{"id":9115,"date":"2020-11-23T14:09:00","date_gmt":"2020-11-23T19:09:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/?p=9115"},"modified":"2025-11-27T21:29:46","modified_gmt":"2025-11-28T02:29:46","slug":"holidays-in-movies-thanks-giving","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/blog\/2020\/11\/23\/holidays-in-movies-thanks-giving\/","title":{"rendered":"Holidays in Movies:  Thanksgiving"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Celebrating holidays in my house means media saturation.  That is, leading up to Halloween we watch all the Halloween movies, and leading up to Christmas, we watch all the Christmas movies, specials, and television shows.  But Halloween and Christmas aren&#8217;t the only holidays around which you can structure your movie viewing.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"486\" height=\"310\" data-attachment-id=\"9277\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/blog\/2020\/11\/23\/holidays-in-movies-thanks-giving\/garfieldthanksgivingscreenshot-1\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/GarfieldThanksgivingScreenshot-1.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"486,310\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"GarfieldThanksgivingScreenshot-1\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/GarfieldThanksgivingScreenshot-1-400x255.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/GarfieldThanksgivingScreenshot-1.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/GarfieldThanksgivingScreenshot-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-9277\" srcset=\"https:\/\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/GarfieldThanksgivingScreenshot-1.jpg 486w, https:\/\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/GarfieldThanksgivingScreenshot-1-400x255.jpg 400w, https:\/\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/GarfieldThanksgivingScreenshot-1-150x96.jpg 150w, https:\/\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/GarfieldThanksgivingScreenshot-1-144x92.jpg 144w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 486px) 100vw, 486px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Garfield&#8217;s Thanksgiving<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Thanksgiving<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Best_Little_Whorehouse_in_Texas_(film)\"><em>Best Little Whorehouse in Texas <\/em><\/a>(1982):  immensely enjoyable take on the legend of the Chicken Ranch.  If Dolly Parton and Burt Reynolds aren&#8217;t enough to sell it to you, then the in depth study in eighties lingerie should do it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Madman_(film)\"><em>Madman<\/em><\/a> (1982):  horror film taking place in a strange alternate reality where kids are sent off to a woodland camp for Thanksgiving break.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Turkey_Hollow\">Turkey Hollow<\/a> (2015):  broken family forcing themselves on a grudgingly hospitable distant relative?  check.  Sibling discord healed by adventure and danger?  check.  Monsters in the woods?  check.  Turkeys? check check check check check.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Addams_Family_Values\"><em>Adams Family Values<\/em><\/a> (1993):  &#8220;Eat Me!  Hey! It&#8217;s Thanksgiving day!&#8221;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Blood_Rage\"><em>Blood Rage<\/em><\/a> (1987):  &#8220;That&#8217;s not cranberry sauce.&#8221;  And, bonus, this horror movie is located in good old Florida.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/A_Charlie_Brown_Thanksgiving\"><em>A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving<\/em><\/a> (1973): Charlie Brown is the holidays; any holiday.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/This_Is_America,_Charlie_Brown\">Charlie Brown Mayflower Voyagers<\/a> <\/em>(1988):  part of the &#8216;This is America, Charlie Brown&#8221; series, but tacked on to the &#8216;Peanuts Holiday Collection&#8217; without any other episodes.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Garfield%27s_Thanksgiving\">Garfield&#8217;s Thanksgiving<\/a> <\/em>(1989): I grew up on Garfield; I had merch; this is home for me.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>Martha Stewart&#8217;s Classic Thanksgiving<\/em> (2005): from the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Marthas-Holidays-2005-Holiday-Collection\/dp\/B000AOEPMU\/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&amp;keywords=martha+stewart+thanksgiving&amp;qid=1602524840&amp;sr=8-4\">Martha&#8217;s Holidays collection<\/a>, because it is necessary to have a couple of hours worth of instruction on making that turkey.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Planes%2C_Trains_and_Automobiles\"><em>Planes, Trains and Automobiles<\/em><\/a> (1987): is an amazing movie featuring two amazing comedians that is sometimes too poignant to watch every year. <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Boneyard\">The Boneyard<\/a><\/em> (1991): An emotionally tortured psychic agrees to work on another missing child case only to be trapped in a mortuary with the detective she is helping.  Yes, there is Thanksgiving.  There is also Phyllis Diller.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Smothers Brother&#8217;s Thanksgiving Special (1988): TV variety show specials were a staple ingredient of my childhood. This one comes complete with Gallagher and Kenny Rodgers. <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>WKRP in Cincinnati &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Turkeys_Away\">Turkeys Away<\/a>&#8221; (1978): WKRP was an amazing show.  This Thanksgiving episode was based on a real stunt by a radio station in Atlanta.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Deadly_Friend\">Deadly Friend<\/a><\/em> (1986): Genius teenage robotics and neurology student introduces his robotic creation, Bebe, to new friends. There is pumpkin carving and trick or treating, but there is also a full Thanksgiving dinner.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Mutilator\">The Mutilator<\/a><\/em> (1984): A group of friends accompany Ed while he closes up his dad&#8217;s beach condo over &#8216;fall break.&#8217; <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"850\" height=\"479\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/xb8xlNsLIqs?