When it comes specifically to half-hour animated Thanksgiving specials, A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving is about as well-known and beloved as any. The 1973 special, based on Charles M. Schulz’s Peanuts comic strip, has become essential viewing for many in November. It revolves around Charlie Brown having to put together a makeshift meal for his friends after Peppermint Patty invites them all to his house for Thanksgiving. When the dinner predictably doesn’t go over well, Charlie’s grandmother invites them to her house instead, leaving Snoopy and his avian best friend, Woodstock, to cook their own separate Thanksgiving dinner.
That’s where things got a little weird, at least as far as producer Lee Mendelson was concerned. See if you can figure out for yourself what he had an issue with:
So what you’ve just seen, in case it wasn’t immediately apparent, was a bird taking part in the consumption of another bird. The sequence didn’t sit well with Mendelson, which led to a minor dispute between him and Peanuts creator Charles Schulz, who’d also written the special. Mendelson voiced his concern but was overruled by Schulz, who insisted that Woodstock be in the scene with Snoopy.
Mendelson temporarily got his wish after the fact when CBS decided to trim the special by a few minutes for later broadcasts. It was then that he was able to go back and remove the footage of Woodstock eating the turkey without anyone really noticing. ABC started airing the various Peanuts specials in 2001; however, A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving was restored to its full 25-minute runtime once again. By that time, Mendelson finally gave in to everyone else’s wishes.
That doesn’t mean that other people haven’t noticed the uncomfortable moment themselves and accused Woodstock of cannibalism. It’s also been pointed out, in fairness, that cannibalism involves consuming the flesh of a member of the same species. As it stands, nobody really knows what species of bird Woodstock is supposed to be precisely. He sure as hell doesn’t resemble any turkey we’ve ever seen, and for that reason, it’s a safe bet the shot in question isn’t going anywhere any time soon.
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