Rocks on Halloween: Revisiting Charlie Brown's Legendary Candy Fail and the Reason For It

In a scene from It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown! that will easily go down as one of the most memorable for millennials and boomers, we see Charlie Brown going trick-or-treating on Halloween with his friends. The kids all head up to the door, prepared for the usual banter of "trick or treat," followed by a hand reaching out of the door with a boatload of candy — or just a piece in some cases.

After the deed is done, the kids walk away to reflect on what was tossed into their bags. “I got five pieces of candy!” one yells. “I got a chocolate bar!” another exclaims. “I got a quarter!” When it gets to Charlie Brown, he simply says, “I got a rock.” While it’s typical for misbehaved kids to receive pieces of coal on Christmas instead of presents, could this be the reverse approach for Halloween? Here’s the real reason Charlie Brown got rocks on Halloween.

We all know Charlie Brown as the kind and gentle Peanuts character who often gets the short end of the stick in various situations. So, while he doesn’t technically deserve rocks instead of candy on Halloween, it’s not exactly surprising.

But the real reason Charlie Brown got rocks on Halloween in It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown isn’t because he did something wrong or because others thought he did. Charlie Brown received rocks because one of the animators wanted to be spiteful.

In an interview with The Washington Post, animator Lee Mendelson revealed the dispute that led to the rock ending up in Charlie's bag. "Sparky [Schulz] said that maybe we ought to have Charlie Brown get a rock," Mendelson recounted. "I said, 'Oh, come on, that's a little too harsh and cruel.' But the more I protested, the more he wanted it. And after I protested more, Sparky said: 'OK, he'll get three rocks!'"

So there you have it: There wasn't a twisted storyline or deep reasoning behind the rocks — Charlie Brown simply received them because the animators wanted to include it for their own amusement.

Charlie Brown has long held a special place in viewers' hearts, and it’s easy to see why. So, it felt like a real gut punch when he ended up with rocks instead of candy on Halloween. After the episode aired in October 1966, viewers, kids included, reportedly sent piles of candy to the studio, addressed to Charlie Brown, according to MeTV.

It was a clever gesture and a satisfying way for fans to make up for poor Charlie Brown’s Halloween misfortune on what’s supposed to be one of the sweetest nights of the year.

While many found the scene a bit heartbreaking, others couldn’t help but see the humor. "This will never not be funny. I don't know what it is about this scene, but it makes me laugh almost every time I see it," YouTube user @PopsicleIncorporated commented.