Thanksgiving in cartoons
Thanksgiving doesn’t seem to get the attention that the two more popular holidays surrounding it, Halloween and Christmas, receive. Or at least, as far as the producers of TV animated specials are concerned.
There are some possible reasons for this: Thanksgiving is only celebrated in the United States and Canada (and Canada celebrates their Thanksgiving in October); Thanksgiving isn’t as profitable a holiday for corporations, unless they’re a supermarket or in the travel industry; Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, is a dominant and overshadowing commercial force (plus it marks the full start of the December holidays); and some dislike the darker aspects of Thanksgiving’s origins (the United States’ treatment of Indigenous peoples).
Still, Thanksgiving has some positive aspects, including: an emphasis on family and friends; the role food plays; and for many people, the four-day weekend marks the longest non-vacation period of time off work most people get. As such, the first two points makes the holiday appealing to some producers of animated holiday specials. Below are some noteworthy uses of Thanksgiving in cartoons.
A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving
The 1973 “Peanuts” special “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving” isn’t as strong as the Halloween or Christmas specials, but still has its amusing moments.
The plot consists of Charlie Brown fretting over Peppermint Patty inviting herself (plus Marcie and, in his first animated appearance, Franklin) over to “Chuck”‘s house for a Thanksgiving dinner. However, there’s two problems – one: Charlie Brown and Sally are going to be at their grandmother’s for Thanksgiving dinner. And two: Charlie Brown can’t cook. Fortunately, Linus and Snoopy come to the rescue, helping “Chuck” prepare a bizarre “meal” for the self-invited guests.
My favorite parts of this special:
The obligatory football-kicking gag.
The special’s funniest part, the scene with Snoopy fighting a lawn chair… even if doesn’t make sense.
Peppermint Patty ranting about the “meal” consisting of toast, jelly beans, popcorn, and pretzels.
Linus comments the dinner situation reminds him of the story of the courtship of Miles Standish. Patty responds: “this isn’t like that one at all.”
Charlie Brown and Franklin’s “greeting” at the door.
Franklin gets only one major line during the special, asking Peppermint Patty if he should dress up for the dinner. (Some people note he also got the post-Snoopy-fight broken lawn chair!) Fortunately, Franklin gets a lot more visibility in some modern “Peanuts” media.
On video
The “Peanuts” specials, including “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving,” are exclusively available through Apple TV+.
If you don’t want Apple TV+, your only alternative is to buy this special on DVD/Blu-ray. Fortunately, “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving” is on several DVD/Blu-ray releases, including:
A stand-alone release (on DVD, Blu-ray, and 4K). It also comes with an episode of the 1980s historical miniseries “This is America, Charlie Brown” (the Mayflower voyage, as re-enacted by the Peanuts gang).
The “Peanuts: 1970s collection, volume 1” DVD set. However, this set seems to be out of print.
The “Peanuts Holiday Collection” (on DVD, Blu-ray, and 4K), which collects the Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas specials (plus their extras).
“Peanuts Deluxe Collection”: A DVD set (no Blu-ray or 4K version available) containing the above Holiday Collection episodes, as well as the specials "You’re Not Elected, Charlie Brown,” “It’s the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown,” and “Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown.”
Garfield’s Thanksgiving
This 1989 “Garfield” special sees Garfield excited for Thanksgiving, given his love of food. Unfortunately, he’s put on a diet by Liz the vet, who Jon invites over for Thanksgiving dinner. Making things worse is Jon’s inept meal preparation, which leads to the Arbuckle household requiring help to finish the meal on time.
Grandma Arbuckle’s appearance (her second, after the Christmas special) is fun, as is Jon stalling for time by explaining to (and boring) Liz about the origins and traditions of Thanksgiving.
The design of Jon’s house and some of the incidental music are taken from “Garfield and Friends,” which was on Saturday mornings at this time.
An odd point about this special is that Jon’s incapable of preparing a Thanksgiving meal. While meant to showcase his bumbling nature, Jon seems to have no problem cooking similar foods (including chicken, etc.) for Garfield’s voracious meals. Maybe Jon, Garfield, and Odie always went to Jon’s parents’ farm for Thanksgiving every year until now?
