Linus is the eternal optimist. Charlie Brown the eternal pessimist. In this feature, Linus gets center stage. Who knows where this supposed legend of the Great Pumpkin emerging in the pumpkin patch and bringing gifts. It is a kind of convoluted Christmas story (at Halloween) with the same kinds of promises but without the religious implications. Of course, sitting there means that you don't go trick-or-treating with the other kids (though our Charlie ends up with a bag of rocks instead of candy), and so one must take a leap of faith. Sally, who loves Linus, is brought into the fold with dire consequences. This is a nice take on the myth born of Charles Schultz. Where did he come up with the story? We don't know, but the whole Peanuts gang ends up affected by it.
