4. It's A Sequel, Charlie Brown
There's no denying how huge A Charlie Brown Christmas was and as such CBS commissioned another animated special in the hopes of recreating the same success. Director Lee Mendelson wrote in his book 'It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown: The Making of a Television Classic' the execs were happy to give free reign to Mendelson and his chief animator Bill Melendez on the proviso that they delivered another sure fire hit. In television nothing is certain of course but both Mendelson and Melendez were as confident as they could be that reuniting the cast of A Charlie Brown Christmas and setting them against a backdrop of autumnal colour and spooky themes would prove to be just as popular with their audiences. We now know they were absolutely right as on its first screening in America It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown scooped up almost 50 percent of the viewing audience in that timeslot. So successful was the film in fact that it guaranteed the future of Peanuts specials and paved the way for (to date) 50 animated adventures.