A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving: In Defense of Woodstock

Every year at Thanksgiving, people gather to spend time with friends and family to share a meal and company — often including beloved holiday programs and movies. Among the programs that have become beloved favorites is A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. The iconic special has been a part of the holiday celebration for more than 50 years, with fans tuning in to watch the Peanuts gang come together in their own celebration of friendship, but the program isn’t without controversy. Every year, those watching the beloved animated special come away with just a little discomfort thanks to one specific character: Woodstock.

In A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, the generally good-hearted and beloved Woodstock ends up stoking controversy by eating turkey at his Thanksgiving meal with best friend Snoopy. That’s right, a bird is eating another bird. For many viewers, it’s a revelation of Woodstock’s dark side, this evidence that he’s a cannibal, but this year, we’re not going to give into all this bird slander. This year we’re sticking up for Woodstock and defending him because sometimes, birds eat birds.

We Don’t Even Know What Kind of Bird Woodstock Is

While the visuals of Woodstock eating turkey as part of his Thanksgiving feast with Snoopy, that doesn’t make him a cannibal. First, and foremost we don’t even know what kind of bird Woodstock actually is — but he’s definitely not a turkey. What exact species of bird Woodstock is is actually something that has never officially been defined. Many assume that he’s a canary considering he’s small and yellow, but that’s merely assumption. At one point, Snoopy even tries to identify Woodstock’s species in a Peanuts comic strip, using a field guide and asking his friend to imitate different types of birds. Ultimately, Snoopy gives up, suggests that Woodstock could be a duck which in turn upsets the little guy (but don’t worry, Snoopy apologizes.)

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Why does not knowing exactly what kind of bird Woodstock is matter?  Well, it comes down to this: a turkey is a bird and Woodstock is a bird, but Woodstock eating another bird really isn’t all that different than humans eating beef or pork. Considering that both cows and pigs are mammals and human beings are mammals, one could argue that it is weird and wrong that humans eat beef and pork — and yes, some people do in fact feel this way and that’s okay. But if people eat meat, it’s not that weird for an anthropomorphic bird to eat foul, either.

In Nature, Some Birds Do Eat Other Birds

Not knowing Woodstock’s species is important for another reason: nature. You see, in nature there are birds that do, in fact, eat other birds. Birds of prey — thinks eagles, owls, and hawks — do actually feed on small mammals and other birds, such as finches, sparrows, and various songbirds. Given that eating other birds is part of the nature of some species, it isn’t impossible to think that Woodstock could be naturally inclined to eat birds himself. Again, we have no idea what kind of bird Woodstock is, but maybe he’s just a really small bird of prey. If that is the case, Woodstock feasting on turkey is no longer some strange, sinister thing but is simply a bird being a bird.  And should we really be shaming Woodstock for that?

So, sure. Maybe it is a little unsettling to see a bird eating another bird bit it’s really not as big of a deal as maybe we think it is. It’s not terribly different than humans eating meat and we don’t know enough about Woodstock to know if this is abnormal behavior. Maybe Woodstock is secretly a small eagle which would make him not eating turkey at Thanksgiving the unusual thing. Whatever the case, we’re going to give Woodstock a pass about that this year.

But all bets are off for the whole putting Snoopy’s ear in the toaster. Even we think that one was a little brutal, Woodstock.

A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving is now streaming on Apple TV+.