One 1980 special had Thanksgiving edited right out of it a year later. Here are 10 turkey-day TV specials, from Charlie Brown and Disney's Pooh to a Hanna-Barbera squirrel and Sid Caesar as a talking pie, plus where to watch each one in 2026.
Thanksgiving in the Land of Oz premiered on CBS on Nov. 25, 1980. When CBS reran it in December 1981, the network renamed it Dorothy in the Land of Oz and cut the Thanksgiving references. The holiday got edited out of its own special.
That's pretty much how TV treats Thanksgiving. Halloween has the Great Pumpkin. Christmas has Rudolph, the Grinch and a whole sleigh of reruns. Thanksgiving gets the few weeks in between, and the cartoons made for it tend to disappear.
Even Bugs Bunny got squeezed. CBS aired Bugs Bunny's Thanksgiving Diet on Nov. 15, 1979. Bugs Bunny's Looney Christmas Tales premiered Nov. 27, just five days after Thanksgiving. Turkey, meet tinsel.
What are the best Thanksgiving TV specials?
We dug through old TV listings, Emmy records and studio histories for 10 specials worth a spot on your holiday watch list. A few are famous. A few aren't legally streaming anywhere right now.
They're numbered, not ranked. Thanksgiving is Thursday, Nov. 26, so you have three weeks to get through them. Each one comes with the network, the people who made it, a little trivia and where to find it this year.
1. A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (1973)
CBS premiered it on Nov. 20, 1973, two days before Thanksgiving. Charles M. Schulz wrote it, Lee Mendelson and Bill Melendez produced it, and Melendez and Phil Roman directed. Todd Barbee voiced Charlie Brown, Stephen Shea voiced Linus and Melendez handled Snoopy and Woodstock.
Peppermint Patty invites herself, Marcie and Franklin to Charlie Brown's house for dinner, even though he's supposed to go to his grandmother's. He can't cook. So Snoopy and Linus help him serve toast, pretzels, popcorn and jelly beans. Patty is not impressed.
Fun fact: Vince Guaraldi sings "Little Birdie" himself, the song that plays while Snoopy battles a stubborn lawn chair. The special's first airing ranked third in the Nielsen ratings that week, behind All in the Family and Sanford and Son.
It also earned a 1974 Emmy nomination for outstanding children's special. It lost to Marlo Thomas' Free to Be... You and Me. Disney fans may remember it from ABC, which aired it every year from 2001 to 2019 before Apple took over the Peanuts specials in 2020.
Where to watch: Apple TV subscribers can stream it anytime. Everyone else can stream it free on Apple TV on Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 14 and 15. It's also on DVD, Blu-ray and 4K disc.
Here's an official clip from Apple TV:
2. The Thanksgiving That Almost Wasn't (1972)
Hanna-Barbera made this half-hour for syndication, and it debuted in November 1972. William Hanna and Joseph Barbera produced and directed it. The story is credited to Joe Ruby and Ken Spears, the duo behind Scooby-Doo, who later started their own rival studio.
A squirrel family watches a human family eat Thanksgiving dinner, and Dad explains that their ancestor, Jeremy Squirrel, basically saved the first one. In 1621, Pilgrim boy Johnny Cooke and his friend Little Bear get lost in the woods. Jeremy braves waterfalls and timber wolves to get them home in time for the feast.
The voice cast is stacked. June Foray, the voice of Rocky the Flying Squirrel, plays the little squirrel. So, yes, typecasting. Vic Perrin plays Dad, and Don Messick is in the mix too.
Disney connection: Hal Smith voices Jeremy, critic Paul Mavis noted. Smith was Disney's voice of Owl in the classic Winnie the Pooh shorts and later voiced Pooh himself.
Boomerang treated it like a big deal in 2010, airing it commercial-free on Thanksgiving Day. Somebody at Warner Bros. still loves this squirrel.
Where to watch: MeTV Toons airs it Saturday, Nov. 7, at 6 p.m. ET (5 p.m. CT). It isn't on a streaming service. Warner Archive released it on DVD as the bonus feature on Casper's Halloween Special.
Here's an official clip from Warner Bros. Classics:
3. A Winnie the Pooh Thanksgiving (1998)
Disney's Hundred Acre Wood crew landed on ABC on Thanksgiving night, Nov. 26, 1998. Walt Disney Television Animation made it, Jun Falkenstein directed and Carter Crocker wrote it. Jim Cummings voiced Pooh, Paul Winchell played Tigger, John Fiedler was Piglet, Peter Cullen was Eeyore and David Warner narrated.
