Charlie Brown’s Seasonal Favorites: 2 Streaming Hits Still Draw Viewers 60 Years Later, Officially
Holiday specials top charts
Apple TV holds streaming rights to the Peanuts television specials. FlixPatrol data for October 31 placed It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, from 1966, at No. 1 among movies on Apple TV in the U.S.; it had spent 202 days in the Top 10.
A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, released in 1973, ranked No. 4 and had remained in the Top 10 for 267 days. The article says A Charlie Brown Christmas may also rise on the charts as the holiday season advances.
Stories behind the classics
In It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, Linus searches for a pumpkin patch where he hopes to see the Great Pumpkin, a Halloween counterpart to Santa Claus in whom he believes. The rest of the gang goes trick-or-treating.
In A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, Peppermint Patty invites herself and friends to Charlie Brown’s home for Thanksgiving dinner. The first Peanuts television special, A Charlie Brown Christmas, premiered in 1965.
Peanuts plans for 2027
Apple TV plans to release Snoopy Unleashed in 2027. It will be the platform’s first full-length Peanuts movie and the franchise’s first movie in more than a decade; it will use 3D computer animation, as did 2015’s The Peanuts Movie.
The earlier film earned an 87% Rotten Tomatoes score and grossed $246 million on a budget of $99 million, according to Box Office Mojo. A revival of the musical You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown is also scheduled for a short New York City run in February 2027, with David Hyde Pierce, Danielle Brooks and Ayo Edebiri among its cast.
Key points
- It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown ranked No. 1 on Apple TV in the U.S. as of October 31.
- A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving ranked No. 4, with a 267-day Top 10 streak.
- Apple TV plans to release Snoopy Unleashed in 2027.
- A New York City revival of You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown is planned for February 2027.