A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving is a distant third-place finisher among the top three.

[Orrex]

And why is Snoopy such an asshole to Woodstock in this one?

[Bombero1956]

1. Just Snoopy being Snoopy I guess

I just heard yesterday that Christopher Shea the voice of Linus passed away last August at age 52.

[Lucian]

2. And why was Woodstock eating bird at the end?

Wasn't that cannibalism?

[Orrex]

4. That's a perennial debate, but I'd say no

Lots of birds eat other birds. It wouldn't be cannibalism unless Woodstock is a turkey.

But while we're on the subject, I have no idea what species he's supposed to represent, so maybe he is a turkey after all!

[Lucian]

6. Ah, touche.

I forgot some birds do eat other birds.

And since Woodstock can fly, I'd say he's not a turkey. But who knows. :shrug:

[jmowreader]

10. Maybe he's not a DOMESTIC turkey...

but wild turkeys can fly extremely well. Domestic turkeys are bred for breast meat, with result they're too heavy to fly.

[TorchTheWitch]

9. my brother's cockatiel loved chicken

although he loved mashed potatoes more. My cockatiel loved chocolate... actually anything sugary.

[txwhitedove]

3. Why is Peppermint Patty such an asshole to Charlie Brown in this one?

Then gets HIM to apologize? Our family just watched CB Thanksgiving and the Mayflower one in daughter's backyard, projected on the garage, in our camp chairs - then had to run for blankets and snuggies when the cold front blew in. Yes, it's cold here under 50-degrees, wild wind and misty rain.

Happy Thanksgiving!

[Orrex]

5. The Mayflower one is a little too weird and preachy for me

And it offends my sense of canonicity because it features adults on-camera and speaking! Blasphemy!

My sons like it, though, so I get overruled when they (not infrequently) decide to watch it.

[tigereye]

7. eh - they get too sanitized as time goes by - and lack the spark

of the earlier ones. And preachy. I always thought the most popular ones get the message across by not beating you over the head with it.

[Orrex]

8. You're right that the later ones are more overtly message-driven, but...

I was surprised to learn that A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving actually dates back to 1973. I knew that I'd seen it as a child, but I didn't realize that it was quite so old.

Nor did I realize that there have been so darn many television specials. If pressed, I could probably have remembered 10 of them by name:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Peanuts_media#Specials