A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (1973) (TV)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Directors:

Bill Melendez
Phil Roman

Writer:

Charles M. Schulz (written and created by)

Release Date:

20 November 1973 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Short | Family

Tagline:

Spend Thanksgiving with Good Ol' Charlie Brown. (2008 DVD re-release)

Plot:

Peppermint Patty invites herself and her friends over to Charlie Brown's for Thanksgiving, and with Linus, Snoopy, and Woodstock, he attempts to throw together a Thanksgiving dinner. |

Plot Keywords:

Thanksgiving | Dog | Based On Comic | Peanuts | Dog Cartoon

Awards:

Won Primetime Emmy. Another 1 nomination

Cast

Todd Barbee	...	Charlie Brown (voice)
Robin Kohn	...	Lucy van Pelt (voice)
Stephen Shea	...	Linus van Pelt (voice)
Hilary Momberger	...	Sally Brown (voice)
Christopher DeFaria	...	Patricia 'Peppermint Patty' Reichardt (voice)
Jimmy Ahrens	...	Marcie (voice)
Robin Reed	...	Franklin (voice)

Runtime:

Argentina:30 min | USA:30 min (including commercials)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Singapore:G | South Korea:All | Argentina:Atp

Company:

United Feature Syndicate (UFS)

Goofs:

Continuity: During the Thanksgiving "dinner" scene, Peppermint Patty's plate of food disappears and reappears after she has been served by Snoopy.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Lucy van Pelt: [holding football] Charlie Brown! Oh, Charlie Brown!
Charlie Brown: I can't believe it. She must think I'm the most stupid person alive.
Lucy van Pelt: Come on, Charlie Brown. I'll hold the ball and you kick it.
Charlie Brown: Hold it? Ha! You'll pull it away and I'll land flat on my back and kill myself.
Lucy van Pelt: But Charlie Brown, it's Thanksgiving.
Charlie Brown: What's that got to do with anything?
Lucy van Pelt: Well, one of the greatest traditions we have is the Thanksgiving Day football game. And the biggest, most important tradition of all is the kicking off of the football.
Charlie Brown: Is that right?
Lucy van Pelt: Absolutely. Come on, Charlie Brown. It's a big honor for you.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Featured in It's Your 20th Television Anniversary, Charlie Brown (1985) (TV)

Around this time of the year.....

Ever since the holiday special "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving",first aired on CBS-TV in November of 1973,this was one of many "Peanuts" inspired specials that brings out the kid in all of us,but at the same time have a message in between the lines. For years,from 1965 until 1998,the CBS Television Network has been televising these classic Charlie Brown specials every year including the titles based on the characters created by Charles M. Schultz. If you remember the specials that aired once annually which included the entire gang and the misadventures they encountered along the way. If not to mention the first four installments of the classic "Charlie Brown" theatrical features as well,which sometimes CBS would show on special holidays which included the first-ever 1969 feature,"A Boy Named Charlie Brown",then in 1972,with "Snoopy Come Home",and from there with "Race For Your Life,Charlie Brown",in 1977,and finally the last theatrical installment "Bon Voyage,Charlie Brown,And Don't Come Back",which was released in 1980. CBS would show these features on special occasions and around the holiday seasons as well,especially during Thanksgiving,Christmas,and Easter time. Not to mention,CBS also gave Charlie Brown and his faithful dog Snoopy their own Saturday Morning cartoon show as well which lasted for five years running and they would put out new specials based on this series. This would last on the Tiffany network for more than four decades. During the end of the 1990's,the change would come at a hard blow to the rest of Peanuts gang,which for certain end Charlie Brown's long association with CBS entirely.

All that would change drastically in 1998,when CBS stopped airing these classic "Peanuts" specials along with the rest of the entire Charlie Brown stuff. From there the specials switched networks too,this time from their years at CBS over to ABC,where the specials would aired annually on a yearly basis,not to mention ABC took over the entire production of the Charles M. Schultz's "Peanuts" specials which some new material was added with the already classic masterpieces. This phase took place after the untimely death of one of the greatest animators of all time when Charles M. Schultz,the creative force behind Charlie Brown and the rest of the Peanuts gang,passed away. However,ABC still aires these classics to this day,on a annual basis. But getting back to "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving",there is one thing that I got to say about this special presentation....it is a bonafide classic that still holds up some 30 years later. I remember seeing this special for the first time back in the early 1970's,when I was small,but today I get a kick out of enjoying every minute of it when it comes on. It involves the story of Charlie Brown,who invites to Thanksgiving dinner the rest of the gang which includes Peppermint Patty,her best friend Marcy,Franklin (the only African-American character on the show),Linus and his sister Lucy,and others to Charlie's house for Thanksgiving dinner even though the Brown family has other plans. However,Charlie's faithful and resourceful dog Snoopy lends a helping hand and pitches in to help along with his sidekick Woodstock for support. But the funniest and probably the hilarious part is when the Thanksgiving dinner is not about turkey and mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce,but turns out to be buttered toast,popcorn and cold cereal---junk food!

This is when Peppermint Patty goes off on Charlie Brown and his guests about the service of the dinner which was supposed to be about Thanksgiving and not junk food! However,Peppermint Patty felt really bad about saying the awful things the made Charlie feel real low,and gets Marcy to apologize to him for her. This is when his faithful dog,Snoopy really saves the day. However he calls his grandma and really invites his friends over to his grandma's house for Thanksgiving dinner. The moral of the story has a very important message for everyone. In this one the moral is that we are thankful for what we have and not to be concerned about what other people don't have. In other words,be thankful for what you got and sharing it with others during the Thanksgiving holiday. Also to boot in this classic special is the football kicking episode where Charlie Brown goes to kick the football while Lucy plays him every time for a sucker,which was always entertaining to boot. Watch it sometime!