A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving

Charlie Brown and Sally are preparing to go to their grandmother's place for Thanksgiving dinner when Charlie Brown gets a phone call from Peppermint Patty. She promptly invites herself over to Charlie Brown's house for the holiday dinner. Two quick subsequent phone calls later, add Marcie and Franklin to the guest list. Since poor Charlie Brown cannot get a word in with Patty, he quickly finds himself in a quandary with no easy solution. Enter his faithful pal Linus with a wise solution.

Linus suggests to Charlie Brown that he could have two dinners. The first dinner would be for Patty and her friends and then he could have the second one at his grandmother's house. This forces Charlie Brown to admit that all he knows how to make is "cold cereal and maybe toast." Good grief. Linus recruits Snoopy and Woodstock to set up a ping pong table and chairs in the backyard. Setting the table has its own problems as Snoopy goes toe-to-toe with an uncooperative, folding deckchair that comes to life and attacks him. Snoopy and Woodstock evenutally set the table and then help Charlie Brown and Linus prepare the food. Once the food is ready, Snoopy and a reluctant Woodstock go to Snoopy's doghouse to dress up in Pilgrim clothing. They return to the house with Snoopy holding a musket, which fires unexpectedly and causes Charlie Brown to lose his patience. Rats.

The guests begin to arrive and they all make their way to the backyard for the feast. While Linus leads the group in prayer, Snoopy serves up the food, throwing the plates to the guests like frisbees. Each person gets what is probably the worst Thanksgiving dinner in history: 2 slices of buttered toast, some pretzel sticks, a handful of popcorn and a few jelly beans. Yuck.

At first Patty is shocked, but her shock quickly turns to outrage and she angrily berates Charlie Brown for the poor excuse for a Thanksgiving dinner. Embarrassed, Charlie Brown timidly leaves the table and goes back into the house. Patty's tirade continues until Marcie gently reminds her that Charlie Brown did not invite her to dinner; she invited herself as well as Marcie and Franklin. Realizing that Marcie is probably right, Patty comes to her senses and begs Marcie to go and apologize to Charlie Brown on her behalf. Marcie reluctantly does so, but Patty soon follows her and apologizes to Charlie Brown (aka "Chuck") herself.

In the midst of their dinner, Charlie Brown loses track of the time. The clock strikes four, reminding him that he and Sally are supposed to be at their grandmother's house for dinner in half an hour. He calls his grandmother to tell her that they are going to be a little late and to explain that he has friends over and none of them have eaten yet. Charlie Brown's grandmother suggests that he bring all his friends with him for Thanksgiving dinner. This idea is welcomed with cheers from everyone (a real Thanksgiving dinner!).

After Charlie Brown and the gang leave, Snoopy and Woodstock go to Snoopy's doghouse and cook up their own traditional Thanksgiving meal that includes a turkey complete with all the trimmings. They pull at the wishbone, with Woodstock getting the bigger piece much to Snoopy's chagrin. During the end credits, the two friends each devour a large piece of pumpkin pie for dessert and then sit back to relax as Woodstock pats his full tummy with a big smile on his face.

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