The denizens of Sesame Street are ready for their big Thanksgiving celebration, and everyone is responsible for bringing a dish to share. But when Big Bird arrives without the turkeys he was supposed to bring, telling his friends and neighbors he just couldn’t bring himself to cook relatives, the mood changes and the air becomes decidedly less sweet. The Tofurkey he prepared as a replacement is summarily dismissed and pitched into Oscar’s trash can, and the rabble, in their hunger, turn their eyes and appetites toward the largest piece of poultry handy.
When old Mr. Hooper emerges from his storefront holding a sack of onions, several stalks of celery, and some aromatic herbs, the chase is on to salvage the holiday meal by stuffing that Big Bird.
This special feature-length episode was developed originally to be Sesame Street’s answer to Slim Goodbody, in an effort to teach viewers about avian anatomy, but due to the somewhat intense content and Mr. Hooper’s unscripted proclamation to “eat that bird from crest to cloaca” it was shelved- until now. Happy Thanksgiving indeed…