Like clockwork, as soon as autumn hits, I break out the pumpkin spice coffee and my most nostalgic fall holiday movies. There is something about ringing in the new season with films that I have not only watched since I was a child, but also that my parents used to watch as children. The Charlie Brown franchise is close to my heart for many reasons, but one of them is that my parents watched the movies as they grew up, as did my oldest sister. We watch It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown! the weekend before Halloween, and when Thanksgiving rolls around, my dad makes buttered toast, popcorn, pretzels, and jellybeans to go along with A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving! Later on, in December, we will play A Charlie Brown Christmas! and drink hot chocolate.
The movies are familiar, light-hearted, and nostalgic. They hearken back to a time when life, and holidays, were seemingly less complicated and polarized than they are now. The movies also skillfully deal with adolescent coming-of-age issues, such as Linus’ loss of trust and belief in The Great Pumpkin, or Charlie Brown losing the spirit of Christmas. Linus, despite being a young boy, addresses the fact that in life, we are going to be let down. He spends all night in the pumpkin patch waiting for the Great Pumpkin to arrive instead of trick-or-treating with his friends. How often do we as young adults devote hours of our life to studying or work, passing up those precious opportunities to spend quality time with our families and friends? Or like Charlie Brown, we lose faith once we lose the feeling of security and love from the institutions we once trusted. I think that part of the magic of the Charlie Brown franchise is that it shows how important it is to enjoy the little things in life: a Halloween party, or a tiny Christmas tree.
One thing that rings true to me is that each story ends with the resolution that sometimes things do not work out the way we plan them, and oftentimes that leads to better things. Sally, although often avoided by Linus, spends all night waiting with him for the Great Pumpkin, even forgoing her own trick-or-treating. Is it love or friendship? In the end, I do not think it matters, because she was merely willing to be there for him, even when the Great Pumpkin did not show up. When Charlie Brown’s play fails and he thinks he has ruined the little tree, his friends gather around and bring it back to life. Looking back on all those details, the films represented to me the strength of family and friendship in hard times, and how levity and joy can always be found in any circumstance.