A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (1973)

Starring: Todd Barbee
Grade: A+

The song “Little Birdie” when Woodstock enters is kind of a banger.

Summary

Charlie Brown (Barbee) is asked by Lucy (Robin Kohn) to kick the football she has set up for him. Very aware of Lucy’s usual tendency to pull the ball away at the last second, Charlie Brown is determined to not fall for it this time. However, Lucy notes it’s Thanksgiving and how one of the biggest Thanksgiving traditions is football and the kickoff in general. Somehow never hearing about this, Charlie Brown is now convinced. He goes and tries to kick it, but in classic Peanuts fashion, Lucy pulls the ball away at the last second and Charlie Brown hits the ground.

Sometime after, Snoopy (Bill Melendez) grabs the mail, but there’s nothing for Charlie Brown. His sister Sally (Hilary Momberger) approaches, and they discuss how holidays always depress him, how they are both bothered by stores already stocking up with Christmas-related items, and how Sally is mad she has to write an essay on Miles Standish. Linus (Stephen Shea) joins them and the two let them in on what they’ve been talking about, with Sally getting even more mad once she realizes she hasn’t finished her Halloween candy yet. As a response, Linus stresses the importance of Thanksgiving as a holiday, which only sets up Sally to flirt with him. To change the subject, Linus asks what they have planned for Thanksgiving, and Charlie Brown says their family is going to his grandmother’s house for dinner. Sally invites Linus because she’s still in love with him, but he’s not interested. Later, Charlie Brown gets a call from Peppermint Patty (Christopher DeFaria). Peppermint Patty does her usual flirting with Charlie Brown that makes him uncomfortable but then gets down to business. Her dad has been called out of town, but he said she can go to Charlie Brown’s house for dinner, even though Charlie Brown never invited her in the first place. Cutting Charlie Brown’s response off, she says she doesn’t mind inviting herself over because she knows he “likes” her, which I highly fucking doubt.

She calls it a “date” and hangs up.

Charlie Brown tells Sally what just happened, and Sally reminds him they won’t even be home for dinner. Charlie Brown gets another phone call from Peppermint Patty, and she says Marcie (Jimmy Ahrens) is coming too because her parents said it was cool. He tries to dispute this, but Peppermint Patty says there won’t be a problem because they’ll help clean up. Charlie Brown tells Sally about Marci coming too and how he doesn’t know how he finds himself in these predicaments, but she says it’s his own fault because he’s so “wishy-washy”. Peppermint Patty calls again and says Franklin (Robin Reed) is also coming. A frustrated Charlie Brown tells Linus what’s going on once she hangs up again, so Linus suggests calling her back to explain things. However, Charlie Brown admits it’s impossible to get a word in with her and how it’s a lost cause. Reminding Linus about how the family won’t even be home for dinner and how Peppermint Patty is probably going to hate him for the rest of his life if he screws this up, Linus asks what time Charlie Brown and the family have to be at his grandmother’s. It’s 4:30PM, so Linus just tells him to cook an earlier dinner for the friends.

Well, that seems simple enough. Not sure why he couldn’t think of that himself but okay.

Unfortunately, Charlie Brown can’t cook. At most, he can only make cold cereal and toast. Acknowledging this, Linus says they can help him. He sends Snoopy to find a table in the garage to set up in the backyard.

After enlisting Woodstock (also Bill Melendez) for help and some initial screwing around, Snoopy finds a ping pong table to use. He starts playing ping pong against himself and accidentally hits Woodstock. Linus sees this, tells him to stop fucking around, and to get the chairs set around the table. Though he gets into a scuffle with one of the chairs (which turns out to be a draw because the chair could wrestle), Snoopy is able to figure things out. As Peppermint Patty, Marcie, and Franklin get ready to go, Snoopy lays down the tablecloth. Now, it’s time to prepare the meal. Based off their limitations, what they come up with is cost effective and easy to make considering the time constraint. Unfortunately, it may not go over well with their guests.

My Thoughts:

Since 1965, the Peanuts franchise has had 46 animated specials and continues to this very day. However, there are only three that are unofficially considered to be required viewing around the holiday season. There’s A Charlie Brown Christmas, It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, and A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. Elementary schools across the nation and children’s television programming alike have made it their civic duty to show these three specials every year until the end of time, simply because there’s no other cartoon that can capture the spirit of such topics, be entertaining as an animated special while sending a message, and never insulting the intelligence of the age group they are making the special for quite like Charles M. Schulz’s iconic group of comic strip characters.

