A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving 1973

[7.3/10] This is more mild and cute than some Charlie Brown specials, but it’s fun as a sort of holiday hangout. There’s some of the sweet cynicism that I think of when I think of Peanuts. Little bits like Lucy suckering Charlie Brown in to trying to kick the football as an important “Thanksgiving honor”, good ol’ Charlie himself lamenting that holidays always depress him, and Sally griping about how Thanksgiving just means more work at school and having to remember historical figures she can’t keep straight all have the wry sensibility that I like from this gang. Heck, there’s even an early complaint about Christmas Creep! But those kinds of moments are few and far between.

Instead, the special is mostly low-stakes sitcom-esque shtick and miscellaneous antics from Snoopy and Woodstock. Both are enjoyable on their own terms, but don’t quite have the punch of the group’s usual fractured take on holiday mirth.

For the former, Charlie Brown gets roped into putting on an impromptu Thanksgiving dinner for Peppermint Patty, who invites herself (and Marcy and Franklin) over for the holiday without being asked. Ol’ Chuck trying to make a meal aligned to his level of culinary skill for them, pouting when it’s not well-received, and eventually getting an apology from Marcy is amiable enough. There’s not much to it, but the general warmth of the story carries it, and the group all heading to Charlie’s grandmother’s house at the end is a nice note to go out on.

Likewise, Snoopy and Woodstock doing all the work -- from setting up the table to preparing the toast and popcorn for the “feast” -- is all pretty standard funny animal business. But it’s good. The animation of their mini-misadventures is nicely rough and expressive, and the backgrounds have an inviting, autumnal glow that helps set the mood. Those sequences also put Vince Guaraldi’s beautiful score in focus, which is never a bad thing.

Overall, this one is closer to pleasant Turkey Day wallpaper than a stone cold classic like the Xmas or Halloween specials, but it’s still a nice one to watch when the fourth Thursday in November rolls around.

EDIT: I’m bumping this one up a point upon realizing that what I wrote off as a silly sitcom trope was actually good ol’ Chuck Schultz parodying The Courtship of Miles Standish by adapting it for the elementary school scene. There’s cleverness there that went over my head (largely by dint of my not really knowing the poem), and this special deserves credit for it.