Pooh and friends show up with honey, acorns, lemonade and thistles. Rabbit says that's not a real Thanksgiving and hands out jobs for a proper feast. Piglet decides a turkey must be a monster. Tigger and Eeyore lose all their cranberries through a hole in the sack. Rabbit cancels the whole thing.
Then Pooh figures out the food they brought was fine all along, and the gang surprises Rabbit with dinner. Cue the song "Our Thanksgiving Day."
It earned a 1999 Emmy nomination for outstanding children's program. In November 1999, Disney folded it into the direct-to-video Winnie the Pooh: Seasons of Giving, with new narration by Laurie Main, a shorter ending and a new song from the Sherman Brothers.
Where to watch: It's not on Disney+. The ABC version was never sold on its own. Seasons of Giving rents for $3.99 on Fandango at Home, and it came out on DVD in 2003.
4. The Mouse on the Mayflower (1968)
Rankin/Bass made this hourlong special for NBC, where it premiered Nov. 23, 1968. It was the first special released under the Rankin/Bass name after the company dropped Videocraft. Romeo Muller, who also wrote Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, wrote it, and Japan's Toei handled the animation.
Tennessee Ernie Ford narrates as Willum, a church mouse who stows away on the Mayflower. Eddie Albert plays Captain Standish, singer John Gary is John Alden and Joanie Sommers is Priscilla Mullins. Paul Frees and June Foray cover just about everybody else.
Willum helps save the ship in a storm, then watches the Pilgrims sign the Mayflower Compact, plant crops and hold the first Thanksgiving. Maury Laws and Jules Bass wrote the songs, including "Elbow Room."
Disney fans, squint at the screen. Cartoon Research's Greg Ehrbar pointed out that Priscilla and John Alden look a lot like Aurora and Prince Phillip from Sleeping Beauty. A bear in the special could pass for Baloo, a year after The Jungle Book.
The American Gas Industry sponsored it and pressed a promo LP that paired its songs with The Little Drummer Boy, which Rankin/Bass also released that year.
Where to watch: Not legally streaming. It came out on VHS in 1989, 1993 and 1998, but Ehrbar noted in 2014 that it never got a DVD.
5. Garfield's Thanksgiving (1989)
CBS aired it Nov. 22, 1989, the night before Thanksgiving. Jim Davis wrote it with Kim Campbell, and Phil Roman produced and directed it at Film Roman. Yes, the same Phil Roman who co-directed A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving 16 years earlier. The man had a type.
Lorenzo Music voices Garfield, Thom Huge plays Jon, Gregg Berger is Odie and Julie Payne is Liz. Grandma is Pat Carroll, who voiced Ursula in Disney's The Little Mermaid that same month. Lou Rawls sings, too.
A vet visit puts Garfield on a strict diet the day before Thanksgiving. Jon invites Liz to dinner, then leaves the turkey frozen and boils every vegetable in one pot. He gives up and calls Grandma, who carves the frozen bird with a chainsaw.
It earned a 1990 Emmy nomination for outstanding animated program. It lost to The Simpsons, which Disney owns now, so the Mouse wins either way.
Where to watch: It streams on Paramount+. It's also on the Garfield Holiday Celebrations DVD, alongside the Halloween and Christmas specials.
Here's Garfield's Thanksgiving from the official Garfield and Friends YouTube channel:
6. Thanksgiving in the Land of Oz (1980)
This one aired on CBS on Nov. 25, 1980, right after a rerun of A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. Muller-Rosen Productions made it with Murakami-Wolf-Swenson, and Charles Swenson directed. Romeo Muller wrote it. Yep, the Mouse on the Mayflower guy.
Sid Caesar plays the Wizard and also U.N. Krust, a talking mince pie that switches accents every time it speaks. Mischa Bond voices Dorothy, Robert Ridgely plays Jack Pumpkinhead and the villain Tyrone the Terrible Toy Tinker, and Frank Nelson plays a Hungry Tiger who's a vegetarian.
Aunt Em is cooking Thanksgiving dinner when the Wizard shows up with a giant green turkey balloon he plans to rent out for a parade. Dorothy and Toto float off to Oz in it. Tyrone brings the turkey to life and tries to take over the Emerald City.
Then the holiday got cut. CBS renamed it Dorothy in the Land of Oz for a Dec. 10, 1981, repeat, trimmed some Thanksgiving references, and the new title stuck. Showtime and HBO ran it in the mid-1980s.
