"A Turkey of a Thanksgiving" is the Thanksgiving Special of the third season of Stanley.
Summary[]
Stanley is chosen as the turkey in the school’s Thanksgiving pageant. At first, he’s not too happy about it, and becomes even more upset when he finds out his grandmother might not make it in time. With help from Dennis and the rest of his friends, Stanley learns about both turkeys and the true meaning of Thanksgiving.
Plot[]
Act 1[]
Dennis is getting prepared for Thanksgiving, but gets startled when he noticed the viewers. Dennis explains how much he loves Thanksgiving, and how theirs was the best that almost never was. He then begins to tell the story of what had happened.
A week before Thanksgiving at Stanley’s school, the kids are all discussing their Thanksgiving plans. Stanley tells his friends that his grandmother is flying in after a skiing trip in Colorado. Just then, their teacher, Ms. Diaz, is about to assign each kid a part for the school pageant by picking a paper slip from a hat. Mimi gets to be a Native American while Marci and Lester are playing pilgrims. Stanley however is chosen to be a turkey, which he’s not too happy about.
Once he gets home, he finds his dad is trying to set up a big screen television, his mom is looking up recipes, and his brother Lionel is thrilled about having a four-day weekend off from school. Stanley still feels depressed as he makes his way to his room, but doesn’t want to tell anyone about it. Finally he gets to his bedroom where Harry, Elsie and Dennis are waiting. While they’re all excited to see him, Stanley is still pretty upset. He tells them what happened and that he didn’t want to tell his parents as to not spoil their joy. Stanley doesn’t think being a turkey would be very exciting. He then recalls the time he and his class saw turkeys on a farm and thought they seemed pretty boring. Dennis states that he may have been referring to a domesticated (tame) turkey and not a wild one. This news surprises Stanley, now knowing that there’s actually more than one kind of turkey. To find out, they decide to look in the Great Big Book of Everything.
Upon going into the book, Stanley and Dennis find both a domesticated and wild turkey. Dennis states that a wild turkey has very sharp eyesight and is one of the biggest North American birds, weighing at 20 pounds and growing 4 feet long, whereas domestic ones can grow even bigger. This gives wild turkeys the advantage to run fast and fly at 60 miles an hour. Stanley is amazed by the wild turkeys. Dennis then goes on to say that Benjamin Franklin was so fascinated by the wild turkey that he wanted it to be the symbol of America (instead of a bald eagle), citing them as ‘noble and beautiful creatures’.
Stanley now feels more confident in his part of the play and becomes inspired to be a wild turkey for the pageant. He then goes down to tell his parents, only to find that his parents have bad news of their own. They said that Grandma Griff's plane got delayed by a snowstorm in Colorado and she won’t make it in time for Thanksgiving. The news makes Stanley depressed again.
Act 2[]
Finally, the day of the pageant comes. Stanley’s mom helps him out with his costume, but he is still devastated about his grandmother not coming. The weather report says that the snowstorm won't end until the next day, which makes him even more upset.
At the school, Stanley introduces the Thanksgiving pageant. He and the rest of the kids both sing and tell the story of the first Thanksgiving, in which the pilgrims left England to find a new life. But once they arrived at the new land, the seeds they brought wouldn’t grow. It wasn’t long before they met some Native Americans who offered to help. And when the harvest grew, they had more than enough food, and thus got together and celebrated.
At the end of the play, everyone heads home. But despite the play being a success and Stanley putting on a great performance, he still feels bummed. He tells Dennis and the rest of his family that he wishes Grandma could’ve been there for the holiday. The others then reminisce of the play, saying how the Pilgrims just picked a random day to feast, which gives Stanley an idea. Since there’s no exact date for Thanksgiving (despite being the 4th Thursday of November in America), Stanley wonders if they could have their Thanksgiving dinner on a different day, which everyone is happy to oblige.
A few days later, Grandma Griff arrives. After the Griffs finish their meal, they get a surprise at the front door, which turns out to be Ms. Diaz and the rest of Stanley’s friends and classmates. At first, Stanley is confused by this and Ms. Diaz replies that Lionel called them about what they did, so they decided to spend the rest of the day with him.
At the end of the day, Dennis finishes the story as Stanley is getting ready for bed. He asks Dennis who he was talking to and Dennis replies that he was telling Harry and Elsie a bedtime story (despite them both being asleep). Grandma Griff comes in and tells Stanley she’s thankful that she got to see him after all. Stanley says that he’s thankful for having a great family and a great bunch of friends and that he got to spend Thanksgiving with them all.
Featured Animals[]
- Domesticated turkeys
- Wild turkeys
Characters[]
- Stanley
- Ms. Diaz
- Marci
- Mimi
- Lester
- Lionel
- Mr. Griff
- Mrs. Griff
- Grandma Griff
- Dennis
- Elsie
- Harry
Quotes[]
- Lionel: Are you alright, little dude? You’re not talking to your fish again, are you?
- Stanley: Yes.
- Lionel: Uh, okay. As long as he doesn’t start talking back.
Songs[]
- Thanksgiving is Almost Here
- Pilgrim Pageant
Trivia[]
- Morals:
- If you’re upset about something, it helps to talk to someone.
- Even if things go wrong and can make you sad, there’s always a way to make them better.
- The exact date of Thanksgiving is unknown, but what matters most is that you get to spend it with friends, family and the ones who care about you.
- This episode reveals that Stanley is unaware of the fourth wall, as Dennis is telling the viewers the entire story, which ends with Stanley asking who Dennis is talking to.
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