Thanksgiving Films and Cartoons to Watch With the Family
From A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving and Garfield’s Thanksgiving to Free Birds, Coco, and Miracle on 34th Street: what to watch, for which ages, in what order, and where to find it for Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 26, 2026.
Thanksgiving in the United States has a screen canon as fixed as its menu. It begins with a 25-minute Peanuts special first broadcast in 1973, runs through the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and the NFL games in Detroit and Arlington, and ends after dinner with a family film. The best choices depend on who is in the room: a three-year-old, a ten-year-old, teenagers, grandparents, or all of them together. This guide sorts Thanksgiving films, cartoons, and specials by age, runtime, rating, and theme, and it identifies where to find them.
Thanksgiving Films and Cartoons for Families: Quick Picks by Age and Viewing Time
The strongest Thanksgiving viewing lists combine three kinds of titles: holiday-specific specials (made for Thanksgiving and centred on it), holiday-season family films (released at or around Thanksgiving, often by Walt Disney Animation Studios or Pixar), and gathering films (comedies and dramas set at a family table). Each serves a different moment of the day. A short special suits the hour before dinner; a feature suits the evening; a multi-generational comedy suits the adults after the dishes are cleared.
| Viewing situation | Best choice | Runtime | Why it fits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Toddlers and preschoolers | A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving | 25 min | Short, gentle, single storyline about a shared meal, with Snoopy and Woodstock slapstick |
| Before dinner (under 30 minutes) | Garfield’s Thanksgiving; A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving | ~24–25 min | Complete story inside a single sitting; fits between the parade and the meal |
| Ages 5–9 | Free Birds; The Good Dinosaur | ~91–93 min | PG animation with humour and a clear theme of belonging and courage |
| Ages 8–12 | Coco; Encanto; Moana | ~102–107 min | Musical features about family, memory, and identity that suit gratitude themes |
| Mixed ages including grandparents | Miracle on 34th Street (1947 or 1994) | 96 / 114 min | Opens with the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade; recognisable to several generations |
| Teens and adults after dinner | Home for the Holidays; Addams Family Values; Planes, Trains and Automobiles | ~93–103 min | Comedy about family friction and reconciliation, PG-13 or R |
| History-minded viewers | We Shall Remain; The Pilgrims (PBS American Experience) | Varies | Documentary treatment of Plymouth Colony and the Wampanoag |
How Thanksgiving Became a Screen Tradition: Holiday, Broadcast, and Studio Calendar
Thanksgiving is a national holiday with a documented legal and cultural history, and that history explains why particular films and broadcasts attach to it. Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national day of thanksgiving in 1863 after a sustained campaign by the magazine editor Sarah Josepha Hale. In 1941, Congress fixed the holiday as the fourth Thursday of November, following President Franklin D. Roosevelt‘s earlier attempt to move the date. The result is the extended weekend that television networks and film studios treat as a single programming window.
Broadcast and film traditions grew inside that window. The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade began in New York City in 1924 and has been televised nationally on NBC for decades; the 1947 film Miracle on 34th Street (directed by George Seaton) uses the parade as its opening sequence, tying the film to the holiday even though its story concerns Christmas. The Detroit Lions have played on Thanksgiving Day since 1934 and the Dallas Cowboys since 1966, giving families a football block on the schedule. CBS premiered A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving on November 20, 1973, establishing the animated special as the domestic counterpart to the parade and the games. Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar then turned Thanksgiving week into a release slot for family features, beginning with Frozen in 2013.
Classic Thanksgiving Cartoons and TV Specials
Thanksgiving cartoons are a narrow category because few animated works were made for the holiday specifically. The core group comes from newspaper comic strips (Peanuts, Garfield), a long-running prime-time series (The Simpsons), and one dedicated feature (Free Birds). Their common subject is the meal itself: who cooks, who is invited, and what goes wrong.
A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving
Created by Charles M. Schulz, directed by Bill Melendez, produced by Lee Mendelson, with jazz pianist Vince Guaraldi‘s score. Charlie Brown, at Peppermint Patty’s instigation, plans a dinner; Snoopy and Woodstock serve toast, pretzel sticks, popcorn, and jelly beans on a ping-pong table. The definitive Thanksgiving cartoon, and the best entry for young children.
The Mayflower Voyagers (This Is America, Charlie Brown)
The first episode of the eight-part This Is America, Charlie Brown (1988–1989) places the Peanuts characters aboard the Mayflower in 1620 and at Plymouth. The series compresses American history for elementary-aged viewers; it is a period piece whose treatment of the Wampanoag reflects its late-1980s date and benefits from adult context.
