A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving

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Template:Short description Template:Infobox television

A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving is a 1973 American television special based upon the comic strip Peanuts, by Charles M. Schulz. The tenth prime-time animated television special in the Peanuts, it originally aired on the CBS network on November 20, 1973, and won an Emmy Award the following year.<ref name=Woolery>Template:Cite book</ref> It was the third holiday special after A Charlie Brown Christmas in 1965 and It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown in 1966.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Except for the opening football gag, it is the first Peanuts TV special to have a completely original script without relying on the strip.<ref>Template:Cite AV media</ref>

Plot

In the cold open, Lucy encourages Charlie Brown to try and kick her football to honor the tradition of Thanksgiving football. Charlie Brown thinks about kicking it and decides to do so. When he runs to kick it, Lucy, as usual, pulls the ball away just before Charlie Brown reaches it and tells him that some traditions fade away.

As the Brown siblings prepare to go to their grandmother's for Thanksgiving dinner, Charlie Brown gets a phone call from Peppermint Patty, whose father is out of town so she invites herself — and soon after, Marcie and Franklin — to the Browns' house for Thanksgiving, even though Charlie Brown is not having dinner there nor can he cook anything beyond "maybe toast." Linus suggests that they prepare a Thanksgiving dinner for their friends before the Browns go to their own family meal and recruits Snoopy and Woodstock to help; Snoopy sets up a ping pong table and chairs outside. Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Woodstock and Linus then prepare a feast of toast, pan-fried popcorn, pretzel sticks, jelly beans and sundaes.

After Peppermint Patty, Marcie and Franklin arrive, Linus leads the group in a prayer that details the First Thanksgiving before Snoopy serves the meal. Peppermint Patty, who expected turkey and other traditional Thanksgiving food, angrily yells at Charlie Brown, who leaves the table dejected. Marcie suggests Peppermint Patty was too hard on Charlie Brown and asks whether he invited her or she just invited herself. Peppermint Patty, realizing she was in the wrong, asks Marcie to apologize to Charlie Brown on her behalf (unintentionally paralleling The Courtship of Miles Standish). Marcie reluctantly agrees, but Peppermint Patty soon follows and apologizes directly. Realizing that he and Sally are late for the Brown family dinner, Charlie Brown explains the situation over the phone to his grandmother, who invites all his friends to come along for dinner. On the drive over, they sing "Over the River and Through the Wood", but as they finish the song, Charlie Brown says there's one problem with that song: His grandmother lives in a condominium, not a house.

Snoopy and Woodstock go to Snoopy's doghouse and cook their own traditional Thanksgiving meal. They break the wishbone, with Woodstock receiving the larger piece. Over the end credits, the two eat pumpkin pie.

Broadcast history

The special first aired on CBS on Tuesday, November 20, 1973, two days before Thanksgiving. It placed third in the Nielsen ratings for the week, behind All in the Family and Sanford & Son.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The special continued to air every year on CBS (skipping 1982, 1983, and 1988) through Nov. 23, 1989.

The Disney Channel and Nickelodeon returned the special for re-airing in the 1990s (in the latter channel's case, under the "You're on Nickelodeon, Charlie Brown" umbrella of productions) and then, in 2001, it moved, along with the rest of the Peanuts specials, to ABC. In contrast to CBS, ABC aired the special every year through 2019, on several days in the week leading up to Thanksgiving, and it regularly won its time slot.<ref>TV Ratings Wednesday: 'A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving' wins the night, 'Survivor' dips. TV by the Numbers (November 28, 2019). Retrieved November 30, 2019.</ref> As the special runs slightly over a half-hour with commercials, ABC typically filled the remaining portion of the full hour with other Peanuts programming. From 2008 to 2019, the remaining time was filled by a slightly abridged edit of "The Mayflower Voyagers," the premiere episode of the 1988 miniseries This Is America, Charlie Brown.

Starting in 2020, the special (along with the rest of the Peanuts library) has exclusively aired on Apple TV+; under the terms of the agreement, Apple TV+ must provide a three-day window in November in which the special is available for free. On November 18, 2020 Apple announced they had reached an agreement to air the special on Sunday, November 22, 2020, the Sunday before Thanksgiving, commercial free on PBS and PBS Kids.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In accordance with most PBS affiliates' non-commercial educational licenses, the special was presented on PBS unedited without commercial interruption, with only a brief underwriting spot before and after the special: "This special broadcast of A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving was made possible by Apple." Apple renewed the agreement with PBS in 2021<ref name="PBS2021">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> but did not renew it for 2022.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Apple renewed its exclusive streaming rights to the special in an agreement announced October 2, 2025, the 75th anniversary of the first published Peanuts comic strip.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The special is also broadcast in Canada, usually in early October in line with the Canadian observance of Thanksgiving. The special is aired on Family Channel as of 2018, with the special aired on the day before Thanksgiving and on Thanksgiving Day, which takes place on the second Monday of October in Canada.

Voice actors

This is the last TV special that uses the same cast from Snoopy Come Home, You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown, and There's No Time for Love, Charlie Brown. In the next television special, Kohn, DeFaria, and Momberger would be succeeded in their respective roles by Melanie Kohn (Robin's younger sister), Donna Forman, and Lynn Mortensen, respectively.

Soundtrack

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The soundtrack for A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving was composed by Vince Guaraldi (except where noted) and conducted and arranged by John Scott Trotter.<ref name=Bangsonglist>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The score was performed by the Vince Guaraldi Quintet on August 20, 22 and September 4, 1973, at Wally Heider Studios, featuring Tom Harrell (trumpet), Chuck Bennett (trombone), Seward McCain (electric bass) and Mike Clark (drums).<ref name="linerCBThanks">Mendelson, Sean; Liner notes from CD version of A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving: Original Soundtrack Recording (2023)</ref><ref name=Bangtimeline>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Beginning in 1998, separate music cues have been released, scattered across several compilation albums:<ref name=Bangsonglist/><ref name=Bang>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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On October 20, 2023, a full album containing the remastered original recordings for the special and several bonus tracks was released for the first time in honor of the special’s 50th anniversary.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Home media

The special was released on RCA's SelectaVision CED format in 1982 as part of the A Charlie Brown Festival Vol. III compilation. It was released on VHS by Kartes Video Communications (later KVC Home Video) in 1987. It was released by Paramount Home Video on VHS on September 28, 1994 and was re-released in clamshell packaging on October 1, 1996. A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving was released on DVD by Paramount Home Entertainment on September 12, 2000. It was re-released by Warner Home Video in remastered form on October 7, 2008.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It was released on a Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack by Warner Home Video on October 5, 2010. The special was released in a 40th anniversary deluxe edition DVD by Warner Home Video with the same features from previous editions on October 1, 2013. The deluxe edition DVD also features "The Mayflower Voyagers". The special was released on Ultra HD Blu-ray on October 24, 2017.<ref name="blu-ray">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

References

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