The special opens with Lucy again enticing Charlie Brown to kick a football she is holding - which again ends up with Charlie Brown missing the ball and landing flat on his back once again. Later, Charlie Brown and Sally are preparing to go to their grandmother's for Thanksgiving dinner when Charlie Brown gets a phone call from Peppermint Patty, who invites herself over to Charlie Brown's house for the holiday dinner. Two quick subsequent phone calls from Peppermint Patty add Marcie and Franklin to the guest list, but since Charlie Brown cannot get a word in edgewise with Patty, he quickly finds himself in a quandary with no easy solution, at least not until Linus shows up. Linus suggests to Charlie Brown that he could have two Thanksgiving dinners. It's revealed that the first one can be for himself, Peppermint Patty, and her friends, while the second one can be at his grandmother's house for his family. Charlie Brown says he cannot make a Thanksgiving dinner. He says that all he knows how to make is "cold cereal and maybe toast". Regardless, Linus recruits Snoopy and Woodstock to help. The guests arrive and make their way to the backyard for the Thanksgiving feast. Linus leads the group in prayer that details the First Thanksgiving in 1621, and then Snoopy serves up the feast which includes buttered toast, pretzel sticks, popcorn, jelly beans, and an ice cream sundae. Patty's initial shock at the unconventional Thanksgiving feast quickly turns to outrage, and when she loudly berates Charlie Brown he timidly leaves the table. Patty's tirade continues until Marcie quietly reminds her that she had invited herself along with Marcie and Franklin. Coming to her senses, Patty asks Marcie to apologize to Charlie Brown on her behalf; Marcie reluctantly agrees, but Patty soon follows and apologizes to him herself. Following this, Charlie Brown is reminded that he and Sally are due at their grandmother's house for dinner, so he calls her and explains his situation. When he mentions his friends are there, and that they have not yet eaten, his grandmother invites them all to Thanksgiving dinner, which is welcomed with cheers from everyone. After the kids leave singing, Snoopy and Woodstock go to the doghouse and cook up their own traditional Thanksgiving meal. They then pull the wishbone which Woodstock wins. Over the end credits, the two friends each devour a large piece of pumpkin pie then sit back with contented smiles as Woodstock pats his full stomach.
Broadcast history
The special first aired on CBS on November 20, 1973, and continued to air every year on that network until November 23, 1989. The Disney Channel and Nickelodeon revived the special for reairing in the 1990s and then, in 2001, it moved, along with the rest of the Peanuts specials, to ABC. Traditionally, ABC airs the special on Thanksgiving night, although it also has aired on various days in the week leading up to Thanksgiving. As the special runs slightly over a half-hour with commercials, ABC typically fills the remaining portion of the full hour with other Peanuts programming. Since 2008, the remaining time has been filled by a slightly abridged edit of "The Mayflower Voyagers," the premiere episode of the 1988 miniseries This Is America, Charlie Brown. The special has regularly won its time slot each year since at least 2017. It is also broadcast in Canada, usually in early October in line with Canada's 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.
*This is the final time that Kohn, DeFaria, and Momberger voiced Lucy, Peppermint Patty, and Sally respectively. In the next TV special, they would be replaced by Melanie Kohn, Donna Forman, and Lynn Mortensen respectively.
*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.
Graphic Blandishment: Bernard Gruver, Evert Brown, Ed Levitt, Frank Smith, Dean Spille, Don Lusk, Bob Carlson, Sam Jaimes, Bill Littlejohn, Al Pabian, Bob Bachman, Bror Lansing, Carole Barnes, Beverly Robbins, Eleanor Warren, Faith Kovaleski, Manon Washburn, Joice Lee Marshall, Adele Lenart, Chandra Poweris, Carla Washburn, Joanne Lansing
The music score for A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving was composed by Vince Guaraldi and conducted and arranged by John Scott Trotter. The score was performed by the Vince Guaraldi Quintet on July 17-18, August 6 and October 1, 1973, at Wally Heider Studios, featuring Tom Harrell, Chuck Bennett, Seward McCain and Mike Clark.
While an official soundtrack for the special has not been released, separate music cues have been scattered across several compilation albums beginning in 1998:
"Charlie Brown Blues" and "Thanksgiving Theme" appeared on Charlie Brown's Holiday Hits.
"Linus and Lucy" was released on The Charlie Brown Suite & Other Favorites.
"Peppermint Patty" and "Is It James or Charlie?" appeared on Peanuts Portraits.
Home media
This special 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. 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.
