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Here's how to watch It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown in 2024

My goodness, it's Halloween!

However you choose to celebrate the occasion, there's a good chance that the television show “It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” will be on your Halloween list this year.

For many people, watching the cartoon is an annual holiday tradition. If that's the case, you may be wondering how you can watch It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown and where you can find it this Halloween.

That's a fair question, since the time-honored treasure isn't available to stream on Netflix, Hulu, Prime, or Disney. In fact, there's only one place to watch the Halloween movie in 2024, and we've got all the details to save you the time and effort of looking them up yourself.

But first, some background information.

Published in 1966, Charles M. Schulz's story follows Charlie Brown and the rest of the Peanuts gang as they navigate the ups and downs of the Halloween celebration.

From Charlie Brown's failed attempt to design a ghost costume to Linus' belief in a large pumpkin that rises from the pumpkin patch to deliver gifts to good boys and girls, Schulz's film is funny, sometimes heartbreaking and, above all, a real classic.

Whether you've been watching the film since childhood or are sitting down for the first time, read on to find out how and where you can watch It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown this year.

Here's how to watch It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown in 2024

Allstar Picture Library Limited. / Alamy Stock Photo

“It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” aired on national television on October 27, 1966. Since then, the special has aired on various networks over the years, including CBS, PBS and ABC.

In 2018, Apple acquired the rights to the “Peanuts” catalog, including favorites such as “A Charlie Brown Christmas” and “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving” as well as “It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.”

To view the animated feature, you'll need a subscription to Apple TV+, where it's exclusively streamed. If you're already an Apple+ subscriber, you can watch the special at any time.

If not, and you're hoping to watch the TV special for free, you can always watch it by signing up for Apple TV's 7-day free trial, which gives you the chance to watch the Halloween flick for free up to the trial to stream period ends.

When is the free streaming window for It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown?

Every year, Apple TV+ offers a time slot where non-subscribers can watch It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown for free. This year's free viewing window was Saturday October 19th and Sunday October 20th, meaning it's already over for 2024.

What you should know about It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

Charles M. Schulz, the founder of the “Peanuts” gang, was born in 1922 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. According to the Charles M. Schulz Museum, his namesake always dreamed of becoming a cartoonist. That dream became a reality after Schulz's first comic strip, “Li'l Folks,” was picked up by a local newspaper when he was in his twenties.

The comic featured a group of big-headed children acting more like adults than children, which eventually evolved into “Peanuts” and was syndicated nationally.

In 1965, the newspaper comic was brought to the big screen with the broadcast of “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” According to The New York Times, the TV special became an instant hit, with more than 15 million households tuning in to the premiere.

Since then, there have been nearly four dozen “Peanuts” shows, including the long-running “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving” and, of course, “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.”

Trivia “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.”

If you're planning on watching the Peanuts special, there are a few little things you might want to know beforehand.

For example, according to the Washington Post, for years after “It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” first aired in 1966, viewers sent candy to Schulz's California studio out of sympathy for Charlie Brown, whose Halloween loot included rocks.

Another fun fact? In traditional Lucy fashion, Charlie Brown's opponent goads him into kicking a soccer ball before pulling it away at the last moment, causing him to fall.

According to IMDB, “The Great Pumpkin” is the first time television viewers will see this long-running gag, which originated in Charles Schulz's 1951 comic strip starring Violet – not Lucy – does the prank.

After all, Peanuts creator Charles M. Schulz was nicknamed “Sparky” for most of his life.

According to the Charles M. Schulz Museum, Schulz's uncle named the animator “Sparky” in reference to Spark Plug, a horse that appeared in the comic strip “Barney Google and Snuffy Smith.”

Do you enjoy the little things? If so, stay tuned with our collection of spooky Halloween trivia questions and answers related to October 31st, found here.