History WesternAnimation / ACharlieBrownThanksgiving

* ASimplePlan: And it almost works, if not for Patty complaining. Linus suggests to Charlie Brown that if he has three uninvited guests, Charlie Brown host a simple dinner early before the big celebration at Grandma's. When Charlie Brown says he can only make cereal and toast, Linus and Snoopy help him assemble toast, popcorn, jelly beans and pretzel sticks. The other kids, after being weirded out by Snoopy tossing them their food, dig in.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Lucy isn't seen or even mentioned following the Football Gag scene at the beginning. This is especially odd given the substantial role that her brother Linus has in the main story.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Lucy isn't seen or even mentioned after the Football Gag scene at the beginning. This is especially odd given the substantial role that her brother Linus has in the main story.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Lucy isn't seen or even mentioned after the Football Gag scene at the beginning. This is especially odd given the substantial role her brother Linus has in the main story.

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: Asked to say grace before dinner, Linus provides a thumbnail sketch of the first Thanksgiving in 1621 Plymouth, then recites a paraphrased version of a prayer that Elder William Brewster ''might'' have given for the colonists. (The prayer itself was made up for the special.)

* CarnivoreConfusion: The ending scene features Woodstock joining Snoopy in eating turkey. On a DVD release, Bill Melendez admitted that even he thought the scene was rather morbid. (Then again, birds eat other ''species'' of bird in nature, so Woodstock, a canary, isn't a cannibal for eating a turkey.)

* YouDidntAsk: Charlie Brown and Linus enlist Snoopy and Woodstock to help prepare and serve their "alternate" meal for the gang. After they leave, Snoopy pulls out a fully-cooked, traditional Thanksgiving meal for himself and Woodstock.

* YouDidntAsk: Charlie Brown and Linus enlist Snoopy and Woodstock to help serve their "alternate" meal to the gang. After they leave, Snoopy pulls out a fully cooked, traditional Thanksgiving meal.

* YouDidntAsk: Charlie Brown and Linus ask Snoopy and Woodstock to help serve Charlie's "alternate" meal to the gang. After they leave, Snoopy pulls out a fully cooked, traditional Thanksgiving meal.

The tenth of the ''Franchise/{{Peanuts}}'' animated specials, and naturally enough a ThanksgivingEpisode, it first aired on Creator/{{CBS}} on November 20, 1973[[note]]though, in a case of ShortRunInPeru, it actually premiered in Canada on the Creator/{{CBC}} on October 6, 1973, during the Canadian Thanksgiving holiday weekend[[/note]] and became an annual tradition thereafter. Much as Thanksgiving itself is sandwiched between the higher-profile holidays of Halloween and Christmas, this special never became quite as iconic as the similarly holiday-themed ''WesternAnimation/ACharlieBrownChristmas'' and ''WesternAnimation/ItsTheGreatPumpkinCharlieBrown'', though like those it continues to air each and every year.

The tenth of the ''Franchise/{{Peanuts}}'' animated specials, and naturally enough a ThanksgivingEpisode, it first aired on Creator/{{CBS}} on November 20, 1973[[note]]though, in a case of ShortRunInPeru, it actually premiered in Canada on the Creator/{{CBC}} on October 6, 1973, during the Canadian Thanksgiving holiday weekend[[/note]] and became an annual tradition thereafter. Much as Thanksgiving itself is sandwiched between the higher-profile holidays of Halloween and Christmas, this special never became quite as iconic as the similarly holiday-themed ''WesternAnimation/ACharlieBrownChristmas'' and ''WesternAnimation/ItsTheGreatPumpkinCharlieBrown'' -- although it, too, continues to air each and every year.

The plot concerns Peppermint Patty inviting herself, Marcie, and Franklin over to Charlie Brown's house for Thanksgiving dinner. Unfortunately, Charlie Brown and his family will be going to his grandmother's house for dinner and he can't seem to explain this fact to Peppermint Patty, so he, Linus, and Snoopy scramble to throw together a makeshift backyard "dinner" consisting of toast, popcorn, pretzel sticks, and jelly beans.

The tenth of the ''Franchise/{{Peanuts}}'' animated specials, and naturally enough a ThanksgivingEpisode, it first aired on Creator/{{CBS}} on November 20, 1973[[note]]though, in a case of ShortRunInPeru, it actually premiered in Canada on the Creator/{{CBC}} on October 6, 1973, during the Canadian Thanksgiving holiday weekend[[/note]] and became an annual tradition thereafter. Much as Thanksgiving itself is sandwiched between the higher-profile holidays of Halloween and Christmas, this special never became quite as iconic as the similarly holiday-themed ''WesternAnimation/ACharlieBrownChristmas'' and ''WesternAnimation/ItsTheGreatPumpkinCharlieBrown'' -- although, like those ones, it continues to air each and every year.

The tenth of the ''Franchise/{{Peanuts}}'' animated specials, and naturally enough a ThanksgivingEpisode, it first aired on Creator/{{CBS}} on November 20, 1973[[note]]though, in a case of ShortRunInPeru, it actually premiered in Canada on the Creator/{{CBC}} on October 6, 1973, during the Canadian Thanksgiving holiday weekend[[/note]] and became an annual tradition thereafter. Much as Thanksgiving is sandwiched between the higher-profile holidays of Halloween and Christmas, it never became quite as iconic as the similarly holiday-themed ''WesternAnimation/ACharlieBrownChristmas'' and ''WesternAnimation/ItsTheGreatPumpkinCharlieBrown''--though, like those specials, it continues to air each and every year.