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Celebrating holidays in my house means media saturation. That is, leading up to Halloween we watch all the Halloween movies, and leading up to Christmas, we watch all the Christmas movies, specials, and television shows. But Halloween and Christmas aren&#8217;t the only holidays around which you can structure your movie viewing. Thanksgiving<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[48,290,270,21,281],"class_list":["post-9115","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","tag-holiday","tag-holidays-in-movies","tag-horror","tag-movies","tag-thanksgiviing"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9268,"url":"https:\/\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/blog\/2021\/04\/01\/holidays-in-movies-easter\/","url_meta":{"origin":9115,"position":0},"title":"Holidays in Movies:  Easter","author":"leems","date":"April 1, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"We are a movie watching household, so there is never anything quite so satisfying as being able to gear-up for and celebrate a holiday with some evening viewing. This is the second in a series where I pull out the movies we watch for those holidays that aren't Halloween and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Blog&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/blog\/category\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/easterbunny.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9270,"url":"https:\/\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/blog\/2021\/07\/02\/holidays-in-movies-4th-of-july\/","url_meta":{"origin":9115,"position":1},"title":"Holidays in Movies: 4th of July","author":"leems","date":"July 2, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"US Post Office, Public Domain I play the same record on every patriotic holiday: Timbuk 3's Edge of Allegiance, because it starts with National Holiday. If we entertain guests, then perhaps I'll bust out the Sousa, but Sousa takes a level of picnic commitment that is hard to rustle up\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Blog&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/blog\/category\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/John_Philip_Sousa_1940_Issue-2c.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/John_Philip_Sousa_1940_Issue-2c.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/John_Philip_Sousa_1940_Issue-2c.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":10450,"url":"https:\/\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/blog\/2024\/09\/25\/holidays-in-the-movies-calendar-summary\/","url_meta":{"origin":9115,"position":2},"title":"Holidays in the Movies:  calendar summary","author":"leems","date":"September 25, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Over the past few years we have been cultivating holiday themed watching to get us in the right frame of mind for every holiday. We have now amassed a list complete enough to get it into a chronologically arranged table of contents post for all the holidays in the movies\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Blog&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/blog\/category\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9377,"url":"https:\/\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/blog\/2020\/12\/29\/holidays-in-the-movies-new-year\/","url_meta":{"origin":9115,"position":3},"title":"Holidays in the Movies:  New Year","author":"leems","date":"December 29, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"We may be reeling from our Christmas watching and happy to finally be free to watch anything we want, but there are movies and specials that make the New Year at our house. Just like Thanksgiving, the pickings may be slimmer for this holiday, but it is more than enough\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Blog&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/blog\/category\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Terror Train movie poster","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Terrortrainposter.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":10829,"url":"https:\/\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/blog\/2023\/12\/20\/my-favorite-christmas-carol\/","url_meta":{"origin":9115,"position":4},"title":"My favorite Christmas Carol","author":"leems","date":"December 20, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Much like our Halloween watching, our Christmas watching is such that it is getting its own zine at some point in the near (I hope) future. In lieu of a Holidays in the Movies post for Christmas, I just want to spotlight An American Christmas Carol. Henry Winkler plays the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Blog&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/blog\/category\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/americanchristmascarol.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/americanchristmascarol.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/americanchristmascarol.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/americanchristmascarol.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":11171,"url":"https:\/\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/blog\/2025\/11\/06\/holidays-in-the-movies-veterans-day\/","url_meta":{"origin":9115,"position":5},"title":"Holidays in the Movies:  Veteran&#8217;s Day","author":"leems","date":"November 6, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"We have an egregious oversight in our \"Holidays in the Movies\" calendar. We have not covered Veterans Day. I know why this has happened thus far. In early November my house is reeling from over a month of Halloween programming and trying to get a breather before more than a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Blog&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/blog\/category\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/G.I._Blues_Poster.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9115","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9115"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9115\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11192,"href":"https:\/\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9115\/revisions\/11192"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9115"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9115"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theleemsmachine.com\/bean\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9115"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}