With A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, the kids get to the bare bones of holiday and figure it out what it all means, thanks in part to the always well-read Linus. Though the other children may not understand or value the holiday at first like Linus does, the format and message being sent is clear from the beginning. Charlie Brown is aloof to whatever the hell is going on, but his intentions are always good. Per usual, he is stuck going with the flow because of his sheepishness. The other characters represent the masses, with the key example of the mainstream being Peppermint Patty. The young tomboy is all about Thanksgiving and what it “represents”. In her mind of course, this is the food and celebration. Outliers like Franklin and Marcie are there for the ride. Though they are nowhere near as pushy as Peppermint Patty, they don’t care enough to show us that they appreciate the holiday for what it is either. It’s all this attitude of “Let’s eat and hang out”, though it clicks with Marcie once Peppermint Patty is angered at the food being given to her later on. Charlie Brown, being stuck into this situation once again because of his inability to speak up or show force whatsoever, subconsciously shows why he’s a good representation of the underappreciated holiday. Being the forced host of this situation, he takes it upon himself to make this extra dinner happen purely because he doesn’t want Peppermint Patty to hate him. It’s not that he’s in love with her or anything, he’s just trying to keep the peace and make everyone happy. He is the glue that keeps everyone together.

This is true for the franchise and for this special specifically.

The food preparation is my favorite part of the special. In fact, it’s one of my favorite moments of the entire franchise. Knowing they can’t cook a turkey because they are unsupervised kids, they create their own feast of easy-to-make food and already-made snacks. This includes fun stuff like buttered toast, popcorn, jellybeans, and pretzels. It’s such a fun little part of the special but easily one of the most memorable Peanuts moments of all time. It’s also good writing. It embraces the limitations of the characters but also sends a fruitful message at the same time without being in-your-face about it. This holiday isn’t about what you have, or the masses of foods you will consume at one sitting as you stuff your face until you can’t move. This holiday is about coming together as one and being thankful for what you have, while appreciating the company who was willing to go out of their way to celebrate with you.

It was never about the meal. It was what the meal represents, and the Peanuts gang makes this clear.

They use what they have and make a “feast” to appease the people they consider friends who are coming over, so they have something to eat. Sure, they can’t make a turkey, but they have something. The effort and intention of Charlie Brown, Linus, Snoopy, and Woodstock is why this dinner means more. They did it for them when they didn’t have to. Watching this part of the table enjoy the food right off the bat after Snoopy serves it, the confusion from the guests, and the flip-out from Peppermint Patty shows us the divide between people who get it and those who clearly forgot what it’s all about. It’s an eye-opener for even the simplest of simpletons. In addition to her outburst presenting to everyone front and center why she’s in the wrong, despite following traditional tropes of what the holiday meal “should” be, Charlie Brown takes the high road and excuses himself from the table without protest instead of engaging in an argument because he knows the stubborn loudmouth won’t understand. If you ever wondered why adults show this special every year to kids, this is why. To this very day, people don’t really understand why we meet on this ever-important, nationally recognized holiday, and they definitely don’t know the history behind how it all got started. Once again, Charles M. Schulz uses his beloved characters to go back to the basics to explain things in the most digestible way possible for any age group to understand without being overly preachy or making this one of those afternoon “Learn-a-Lesson” specials most groan at. No, A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving interprets the holiday to the masses while being amusing and downright lovable.

Peanuts never had the flash of other animated franchises. Nevertheless, they always had more heart and a recognizable soul. This is why they have lasted and will always be considered timeless no matter how the industry changes in the future.

With great use of Snoopy and Woodstock without them overshadowing the story, the message, or the main characters with their antics, heart-warming and well-delivered themes, and one of the most memorable moments of the franchise, the straightforward but eloquently written A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving is yet another slow-paced television special that has captured the hearts of every generation who has watched it. You ever hear the phrase “Less is more”? Well, this couldn’t be a better way to describe the grounded Peanuts franchise. They never do too much, and they always get the point across without having to do anything crazy. In addition, the dialogue is carefully constructed to not only give the viewer well-written humor for all ages, but it’s never unnecessary blabber either. It’s always well-thought-out, entertaining, and fun. One of the best examples of this is A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, a spirited and adorable little story about a group of kids finding out the meaning of the famous holiday that doesn’t seem to be explained as often as it should.

Also, the final line about the condominium was gold.