Charlie Brown Thanksgiving has been called out a few years too late by viewers unhappy with a ‘racist’ scene.
Charles M. Schulz’s Peanuts cartoon special, first aired in 1973, was shown in the US on Thursday night to celebrate Thanksgiving, and sees Charlie try and put together a last minute dinner after his friends invite themselves over.
Admitting that he can’t cook, he ends up serving toast, popcorn and jelly beans – which Peppermint Patty makes it clear she is not happy about.
But it wasn’t the junk food that had viewers up in arms, it was the scene around the dinner table with Snoopy, Patty, Linus, Sally, Franklin and others.
At the table Charlie, Sally and a couple of others sit one side of the table while Franklin, the only person of colour at the dinner, sits on his own on the other side of the table. He is also seated on a deckchair while his friends all get proper chairs.
Back when it was first shown and people were less accepting this likely wouldn’t have raised an eyebrow, but viewers on Twitter promptly called out the very suspect scene.
Other than the mild racism, Charlie gave a speech to his friends about the meaning of Thanksgiving, and how he is thankful that they are all together.
And there’s a happy ending as Charlie’s grandmother calls and invites him, Sally and their friends to her house for dinner.
According to Washington Post, the story goes that Schulz demanded a black character was added to Peanuts in 1968 after Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated.
Charlie Brown has also had festive episodes A Charlie Brown Christmas in 1965 and Happy New Year, Charlie Brown in 1986.
The cartoon, which began its life as a comic strip in newspapers, was made into a feature length film with Snoopy and Charlie Brown: The Peanuts Movie in 2015.
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