick-or-treating in a Charlie Brown costume. And in the later "Treehouse of Horror XIX", Bart dresses like Charlie Brown in the segment "It's the Grand Pumpkin, Milhouse".
Gallery[]
