By Faith McQuinn
Charlie Brown and Snoopy were my favorite cartoon characters growing up, and they still hold a special place in my heart. It’s been a few years since I’ve seen A CHARLIE BROWN THANKSGIVING, but I’ll never forget it.
"Charlie Brown, oh, Charlie Brown," Lucy tempts. She tells good ol’ Chuck that she'll hold the football, and he can kick it. Will Charlie really fall for this again? Of course not! But Lucy swears she’ll hold the ball because of the Thanksgiving tradition. Charlie gives in, gets a running start, pulls back his foot to kick, and falls flat on his back for the umpteenth time. Lucy says, "Isn't it peculiar, Charlie Brown, how some traditions just slowly fade away."
Classic PEANUTS. It never gets old.
Charlie is supposed to go to his grandmother’s house for Thanksgiving, but at the last minute, Peppermint Patty calls and says she has no place to go. Charlie, as usual, is in a panic, but Linus comes to the rescue and says they should simply have two dinners. There’s no relief for Charlie, though; he can only make toast and cold cereal.
With the help of his friends, Charlie prepares a magnificent feast of buttered toast, popcorn, pretzel sticks, and jellybeans. It’s kind of like the snacks your family eats while watching football before sitting down to dinner. OK, maybe not the buttered toast, but I’m pretty sure I’ve seen pretzels, popcorn, and the occasional jellybean floating around my house.
Peppermint Patty is appalled at the spread and voices her opinion loudly. When Marcie reminds Patty that she invited herself, Patty grows embarrassed and apologizes to Chuck. The kids enjoy their makeshift meal, and are treated to a real meal when Charlie’s grandmother invites them all to her place.
As a little girl, I always hoped that my mom would give in one year and allow me to have buttered toast and jellybeans for Thanksgiving. She always told me that wasn’t a proper meal, and I’d always come back with the lesson I learned from the special. What you eat isn’t important; it’s whom you eat it with. She’s smile at me and be so proud that I’d learned a valuable lesson from television.
I still never got my toast and jellybeans.
In a time where I have to deal with work, bills, and all the crap I wish would just go away. It’s nice to remember a simpler time when all I wanted for Thanksgiving dinner was some buttered toast and a good Charlie Brown special.
If you miss it this year on television, maybe you should think about renting it on DVD. It might not hold the same importance it did when you were still sitting at the kids’ table, but the memories Charlie and his friends bring back are warm and fuzzy enough.
Plus, you get to see Snoopy and Woodstock dressed as pilgrims having a big feast in his doghouse. Who doesn’t want that?