GRISWOLDDAD
Parenting, Entertainment, and Travel Tips
Thanksgiving Movies to Watch with the Family
Thanksgiving is a time for family, for getting together, for letting each other know what you're thankful for, and for turkey. Some dread the big family get-togethers, some get excited with anticipation. Whichever side you fall, Thanksgiving has truly become the family holiday. Growing beyond pilgrims and Native Americans, the focus of Thanksgiving has become just family. There are no presents, no costumes, no religious observances, just going to see the other members of your family, some you many not have seen for some time. You catch up, you laugh, you love, you eat. That's why Thanksgiving shouldn't be overlooked as a blip between Halloween and Christmas. Don't literally eat and run to the earliest Black Friday sales. Hang out. Reconnect with all your family, even the ones you see daily. Life moves fast, so you don't always have a chance to truly connect with those you see even on a daily basis. Take your time, enjoy the dinner and the camaraderie. Then, once you're stuffed, hit the couch to watch some great Thanksgiving-themed family movies together!
Planes, Trains, and Automobiles
A perennial Thanksgiving classic, Planes, Trains, and Automobiles tells the story of a devoted husband and father (Steve Martin) who simply cannot make his way home to his family on Thanksgiving. Anything and everything seems to be working against his trip home even though he gains the help of fellow traveler John Candy, who naturally causes as much trouble as he helps to stop. Along the way, the movie shows the true meaning of friendship and family and, therefore, the true meaning of Thanksgiving. Just be aware, Martin is a bit of a potty mouth from time to time as his quest to get home becomes more and more desperate.
*Teens
A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving
Every single year, this holiday special will hit your TV screens, and we're all the better for it. The good ol' Peanuts gang's specials have become synonymous with nearly every holiday. Generations of kids know them word for word and love them all. Hopefully, that tradition continues through our kids and our kids' kids. In this one, the gang works together to make a Thanksgiving feast!
*All Ages
Free Birds
This is a fun animated movie where two turkeys (voiced by Woody Harrelson and Owen Wilson) go back in time to the first Thanksgiving in Plymouth to prevent turkeys from being on the Thanksgiving menu year after year. Not all goes according to plan. You're eating turkey this Thanksgiving after all, aren't you?
*All Ages
Home for the Holidays
Sometimes getting all the extended family members into one household isn't the ideal scenario that Thanksgiving is supposed to be. The family in this movie is that kind of family. I think this often rings true to life with many families as people follow different paths, but as with the movie (sorry for the spoilers), reconnecting can bring any family closer together.
* Teens
Garfield's Thanksgiving
If you've never heard Garfield chanting "Deep fat fry, deep fat fry", you're really missing out. In this great family holiday special, everybody's favorite cat is along for the ride as John pretty much ruins Thanksgiving dinner because he seemingly knows absolutely nothing about cooking. Luckily, his grandma rides in on her motorcycle to save dinner and the day.
*All Ages
Dutch
Much like Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, this is a story of trying to get home for Thanksgiving and everything that can go wrong doing so. This time, Ed O'Neill has the simple goal of picking up his girlfriend's son to bring him back home from school on Thanksgiving. Little does he know that the son is a little jerk with no intention of befriending his mom's new boyfriend.
*Older Kids and Teens
Winnie the Pooh's Seasons of Giving
Winnie the Pooh's Seasons of Giving is a collection of smaller Pooh movies, including one for Thanksgiving, one for Christmas, and one for Groundhog Day. Each of the 100 Acre Wood characters brings their own type of food to the Thanksgiving feast, each different that what you'd expect to find typically...much to the chagrin of Rabbit.
*All Ages
Son-in-Law
A small town country girl befriends Pauly Shore at college and brings him home with her for Thanksgiving break. Ok, starting with the obvious for some, not everyone is a fan of Pauly's antics in movies. However, his weirdness is the focus of this movie. He is off-putting to essentially an entire town. That weirdness eventually becomes endearing and passes along the message that people should keep open minds and accept all sorts of other people.
*Older Kids and Teens
After the parades of the morning, the preparation of the food, and the dinner itself, you're going to want to crash and relax. Let the good times with family roll and enjoy these movies together. Let us know if there's any we missed. You could round out a top 10 with 2018's the Oath which is a grown up, dark comedy involving Thanksgiving or even the oddball horror movie called Thankskilling, which is about a homicidal turkey, but they don't quite make the "family" list. Having not seen the homicidal turkey movie, I may have to go watch it just to see how bad it is! In the meantime, be sure to check out our other movie lists.