Best lines:
JON: (to Liz) “Make yourself comfortable, Liz. I need to slip into the kitchen and take care of a few last-minute details.” GARFIELD: “Yeah, like finding something to eat.”
GARFIELD: (about Jon) “If he had a brain, he’d be dangerous.”
On video
The special’s included on the “Garfield Holiday Collection” and “Happy Holidays, Garfield” DVDs. Unfortunately, both DVDs seem to have fallen out of print.
However, “Garfield’s Thanksgiving” is available on digital video stores such as iTunes and Amazon Prime Video. It's also available to watch on Peacock, as well as for free on Tubi and YouTube.
Looney Tunes
The Looney Tunes franchise made a few Thanksgiving-related clip-show specials.
Bugs Bunny’s Thanksgiving Diet
This 1979 Looney Tunes special “Bugs Bunny’s Thanksgiving Diet” was a clip show compilation of previous shorts. In newly animated wraparound segments, Bugs (as a dietitian) helps Millicent (the heavy-set female rabbit from 1957’s “Rabbit Romeo”) stay on her diet by telling her about other animals’ dietary habits.
Daffy Duck’s Thanks-for-giving Special
This 1980 Daffy Duck special has little actual tie-in to Thanksgiving outside of the opening scenes. The tie-in is Daffy cynically trying to find a holiday to exploit for his own purposes, thus leading to the special’s title. Daffy decides “Thanks-for-Giving” is the day his fans can give “thanks” to him for the great films he’s given us over the years.
The rest of the plot is an extended version (and reuse of clips from) “The Scarlet Pumpernickel,” with Daffy trying to sell a Warner Bros. exec on a new film idea. This leads to a full airing of the then-recently-made sequel short “Duck Dodgers and the Return of the 24th 1/2 Century.”
Holiday for Drumsticks/Tom Turk and Daffy
Two shorts starring Daffy centered around Thanksgiving. The first, 1944’s “Tom Turk and Daffy,” sees Daffy helping to hide a turkey from being a Pilgrim Porky Pig’s Thanksgiving main course. That is, until Daffy hears about the side dishes Porky was going to make, and turns into a stool pigeon.
The latter short is 1949’s “Holiday for Drumsticks,” where Daffy again helps a turkey avoid being on the Thanksgiving menu. This time, Daffy helps by putting the bird on a severe weight-loss program to make him unappetizing for some hillbillies. It works, but since Daffy ate all of the turkey’s food (his main motivation in “helping”), Daffy’s the one fattened up (and targeted for the big meal) instead.
On video
“Bugs Bunny’s Thanksgiving Diet” and “Daffy Duck’s Thanks-for-Giving” are available on a single DVD release, alongside “Bugs Bunny’s Howl-o-ween Special” and the 2000s-made Christmas special “Bah Humduck.”
“Holiday for Drumsticks” is available for streaming on Boomerang, though with no DVD release to date.
“Tom Turk and Daffy” is available on the “Looney Tunes Super Stars” Porky Pig DVD.
The Simpsons (“Bart vs. Thanksgiving”)
“Bart vs. Thanksgiving” is a Season 2 episode of “The Simpsons,” first airing in November 1990.
The plot sees Lisa and Bart get into an argument at Thanksgiving dinner, which ruins an elaborate centerpiece Lisa made. After being sent to his room as punishment, Bart decides to run away from home.
A nice episode, though of course it has little in common with the show’s zanier latter years.
Some of my favorite moments:
Homer tells Bart (after Bart says he’s never heard of Bullwinkle or Underdog) that they can’t make a Macy’s parade balloon for every “flash-in-the-pan cartoon character.” Cue a balloon of Bart going by on the Simpsons’ TV. Ironically, the show itself is the polar opposite of “flash in the pan” at this point—it’s now the longest-running scripted primetime American TV show.
Maggie watching the bad halftime football show on TV by herself.
On video
“Bart vs. Thanksgiving” is included as part of the Season 2 DVD set. It's also available to stream on Disney+.
Image: "Thanksgiving 2010" by cnewtoncom is licensed under CC BY 2.0. (Flickr)