‘A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving’ Fun Facts: 4 Things To Know About The Holiday Movie Before It Airs
“A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving” has been a holiday classic ever since premiering on TV in 1973. The cartoon animated movie, based on Charles M. Schultz’s “Peanuts” comic strip, airs every November around the Thanksgiving holiday.
The movie, directed by Phil Roman and Bill Melendez, tells the story of a young Charlie Brown who is tasked with cooking a last-minute Thanksgiving dinner for his friends Peppermint Patty, Marcie, Franklin and Linus after Patty takes it upon herself to invite everyone to Charlie’s house for a festive meal.
The Thanksgiving dinner doesn’t go exactly as planned because Charlie can’t cook. Instead of making his friends turkey and stuffing, he gives them buttered toast, popcorn, jelly beans and pretzel sticks. The “Friendsgiving” was almost ruined until Charlie’s grandmother saved the day and invited them all to her house for a traditional Thanksgiving meal.
While “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving” is most likely a movie you’ve seen countless times, we bet there are a few fun facts about the family-friendly flick you didn’t know. Check them out below:
Charlie Brown’s Scream Was Hard To Do: In a 2014 interview, Todd Barbee told the blog Noblemania that he had a really difficult time doing Charlie’s scream in the beginning of “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving.”
“One time they wanted me to voice that ‘AAAAAARRRGGGG’ when Charlie Brown goes to kick the football and Lucy yanks it away,” he said. “Try as I might, I just couldn’t generate [it as] long as they were looking for … so after something like 25 takes, we moved on. … I think they eventually got an adult or a kid with an older voice to do that one take.” Barbee was only 10 years old when he voiced the character.
Lucy Almost Had A Spanish Accent: Robin Kohn, who voiced Lucy, told Noblemania in 2014 that she was having trouble with one of the lines so Melendez came in to help her. Because Melendez had a slight Spanish accent, she thought Lucy was also supposed to have an accent. “Lee Mendelson, the producer, came into the small booth with us and the two of them had a big argument in front of me about how I was supposed to say the line. Ultimately, I did not say it with a Spanish accent,” she revealed.
Is Woodstock A Cannibal?: One issue many viewers have had with “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving” is when Woodstock and Snoopy carve up a turkey and eat it, Mashable reported. Because Woodstock is a bird, viewers felt it was inappropriate to have him eat the turkey. In fact, Mendelson also had an issue with it, but Shultz didn’t want the scene removed.
The First Adult Voice: Vince Guaraldi was known for composing the music in the different “Peanuts” movies, but he actually sang a song, titled “Little Birdie,” in “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving.” According to Mashable, the song marked the first time a real adult voice was incorporated into one of the “Peanuts” films.
“A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving” airs Wednesday, Nov. 23 at 8 p.m. EST on ABC.
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