Garfield’s Thanksgiving
Based on Jim Davis‘s comic strip, directed by Phil Roman, with Lorenzo Music as Garfield. Garfield’s appetite drives a plot in which Jon Arbuckle’s date with a woman named Lorraine meets Garfield’s determination to eat a Thanksgiving feast, including Jon’s grandmother’s pasta and Odie’s supporting slapstick. Humour is food-centred and broadly comic.
Bart vs. Thanksgiving (The Simpsons)
Bart Simpson ruins the holiday table decorations made by his sister Lisa and runs away to spend Thanksgiving at a soup kitchen; the episode ends in reconciliation. For older children and teens; the series is a prime-time satire aimed at a broad family audience.
Free Birds
Directed by Jimmy Hayward and produced by Reel FX Creative Studios. Two turkeys, Reggie (Owen Wilson) and Jake (Woody Harrelson), travel back to the 1621 Plymouth harvest to remove turkey from the menu. The story is built on the holiday’s own mythology; its 1621 setting is played for comedy, not history.
Why the Category Is Small
Christmas dominates seasonal animation; Thanksgiving specials are few and mostly built from established comic-strip franchises. Studios have compensated by scheduling family features for Thanksgiving week, so gratitude, family, and food themes are carried by films that are not literally about the holiday.
A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving: Creators, Plot, Music, and Why It Endures
A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving is the tenth prime-time animated special based on Charles M. Schulz’s Peanuts comic strip. CBS first broadcast it on November 20, 1973, and it has been broadcast on American television in most holiday seasons since. It was preceded by A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965) and It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1966), which together with the Thanksgiving special form the trio of Peanuts holiday specials. The team behind it, producer Lee Mendelson, director Bill Melendez, and composer Vince Guaraldi, worked on the early Peanuts television specials.
The special endures for three reasons connected to its structure. It is short enough to fit any household schedule, it dramatises a situation that most families recognise (a meal that does not go as planned), and it resolves that situation through generosity rather than spectacle. It also demonstrates the Peanuts approach to child characters: the children speak in the voices of children, the adults remain off-screen, and the emotional register is understated. The result is a special that is accessible to a three-year-old and readable by an adult.
Animated Feature Films to Watch at Thanksgiving
Animated features carry the Thanksgiving themes of family, gratitude, and belonging without the holiday’s setting. Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar have placed many of their releases in Thanksgiving week, so the holiday has an unofficial canon of animation. The list below prioritises films with a clear family focus and a PG rating.
| Film (year) | Studio / director | Rating · runtime | Thanksgiving-relevant theme | Note for parents |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free Birds (2013) | Reel FX / Jimmy Hayward | PG · ~91 min | The 1621 Plymouth feast reimagined from the turkeys’ perspective | Slapstick and cartoon peril; suits ages 5+ |
| Frozen (2013) | Walt Disney Animation Studios / Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee | PG · ~102 min | Sisterhood and reconciliation; released Thanksgiving week 2013 | Mild peril; a familiar title for sing-along viewing |
| The Good Dinosaur (2015) | Pixar / Peter Sohn | PG · ~93 min | A farming family, harvest, and the meaning of home; released Thanksgiving week 2015 | Loss of a parent and storm peril; some scenes are intense for under-fives |
| Moana (2016) | Walt Disney Animation Studios / Ron Clements, John Musker | PG · ~107 min | Ancestry, heritage, and duty to community | Fantasy peril; songs by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Opetaia Foa’i |
| Coco (2017) | Pixar / Lee Unkrich, Adrian Molina | PG · ~105 min | Multigenerational family, remembrance, and gratitude toward ancestors; grounded in Día de Muertos | Themes of death and memory; often prompts family stories |
| Frozen II (2019) | Walt Disney Animation Studios / Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee | PG · ~103 min | Family history and belonging | More intense than the first film |
| Encanto (2021) | Walt Disney Animation Studios / Jared Bush, Byron Howard, Charise Castro Smith | PG · ~102 min | The Madrigal family, expectation, and acceptance; a film about how families communicate | Mild peril; strong for ages 6+ and adults |
| Moana 2 (2024) | Walt Disney Animation Studios / David G. Derrick Jr. | PG · ~100 min | Community and connection across islands | Adventure peril; a Thanksgiving-week release in 2024 |
Coco (Pixar, 2017) is built on the practice of remembering ancestors, a theme that connects with gratitude in a way that adults and children both recognise. Its central family, the Riveras, is multigenerational; its climax turns on a grandmother’s memory. Encanto (Walt Disney Animation Studios, 2021) shows a family whose gifts and pressures define each member, and its central question, whether a person is valued apart from their function, is a question many families face at a holiday table. Both films release strong conversation topics without requiring the viewer to know any Thanksgiving history.