Where to watch: Not legally streaming anywhere we could find.
7. Bugs Bunny's Thanksgiving Diet (1979)
CBS aired it Nov. 15, 1979, at 8 p.m. Hal Geer produced it and wrote it with Jack Enyart, and David Detiege directed. Mel Blanc voices pretty much everyone, with June Foray as Millicent.
Bugs plays a diet doctor. His patients include Porky and Sylvester, plus Millicent, the lovesick rabbit from 1957's Rabbit Romeo. His prescription is a pile of classic cartoons, including all of Bedevilled Rabbit, with the Tasmanian Devil, and Rabbit Every Monday, with Yosemite Sam.
The Thanksgiving part is thin. Bugs was busy in 1979, though. Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas specials all premiered that year.
Where to watch: It isn't on a streaming service. You can rent A Looney Tunes Thanksgiving, which pairs it with the Daffy special below, for about $3 to $4 on Amazon, Apple TV or Fandango at Home. It's also on the 2020 Looney Tunes Holiday Triple Feature DVD.
Here's Rabbit Every Monday, one of the full cartoons inside the special, from MeTV Toons:
8. This Is America, Charlie Brown: The Mayflower Voyagers (1988)
CBS aired it Oct. 21, 1988, more than a month before Thanksgiving. It was the first of eight episodes in This Is America, Charlie Brown, a miniseries about U.S. history. Schulz and Lee Mendelson wrote it, Evert Brown directed and Ed Bogas did the music.
The Peanuts gang plays kids aboard the Mayflower in 1620. The special covers the brutal first winter, the colonists' meetings with Samoset and Squanto and the first Thanksgiving. It's a lot heavier than toast and jelly beans.
Erin Chase voices Charlie Brown and Brandon Stewart voices Linus. Gregg Berger, who voiced Odie in Garfield's Thanksgiving a year later, plays Myles Standish.
Disney connection: The Disney Channel reran the series from 1993 to 1997. Starting in 2008, ABC ran a trimmed Mayflower Voyagers right after A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving to fill an hour, a pairing that lasted through 2019.
Where to watch: Apple TV added This Is America, Charlie Brown on July 3, 2026, so subscribers can stream it now. Apple's free weekend only covers the 1973 special.
Here's Lee Mendelson Film Productions on the series' move to Apple TV:
9. Daffy Duck's Thanks-for-Giving Special (1980)
NBC aired it Nov. 20, 1980, at 8 p.m. Chuck Jones directed and wrote it with Michael Maltese, Hal Geer produced and Mel Blanc did the voices. Most of it is classic clips, including The Scarlet Pumpernickel, Robin Hood Daffy, Drip-Along Daffy and His Bitter Half.
Daffy pitches a Duck Dodgers sequel to his boss, J.L., who wants a Thanksgiving special instead. Daffy runs clip after clip until the boss caves. Thanksgiving, in other words, is the excuse.
The prize is at the end: a brand-new Chuck Jones short, Duck Dodgers and the Return of the 24 1/2th Century, a sequel to the 1953 classic. Porky is back, Marvin the Martian shows up, and so does Gossamer, the big orange monster.
Historian Jim Korkis wrote that George Lucas wanted a new Duck Dodgers to play before The Empire Strikes Back. Jones didn't finish it in time, so Warner Bros. built this special around it. It was also Maltese's final credited work. The longtime Looney Tunes writer died about three months later.
Where to watch: Same deal as Bugs. Rent A Looney Tunes Thanksgiving digitally, or pick up the Looney Tunes Holiday Triple Feature or The Essential Daffy Duck DVD.
10. The Berenstain Bears Meet Bigpaw (1980)
NBC aired it Nov. 20, 1980, at 8:30 p.m., right after Daffy. So kids in 1980 got a full Thanksgiving cartoon hour. Stan and Jan Berenstain wrote it, Buzz Potamkin produced, and Mordicai Gerstein and Al Kouzel directed. Kellogg's sponsored.
Ron McLarty plays Papa Bear and narrates, and Bob Kaliban voices Bigpaw. Mama warns the cubs about a Thanksgiving legend: a giant who punishes greedy bears. Papa scoffs. Bigpaw turns out to be real, and kind of a sweetheart, and Bear Country nearly goes to war over a yawn.
The whole script rhymes, dialogue included. Bigpaw was based on Great Natural Bear from the Berenstains' 1973 book The Bears' Almanac. Elliot Lawrence wrote the music, including "A Stranger's Just Somebody (You Don't Already Know)."
