David Simon Pumpkins is a fictional character played by American actor Tom Hanks, first appearing on the October 22, 2016, episode of Saturday Night Live in a sketch written by Mikey Day, Bobby Moynihan, and Streeter Seidell. Pumpkins developed a cult following amidst the positive reception, served as the basis of a 2017 animated Halloween special, and has subsequently returned to SNL multiple times.

David S. Pumpkins
Saturday Night Live character
The character dancing with skeletons in the original sketch
First appearance	October 22, 2016 (2016-10-22) SNL season 42, episode 4
Last appearance	October 29, 2022 (2022-10-29) SNL season 48, episode 4
Created by	Mikey Day Bobby Moynihan Streeter Seidell
Portrayed by	Tom Hanks
Voiced by	Tom Hanks
In-universe information
Full name	David Simon Pumpkins
Origin	Ibiza

Concept and creation

The character was created by Bobby Moynihan, Mikey Day, and Streeter Seidell. Moynihan said they wanted to make a Halloween-themed version of the viral video "Little Superstar"[1] with a character who was a "Santa Claus for Halloween".[2] The writers said the character's middle initial "S" stands for Simon.[3] In order to get the suit to look cheap, the writers bought the pumpkin-themed suit for $12.99 at Party City.[2]

The initial idea for the sketch did not include the Pumpkins character, and involved a "creepy hotel" which resembled Disney's Haunted Mansion; this was later changed into a Tower of Terror-style ride.[4] Day credits Pumpkins' eventual creation with his love of "stupid suits".[4] The first version of Pumpkins has more dialogue, which Hanks cut back while "playing with the character".[4] At one point there were plans to include Lady Gaga, the night's musical guest, in the sketch as "Mrs. David Pumpkins", but as "her musical set was pretty involved", she passed on it.[5]

Hanks thought the character was "very bizarre" before the sketch aired and initially suggested Chris Hemsworth would be better suited for the role.[6][7]

Appearances

Saturday Night Live

Pumpkins first appeared in the fourth episode of SNL's 42nd season, in the sketch "Haunted Elevator (ft. David S. Pumpkins)".[8] A couple (played by Beck Bennett and Kate McKinnon) enters the "100 Floors of Frights" attraction, in which Kenan Thompson plays a "Hellevator" operator and opens the doors to reveal various characters that scare the couple with typically horrific scenes until they stop on the 49th floor. The doors open revealing two dancing skeletons and Pumpkins wearing a black and orange pumpkin-themed suit.[9] The couple aren't scared by Pumpkins; instead, they are mystified by his presence, and try to determine what Pumpkins is supposed to represent, and why he is part of the ride. In not answering the couple's questions, Pumpkins says that he is "his own thing", and that the skeletons (Moynihan and Day) that stand next to him on many floors (73 out of 100) of the elevator are "part of it".[10][11] Pumpkins insists that he is there to "scare the hell out of you" but manages only to confuse the passengers.[9] The elevator visits several other floors, at some of which Pumpkins continues to appear, until it stops at the final level. The door opens on just the skeletons, until Pumpkins appears right behind the guests and shout-asks "Any questions?", succeeding in scaring them.[9]

Dave Chappelle, while hosting SNL in season 42's sixth episode, references David S. Pumpkins in the sketch "Jheri's Place". After "a sketch gone wrong", Chappelle jokingly says that he thought his failed character "was going to be the next David S. Pumpkins".[12][13]

In the 21st episode of the same season, hosted by Dwayne Johnson and the season finale, Pumpkins appears in the prerecorded music video "Rap Song", using the name David S. Pimpkins and wearing a furry hat and jacket.[14] Among other fictional featured artists,[15] "Pimpkins" pesters Thompson's character,[16][17] in a pastiche of "overstuffed all-star rap videos" like "I'm the One" by DJ Khaled.[18] David S. Pumpkins' parts of the segment are solo, he never appears with any of the other characters in the sketch.

Hanks and Moynihan returned in the season 48 episode hosted by Jack Harlow. Viewers began speculating on social media that there was going to be a David S. Pumpkins sketch when Hanks cameoed in an earlier sketch involving an AA meeting and Moynihan reprised his role as Drunk Uncle during the episode's Weekend Update, suspicions which were confirmed when Hanks and Moynihan reprised their roles alongside Day as Pumpkins and the skeletons in one of the final sketches of the night. Similar to the original sketch, the three repeatedly show up in a jump scare themed attraction hosted by Thompson, this time set in a prison populated by famous horror movie characters. In this context, Thompson's operator character eventually explains they spent most of their budget on characters like Freddy Krueger and Pennywise the Clown, and so had to put Pumpkins in the rest of the attraction. The patrons in this sketch are a group of friends played by Harlow, Ego Nwodim, and Andrew Dismukes. Unlike the first sketch, Nwodim's character expresses a neutral opinion of Pumpkins while Harlow outright enjoys him—only Dismukes expresses bewilderment and frustration, particularly at the revelation that Pumpkins is apparently from Ibiza. Once again, Pumpkins delivers on his promise to "scare [the group] stupid" by surprising them at the end of the sketch.[19]

The Halloween Special

On September 28, 2017, NBC announced that Pumpkins would star in a 30-minute animated special created by Bento Box Animation.[20] Hanks, Day and Moynihan reprised their roles, with Seidell and Peter Dinklage joining the cast.[21] Two weeks prior, Hanks posted a picture of the special's script, titled "The David S. Pumpkins Song," on Twitter and Instagram.[22][23][24]

The David S. Pumpkins Halloween Special, which aired October 28, 2017,[25] starts with a live-action address from Hanks dressed as Pumpkins. In the story, Kevin (Dinklage) is embarrassed to take his younger sister trick-or-treating. After choosing the "magic pumpkin" at a pumpkin patch, David S. Pumpkins and the skeletons take them on an adventure and sing-along. The boy and girl ride in Pumpkins' "pumpkinmobile" (a strawberry car) while the mysterious Raincoat Man steals all the Halloween candy. Pumpkins and the skeletons rescue the candy from what turns out to be pre-teens who had bullied Kevin. Pumpkins uses magic to deliver the candy around the neighborhood inside of pumpkins.[26][27]

Reception

When the character was first performed, his appeal was unclear, though he immediately developed a fan following.[9] Aired just weeks before the 2016 U.S. presidential election, it has been suggested that the non-political nature of the sketch helped fuel its popularity.[28] Day suggested this came from a "weird alchemy of Halloween, the best host ever, the time of the country, and just a silly song".[9] Seidell said, "The election was so intense. David Pumpkins, this dumb silly thing, was the last thing that everyone could kind of agree on, that they could talk to each other about without it ruining Thanksgiving."[9]

The character's apparent meaninglessness was referenced in the original skit.[10][29] Tom Hanks jokingly tweeted that he dressed as Pumpkins for Halloween in 2016.[30] To promote his Reddit Ask Me Anything, Microsoft founder Bill Gates parodied the original sketch,[31][32] and received some criticism for the effort.[33][34] Hanks's performance as an SNL host, including the Pumpkins sketch, garnered him a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series in 2017.[35][36] In October 2017, Madame Tussauds Orlando adapted their existing wax figure of Tom Hanks to appear as David Pumpkins.[37]

References

External links

• Watch Haunted Elevator (ft. David S. Pumpkins) From Saturday Night Live - NBC.com