Happy Canadian Thanksgiving to all those in the Great White North and Happy Sports Day (although the day has already passed as I write this) to all those in Japan. My family had planned to hit one of our favourite restaurants for some turkey dinner but when we saw the crowds amassing at the front door, we hightailed it to an alternative. It wasn't turkey but that was fine; we were just glad to have another meal together.
As any biography on the history of the beloved American comic strip "Peanuts" will sagely inform you, "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving" was the third in the series of holiday-themed specials focusing on Charlie Brown and Snoopy. Considering that for the longest time, I'd only watched those specials, I naturally assumed that the Thanksgiving special was simply the third special, period, following "A Charlie Brown Christmas" and "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" (whose theme I will cover in a few weeks). In fact, though, it was the tenth prime-time special with the Peanuts gang with a whole bunch of other non-holiday shows in between.
My highlights from the November 20th, 1973 first airing of "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving" aren't quite as plentiful as the ones for the iconic Xmas special, but they do include my first time catching Peppermint Patty on television (although she apparently appeared on a 1966 special), the whole cooking sequence that you can see at the top of the article, the soulful "Little Birdie" sung by Vince Guaraldi himself above, and the fact that Woodstock was more than happy to devour a turkey at the end of the show (I've just read somewhere that comparing Woodstock's species to a turkey would be akin to comparing a human with a cow which alleviates my mixed feelings...a little).
Speaking of the famous jazz pianist and composer, Guaraldi was once more called upon to come up with a theme song for this Charlie Brown special. Although I would have to place "Thanksgiving Theme" third behind the previous two themes for the holiday shows, that would still be like ranking beef, chicken and salmon for me in terms of my favourite animal protein. They're all good and with "Thanksgiving Theme", there are those rolling piano riffs interspersed with the softer passages reminiscent of the falling leaves of autumn.
Now, what was being released at around the same time that "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving" was broadcast for the first time in America? Well, I found out from the "CD/Record Release Date Calendar".
(November 20th) Yumi Arai -- Hikoki Gumo （ひこうき雲）
(November 21st) Kenji Sawada -- Miserareta Yoru （魅せられた夜）
(November 21st) Momoe Yamaguchi -- Kinjirareta Asobi （禁じられた遊び）
In any case, for my fellow Canadians, please enjoy your Thanksgiving dinner!🦃
Yes, there's nothing more nostalgic for me than a good ol' Peanuts special.
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