We never miss the opportunity to invite Charlie Brown into our home for the holidays, so A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving is a must. I was already fifteen years old when this first aired, so it doesn't have the emotional bond of the Halloween and Christmas episodes. But the colors are bright, Peppermint Patty turns in one of her finest performances, and we get not one but two great Snoopy and Woodstock skits, first when they are getting the backyard ready, and second when they put on their Pilgrim costumes. Available through Amazon.
While we're speaking about Charlie Brown, there is another wonderful Thanksgiving piece featuring the Peanuts gang, an episode of the TV series This Is America, Charlie Brown: The Mayflower Voyagers, 1988. In an entertaining way, the cartoon educates about the Atlantic crossing, and settling in a new land. Available through Amazon.
We also love having Garfield over, so Garfield's Thanksgiving is an annual laugh riot. Spoiler alert: Grandma saves the day. Available through Amazon.
A real (or should I say surreal) gem from the past is the 1951 cartoon short Pilgrim Popeye. And as the story teaches, you should eat your spinach - even on Thanksgiving.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSLDlHhgLiM
Then there's the Bewitched episode Samantha's Thanksgiving where Aunt Clara, of course, sends herself, Samantha, Darrin, Tabitha, and Mrs. Kravitz back to old Plymouth. Elizabeth Montgomery's soliloquy in the last act still rings true today. Available through Amazon.
One Thanksgiving cartoon I would think about, and then forget, and then think about, is the Underdog episode titled Simon Says..No Thanksgiving (1966). I found it on Youtube, in two parts, and I recalled why I had such a crush on Sweet Polly Purebred. She's still hot!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZX_kjTPQGb0
The only full-length Thanksgiving movie that we traditionally look forward to is the 1952 MGM big screen production Plymouth Adventure starring Spencer Tracy and Gene Tierney. Tracy is at his cynical best, and Tierney's overbite leads the way in every scene she chews. The film won an Oscar for the storm at sea scene. The movie is available through Amazon, but the following trailer is vintage Hollywood.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaH5WLft8Jg
The place of honor goes to the 70's sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati. Perennially voted the number one Thanksgiving pick in poll after poll, the final line has become iconic in popular culture. Against tremendous temptation, I won't give it away. The name of the episode is Turkeys Away.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Zuj3dwZl64
One final note, before the NFL started showing three games on Thanksgiving, after dinner and the afternoon game, we would snuggle up and watch Miracle on 34th Street with a precocious Natalie Wood. As you know, the story opens on Thanksgiving Day in New York City at the Macy's Parade. The classic film is a light-hearted way to transition into the holiday season. Be sure to check out this ad for the film.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ce_op2qG24
So wattle over to the couch and queue up some of these Thanksgiving turkeys.
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