Thanksgiving with the Squirrels

The Thanksgiving That Almost Wasn't is kind of an annual tradition for us. Sure, it's a prime example of '70s Hanna-Barbera cheese, but there's an intangible charm to it. One thing that probably contributes to it is that it has talking squirrels in it (another would be the goofy banjo-driven songs).

As far as I know, it's the only Thanksgiving special to not be based on a franchise and/or recurring set of characters- i.e. all-original. I did find one by Rankin-Bass called Mouse on the Mayflower, but it doesn't seem to be very well-remembered.

Doing this required finding out what the Squirrel family looked like from the front. Pop turns his head twice, Junior twice also, but each time his head is tilted backward, and with Mom, the best you're gonna get is a 3/4 shot. So I pretty much had to make do with what I could get and wing it a bit.

I'm probably going to be the only person to draw these characters for the rest of eternity.

~Criswell