Live-Action Family Films and Comedies for Thanksgiving
Live-action films appeal to older children, teenagers, and the adults in the room. They fall into two groups: family films with a light touch (Miracle on 34th Street, Squanto) and comedies about the friction of family gatherings (Home for the Holidays, Planes, Trains and Automobiles). The ratings differ significantly, so the audience determines the choice.
Miracle on 34th Street
The 1947 film, directed by George Seaton, stars Edmund Gwenn as Kris Kringle, Maureen O’Hara as Doris Walker, and a young Natalie Wood as Susan. It opens at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and moves to a courtroom question: is Kris Kringle Santa Claus? Gwenn won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. The 1994 remake, directed by Les Mayfield, stars Richard Attenborough and Mara Wilson and was written by John Hughes. Both suit mixed ages.
Addams Family Values
Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld. The sequel to The Addams Family sends Wednesday and Pugsley to Camp Chippewa, where Wednesday, played by Christina Ricci, disrupts a Thanksgiving pageant with a retelling of the Pilgrim-Native encounter from a satirical perspective. Best for teens who know the material and want a sharper take on the holiday’s founding story.
Squanto: A Warrior’s Tale
A Disney live-action film directed by Xavier Koller, starring Adam Beach as Squanto (Tisquantum), of the Patuxet people. It presents his capture by English traders, his time in Europe, and his return to find his community devastated by disease. It is a family-friendly account of the individual whose interpreting and agricultural knowledge assisted the Plymouth colonists; historians regard it as a dramatisation.
Home for the Holidays
Directed by Jodie Foster, with Holly Hunter, Robert Downey Jr., Anne Bancroft, Charles Durning, and Dylan McDermott. Claudia Larson returns home for a chaotic Thanksgiving with her family. One of the most accurate portraits of the holiday’s emotional pressure; suited to teenagers and adults.
Planes, Trains and Automobiles
Written and directed by John Hughes, with Steve Martin as marketing executive Neal Page and John Candy as shower-curtain-ring salesman Del Griffith, travelling from New York to Chicago for Thanksgiving. It is rated R, chiefly for one sequence of strong language, and is best kept for adult viewing. Its final scene is regularly cited as one of the era’s most affecting.
Other Gathering Films
Dutch (1991, PG-13, John Hughes writer, Ed O’Neill) is a Thanksgiving road trip. Pieces of April (2003, PG-13, Peter Hedges; Katie Holmes, Patricia Clarkson) follows a young woman preparing a Thanksgiving meal for her estranged family. What’s Cooking? (2000, PG-13, Gurinder Chadha) follows four Los Angeles families of different backgrounds through one Thanksgiving.
Age-by-Age Viewing Guide for Thanksgiving
The right Thanksgiving film depends first on the youngest viewer, second on attention span, and third on whether the group wants a shared laugh or a shared conversation. Ratings (G, PG, PG-13, R) are set by the Motion Picture Association; the Peanuts and Garfield television specials are unrated broadcasts that suit all ages.
Ages 2–4
Best: A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (25 min). Also: Garfield’s Thanksgiving. Avoid: feature films with parental loss or storm peril. Short segments, familiar characters, and repeated viewing work best.
Ages 5–7
Best: Free Birds; Frozen; Moana. Parents may pause The Good Dinosaur’s storm and loss scenes. Choose a film under 100 minutes and split viewing across two sittings if needed.
Ages 8–12
Best: Coco; Encanto; The Good Dinosaur; Miracle on 34th Street (1994). This group handles multi-layered plots and enjoys discussion about family and identity.
Teenagers
Best: Addams Family Values; Home for the Holidays; Bart vs. Thanksgiving; Dutch. Satire and family-friction comedy tend to hold attention better than earnest holiday films.
Adults
Best: Planes, Trains and Automobiles; Pieces of April; Home for the Holidays; What’s Cooking? Emotionally direct films about family, distance, and reconciliation.
Multigenerational
Best: Miracle on 34th Street (1947); A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving; Coco. Recognisable to grandparents and accessible to grandchildren; good for shared memory.