The tenth of the ''Franchise/{{Peanuts}}'' animated specials, and naturally enough a ThanksgivingEpisode, it first aired on Creator/{{CBS}} on November 20, 1973[[note]]though, in a case of ShortRunInPeru, it actually premiered in Canada on the Creator/{{CBC}} on October 6, 1973, during the Canadian Thanksgiving holiday weekend[[/note]] and became an annual tradition thereafter. Much as Thanksgiving is sandwiched between the higher profile holidays of Halloween and Christmas, it never became quite as iconic as the similarly holiday-themed ''WesternAnimation/ACharlieBrownChristmas'' and ''WesternAnimation/ItsTheGreatPumpkinCharlieBrown''--though, like those specials, it continues to air each and every year.

The tenth ''Franchise/{{Peanuts}}'' animated special, and naturally enough a ThanksgivingEpisode, it aired on Creator/{{CBS}} on November 20, 1973[[note]]though, in a case of ShortRunInPeru, it actually premiered in Canada on the Creator/{{CBC}} on October 6, 1973 during the Canadian Thanksgiving holiday weekend[[/note]] and became an annual tradition thereafter. Much as Thanksgiving is sandwiched between the higher profile holidays of Halloween and Christmas, it never became quite as iconic as the similarly holiday-themed ''WesternAnimation/ACharlieBrownChristmas'' and ''WesternAnimation/ItsTheGreatPumpkinCharlieBrown''--though, like those specials, it continues to air each and every year.

Followed by ''It's A Mystery, Charlie Brown'' in 1974.

* CoolOldLady: Charlie Brown's grandmother hears about him hosting an impromptu Thanksgiving dinner, but the guests aren't satisfied. She invites the other kids along, much to their delight.

-->'''Linus:''' Why don't you just call her back and explain it to her?\\
'''Charlie Brown:''' You can't explain anything to Peppermint Patty, because you never get to say anything! I'm doomed.

* CripplingOverspecialization: Snoopy blunders and goes through hell just to make the kids a barebones "alternate" meal made of sandwiches and raw snacks, though during the ending he ironically proves able to conjure up a traditional Thanksgiving dinner with little to no fuss.

The plot concerns Peppermint Patty inviting herself, Marcie, and Franklin over to Charlie Brown's house for Thanksgiving dinner. Unfortunately, Charlie Brown and his family will be going to his grandmother's house for dinner and he can't seem to explain this fact to Peppermint Patty, so he, Linus, and Snoopy scramble to throw together a makeshift backyard "dinner" consisting of toast, popcorn, pretzels and jelly beans.

** During the end credits, Snoopy enjoys a ''real'' Thanksgiving dinner with Woodstock, including a whole turkey and pumpkin pie. One wonders where Snoopy was hiding it while the others were having popcorn, toast and jellybeans.

* ASimplePlan: And it almost works, if not for Patty complaining. Linus suggests to Charlie Brown that if he has three uninvited guests, Charlie Brown host a simple dinner early before the big celebration at Grandma's. When Charlie Brown says he can only make cereal and toast, Linus and Snoopy help him assemble toast, popcorn, jellybeans and pretzel sticks. The other kids, after being weirded out by Snoopy tossing them their food, dig into the food.

* OneNoteCook: Lampshaded after Linus suggests that Charlie Brown host a dinner for his friends.

* OutOfControlPopcorn: One of the things Snoopy does when preparing the food was prepare the popcorn. But there was one time he forgot to put the lid on the pot when throwing in the next batch of kernels...

* AnimateInanimateObject: When setting up the Thanksgiving dinner Snoopy struggles with a folding chair that won't stay unfolded and the chair comes to life and starts to fight back.

-->'''Marcie:''' Now wait a minute, sir. Did he invite you here to dinner, or did you invite yourself and us too?

** Snoopy fights with a lawn chair, breaking it. Later that day when Charlie Brown hosts his impromptu Thanksgiving dinner, Franklin goes to sit on the same chair. He nearly falls off it and can barely see across the table.

* CannotSpitItOut: When Peppermint Patty calls and invites herself, Marcy and Franklin over, Charlie Brown stammers because he can't explain that his family has already made plans, mainly because Patty keeps interrupting him.

The tenth ''Franchise/{{Peanuts}}'' animated special, and naturally enough a ThanksgivingEpisode, it was first broadcast on Creator/{{CBS}} on November 20, 1973. For whatever reason, it hasn't become quite as iconic as the similarly holiday-themed ''WesternAnimation/ACharlieBrownChristmas'' and ''WesternAnimation/ItsTheGreatPumpkinCharlieBrown''--though, like those specials, it continues to air each and every year.

In 2001 annual broadcast rights to the special moved to Creator/{{ABC}}, where it was typically paired with an edited version of "The Mayflower Voyagers," the premiere episode of the 1988–89 mini-series ''WesternAnimation/ThisIsAmericaCharlieBrown''. (The two specials are commonly paired on DVD as well.) In 2020, this and the other ''Peanuts'' specials moved to Creator/AppleTVPlus as part of a streaming deal. However, it [[https://www.pbs.org/video/charlie-brown-thanksgiving-ti4l9s/ aired on]] Creator/{{PBS}} and Creator/PBSKids that year as part of a last-minute arrangement, which has carried on into at least 2021.

The tenth ''Franchise/{{Peanuts}}'' animated special, first broadcast on Creator/{{CBS}} in 1973, and naturally enough a ThanksgivingEpisode. For whatever reason, it hasn't become quite as iconic as the similarly holiday-themed ''WesternAnimation/ACharlieBrownChristmas'' and ''WesternAnimation/ItsTheGreatPumpkinCharlieBrown''--though, like those specials, it continues to air each and every year.

This is not just a Thanksgiving special. This is ''the'' Thanksgiving special (in part because there aren't that many Thanksgiving specials).