Where to watch: Free, legally, on the official Berenstain Bears YouTube channel. It isn't on a streaming service, but GoodTimes released it on DVD in 2002.
Here's the full special from the official Berenstain Bears YouTube channel:
Where can I watch Thanksgiving specials in 2026?
Here's the quick version. Streaming lineups change, so double-check before the turkey goes in.
A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving: Apple TV; free for everyone Nov. 14 and 15
The Thanksgiving That Almost Wasn't: MeTV Toons, Nov. 7 at 6 p.m. ET; Warner Archive DVD
A Winnie the Pooh Thanksgiving: Inside Seasons of Giving, $3.99 rental on Fandango at Home; DVD
The Mouse on the Mayflower: Not legally streaming; old VHS only
Garfield's Thanksgiving: Paramount+; DVD
Thanksgiving in the Land of Oz: Not legally streaming
Bugs Bunny's Thanksgiving Diet: A Looney Tunes Thanksgiving digital rental; DVD
The Mayflower Voyagers: Apple TV
Daffy Duck's Thanks-for-Giving Special: A Looney Tunes Thanksgiving digital rental; DVD
The Berenstain Bears Meet Bigpaw: Free on the official Berenstain Bears YouTube channel
Still hungry? A few more deep cuts: Underdog's Simon Says... No Thanksgiving (1965), made to tie in with the Underdog balloon's Macy's parade debut, B.C.: The First Thanksgiving (1973) and Buttons and Rusty in The Turkey Caper (1985).
Thanksgiving only gets a few weeks of TV real estate. That's still plenty of time for a talking pie, a chainsaw turkey and a squirrel who saved the Pilgrims. Pass the jelly beans.
Article compiled and written by Kambrea Pratt (editor-in-chief), Derek Gibbs (beat editor) and the Pirates & Princesses newsroom. Pirates & Princesses is part of WebReef Media.
Pirates and Princesses is your destination for Disney news, theme park updates, and the pop culture you love. From Disney cruises and travel tips to Disney fashion, food, collectibles, and movie news, PNP covers it all. Visit us at piratesandprincesses.net for daily coverage. Follow PNP on Facebook and Instagram, and listen to the Pirates & Princesses podcast on Apple Podcasts and YouTube.
Hat Tips:
Apple TV Press (Sept. 24, 2026), the free A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving weekend, confirmed through MacRumors
MacRumors (Sept. 24, 2026), Apple TV's 2026 free Peanuts weekend dates
iDrop News (Sept. 26, 2026), free weekend details for nonsubscribers
9to5Mac (May 19, 2026), This Is America, Charlie Brown arriving on Apple TV July 3
Cord Cutters News (Nov. 1, 2026), MeTV Toons airing The Thanksgiving That Almost Wasn't on Nov. 7
MeTV Toons (Nov. 5, 2026), the Nov. 7 schedule listing
Cartoon Research (Nov. 25, 2014), Greg Ehrbar on The Mouse on the Mayflower's sponsor, LP, Disney look-alikes and missing DVD
Cartoon Research (Oct. 18, 2019), Jim Korkis on Duck Dodgers, The Empire Strikes Back and the NBC special
Cartoon Research (Nov. 21, 2025), Michael Lyons on Thanksgiving in the Land of Oz and the 1981 retitling
Drunk TV (Nov. 15, 2017), Paul Mavis on The Thanksgiving That Almost Wasn't credits and the Warner Archive DVD
Nick and More (Nov. 18, 2010), Boomerang's commercial-free Thanksgiving airing
Television Academy (Nov. 5, 2026), Emmy nomination records for 1974, 1990 and 1999
Ultimate70s (Nov. 5, 2026), network TV listings for Nov. 15, 1979, and Nov. 20 and 25, 1980
D23 (Nov. 5, 2026), A Winnie the Pooh Thanksgiving and Seasons of Giving details
JustWatch (Nov. 5, 2026), streaming, rental and DVD availability
MeTV (undated), Underdog and B.C. deep cuts
Wikipedia (Nov. 5, 2026), backup for credits, cast lists and broadcast history
AI Disclosure: All articles are assigned, edited and reviewed by an experienced human editor before posting. Like most modern newsrooms, WebReef Media uses a variety of AI tools to help with accuracy and efficiency. Ways AI may be used in article creation include research, grammar, fact-checking and ideation, as well as occasional AI generated or enhanced thumbnails or graphics. No articles are generated or posted without human oversight or involvement.