Charlie Brown and his dog, Snoopy, have been cultural icons since Charles M. Schulz created the characters back in 1950. Since then, The Peanuts have produced untold amounts of comic strips for the world to enjoy, while also being adapted into full-length films and multiple television specials, and one of those television specials is A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving.
While the Macy’s Day Parade might be the most popular televised event on Thanksgiving, it isn’t without reason that Charlie Brown himself, along with Snoopy and Woodstock, frequently makes the list of popular characters walked through the New York City streets on turkey-day. Now, let’s take a look at our favorite moments from A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving Special.
Lucy pulls the football away
It’s a constant, but a hilarious one. The main staple of the entire Peanuts franchise never gets old as Charlie Brown is destined to go eternity without getting a chance to kick that football. Maybe Lucy is just determined to make sure that Charlie Brown has psychological damage for his entire life so he’ll keep paying her 5 cents for therapy sessions.
Regardless of the reason, Lucy does what she does best and pulls a fast one on Charlie Brown in this special, implying that football and specifically the kickoff, on Thanksgiving Day is a grand tradition and honor, only to inform Charlie Brown upon yanking the ball away that some traditions just seem to fade away.
Charlie Brown and Sally complain about the holiday
One of the best parts about Charlie Brown is that he’s the character who’s capable of complaining about all the seemingly ordinary things that regular people have to go through, yet still, hate doing - like holidays. But even better is when Charlie Brown is able to pull somebody down in his misery, such as his little sister Sally.
When Charlie Brown opens an empty mailbox and becomes depressed, his little sister replies, “What did you expect, a turkey card?” She then continues to rant how she hasn’t even finished eating her Halloween candy and how Thanksgiving is simply a plot by the education system to give us more work. Luckily, Linus steps in to give her some schooling on the real meaning of Thanksgiving. Isn’t he the cutest thing?
Peppermint Patty invites herself over
Respect for the power move of inviting not only yourself but two other guests to a Thanksgiving dinner that doesn’t even exist. Peppermint Patty was not messing around when it came to what she wanted and what she wanted was to spend turkey-day with Charlie Brown, and that was gonna happen whether old Chuck wanted it to or not.
To be fair, everybody’s favorite blockhead needs to grow a little bit of a spine since he got about four words in during the phone-call, but nevertheless, when Peppermint Patty invites herself, Marcie, and Franklin to Charlie Brown’s for Thanksgiving dinner that isn’t happening, it’s always good for a few laughs.
All the songs
If you haven’t seen it in a while, you may have forgotten that this particular Charlie Brown television special included more than just the typical Peanuts theme song in its soundtrack. Make no mistake, the Peanuts theme makes an appearance when Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and Linus are making dinner, but another song that gets played while Snoopy and Woodstock start setting up the table is “Little Birdie” composed by Vince Guaraldi.
The jazzy riff plays in the background and gives the audience a wonderfully pleasant ‘at-home’ feeling as they watch their favorite beagle and bird. Not only that, but the folk-song that the children sing in the car at the end of the special is delightfully cheerful, as well.
Snoopy & Woodstock set up the table
Arguably the funniest segment of the entire special is when Snoopy and Woodstock head out to the garage to set up a make-shift Thanksgiving Day table in the backyard. The two of them have their usual antics before dislodging a ping-pong table and assembling it, whereupon Snoopy shows that he was the original Flash by playing ping-pong with just himself.
Next, the duo decide to set up some chairs and they somehow get transported to the universe of Fantasia as one of the lawn-chairs comes to life and gets in a fist-fight with Snoopy. One of the best parts of the bit is the end-result of the made table with roughly a dozen chairs set around it. Is Peppermint Patty inviting a few more people over, Snoopy?
Making the food
That’s a lot of toast. While the first question to spring to mind when watching this segment might be to ask why would anybody need that much toast, a better one would be to ask why does anybody need that many freaking toasters?! Seriously, has anybody been in a household that has ever had more than one toaster?
Yet, somehow, in Charlie Brown’s most dire culinary moment the Toaster-Fairy revealed himself and granted him the wish of as many toasters as he wanted. The pretzel sticks, popcorn, and jelly beans were a nice touch, but what happened to the original idea of cereal, Charlie Brown? You’ve got a dozen toasters but not a single bowl?
When the guests arrive
This particular moment may seem as though it’s not actually a moment at all because it’s such a broad way to describe it - “when the guests arrive”. But the fact of the matter is that when the guests arrive, certain things are just particularly funny about the special, such as how Charlie Brown “daps” his friend, Franklin, when he arrives… but nobody else (call that a cultural difference of the era).
Another is how Franklin picks the seat at the table that Snoopy was fighting with and it collapses in on itself. The real underdog moment of the arrival is when Linus gives a heartfelt Thanksgiving prayer before dinner. Everything about this cluster of tiny scenes was pure Peanuts gold.
Peppermint Patty’s outrage/apology
Where’s the mashed potatoes?! Where’s the cranberry sauce?! Where’s the pumpkin pie?! One of the most hilarious bits in the entire special, Peppermint Patty selfishly starts harassing Charlie Brown for his less-than-traditional Thanksgiving dinner and infuriatingly informs Chuck what should’ve been served to his non-invited guests.
Even funnier than the outrage itself is the apology that comes afterward when Peppermint Patty is informed what a stuck-up snob she’s being and then asks Marcie to apologize for her. She may be one heck 0f a baseball player, but Peppermint Patty needs to take a crash-course in friendship.
Charlie Brown’s grandmother inviting everybody over
Grandmothers are the best. Nobody takes care of an empty stomach like a grandmother and they aren’t satisfied until every belly is full.
When Charlie Brown calls his grandmother to inform her that they’re going to be a little late to Thanksgiving dinner (you know, the actual one he and his family were always having) because his friends came over, she asks if they’ve had anything to eat. Charlie Brown tells her that they haven’t and she springs into grandma-mode, telling him that everybody is invited to come along too. One quick question though - where were Charlie Brown’s parents for all this?
Snoopy & Woodstock made their own Thanksgiving dinner
One of the best parts of the special, and arguably the biggest jerk-move that Snoopy has ever pulled, shows Snoopy and Woodstock producing a fully made Thanksgiving turkey (sides included) for just themselves once all of the children have left for Charlie Brown’s grandmothers.
While it was Snoopy and Woodstock who did most of the work in setting up the table and making the food, there’s not a chance that they could eat an entire Thanksgiving meal by themselves and it wouldn’t have been such a bad thing to offer it up to his owner during his time of need. You might be a heck of a chef, Snoopy, but the juries still out on man’s best friend.
