Lessons About Love From A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving
Sandwiched between Halloween and Christmas, you’ll find an underrated holiday and an even more underrated Charlie Brown movie. Everyone loves posting GIFs from It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, and sending out holiday greeting cards plastered with images from A Charlie Brown Christmas. But how often do we hear references to A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving? Not as often as we should.
This might be the natural result of Thanksgiving itself being overshadowed by other holidays. However, the 30-minute short film is also wonderfully lowkey, which lends itself to slipping – unintentionally – right out of the spotlight.
Still, the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving special continues to garner new fans, with the number of viewers today soaring far above the number who tuned in for the 1973 debut. In fact, so many families have made it an annual tradition that there was nationwide panic when AppleTV acquired the rights to this cozy installment of the Peanuts in 2020. Thankfully, Apple collaborated with PBS to air A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving for all to enjoy during the holidays.1
More than turkey dinners, more than the Macy’s Balloon Parade and more than football games, A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving captures the essence of the holiday: love.
(You thought I was going to say “gratitude,” didn’t you?)
L’il Folks and Peanuts
The Peanuts gang is beloved around the world, gracing everything from the tops of PEZ dispensers to t-shirts, but they weren’t always so well known.
Throughout the 1940s, Charles Schulz submitted cartoons to various magazines, trying to establish himself as a real cartoonist – his childhood dream job. However, he received “nothing but rejection slips” in return for his drawings.2 He didn’t give up, though – he kept drawing and finally started a comic called L’il Folks in a Minnesota newspaper. While the characters bear a passing resemblance to the Charlie Brown cast we know today, the strip never became a permanent fixture in the St. Paul Pioneer Press.3
It wasn’t until October 2, 1950, that the Peanuts came into existence, with the first strip running in seven newspapers. It was the big break Charlie Brown needed. Though not immediately popular, it was a foothold that led to an enormous success.
By 1955, Schulz had earned his first Reuben Award – one the highest honors for a cartoonist – and by the 1960s, the Peanuts were being printed in hundreds of newspapers and taken into orbit around the moon. (Well, the lunar modules were named “Charlie Brown” and “Snoopy,” anyway.4)
Over a 50-year run, Schulz was the sole artist behind the 18,000-plus comic strips, and the collected work is possibly the longest story ever told by a single person.5
But what kept the story alive? What kept audiences coming back, and what keeps them coming back, even now? I think the answer lies embedded in A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving.
A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving
Like any self-respecting Charlie Brown content, the Thanksgiving special not only includes a football-kicking scene, but it also opens with it. Within a minute of the film, poor little Charlie Brown is flat on his back, wondering how he was duped yet again. His naivety, his willingness to trust, is as endearing as ever.
If that wasn’t enough of a predicament for our favorite yellow-striped-wearing protagonist, he gets a phone call from Peppermint Patty, who invites herself over for Thanksgiving dinner. Unable to get a word in edgewise, Charlie Brown fails to tell her he won’t even be home – he’ll be celebrating at his grandmother’s.
There’s a sense of relief when Patty calls again – surely “Chuck” will manage to explain things to her this time! – but instead, Patty tells him to set out extra plates for Marcie and Franklin, whom she’s invited as well.
Needless to say, Charlie Brown finds himself rather frazzled. Luckily he’s good friends with the level-headed Linus, who suggests a practical solution: simply have two Thanksgivings – lunch with friends, then dinner with his grandma. Perfect.
Except Charlie Brown can’t cook.
With help from Linus, Snoopy, and Woodstock, they make the only things they know how: popcorn, toast, and pretzels.
Once seated at the table with all of their friends, Linus recounts the story of the first Thanksgiving and says a prayer, like the pilgrims did, over the meal.
We thank God for our homes and our food and our safety in a new land. We thank God for the opportunity to create a new world for freedom and justice.
linus, adapting from edler william brewster (A charlie Brown Thanksgiving)
In stark contrast to Linus’ story of grateful pilgrims and his prayer of thanks, Patty begins bemoaning the lack of turkey, potatoes, and cranberry sauce. (Would anyone really miss cranberry sauce??)
Charlie Brown quietly slips away from the table, saddened that he’s “ruined everyone’s Thanksgiving.”
Realizing her mistake, Patty enlists Marcie’s help to apologize to Charlie Brown. As things are smoothed over, Marcie remarks that Thanksgiving isn’t about food. It’s about being together. While that’s certainly the truth, the children still end up getting to eat, too, as Charlie Brown’s grandmother invites them all to her dinner. As the kids pile into the car, Snoopy and Woodstock sit down to their own little feast.
A lesson learned and a happy ending for all!
Lessons About Love
Of course, being thankful on Thanksgiving is a little on the nose, which is why I wanted to focus on the other lesson that can be found in A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving: how to love others.
That we should love one another is a simple truth, yet sometimes so difficult to implement. However, Charlie Brown and his friends showcase it beautifully throughout this little Thanksgiving special.
The first act of love is displayed by Charlie Brown, who is slow to anger. Instead of being irritated by Patty’s selfish request, he’s worried about providing a nice Thanksgiving for her. While we could definitely argue Charlie Brown needs to be more assertive (an excellent quality), that doesn’t diminish the way he reacted – with concern for his friend.
The next example of love stems from Linus, Snoopy, and Woodstock. They had no obligation to help Charlie Brown throw together a Thanksgiving lunch, but they all slaved away in the kitchen next to their friend. (It’s hard work buttering toast!) They were selfless as they gave of their time and (admittedly questionable) culinary talents.
As a dog, Snoopy, by definition, is a good boy, but he really showed it as he served others before himself. He was sure to give each guest a plate of toast and popcorn and later dish up a helping of turkey for Woodstock before fixing his own plate. (We don’t ask questions about Woodstock – a bird – eating turkey.)
After Patty’s inconsiderate outburst, Marcie showed kindness to Patty by agreeing to help her apologize, as well as to Charlie Brown through her comforting words.
Although she was the cause of hurt feelings, even Patty was an example of love as she humbled herself enough to admit she was wrong.
Lastly, Charlie Brown exhibited what is, perhaps, the greatest form of love: forgiveness. Once Patty had apologized, all it took was a handshake to solidify their friendship once again.
With it’s simple animation, jazzy music, and adorably quirky dialogue, A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving is a surprising gem of relevant truth for our daily lives.
As we celebrate this cozy, autumnal holiday, it’s a wonderful opportunity to show how grateful we are through acts of love. Through patience. Through servitude. Through forgiveness. And, of course, through serving up a big slice of turkey.
Happy Thanksgiving, MouseEars TV family!
Cover Image
Photo: Cozinhando Fantasias via Flickr
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