''Jerky Turkey'' is a

1945 1945 marked the end of World War II and the fall of Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan. It is also the only year in which nuclear weapons have been used in combat. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. Januar ...

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...

cartoon directed by

Tex Avery Frederick Bean "Tex" Avery (February 26, 1908 – August 26, 1980) was an American animator, cartoonist, animation director, director, and voice actor. He was known for directing and producing animated cartoons during the golden age of American a ...

Plot

In 1620,

Pilgrim A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) who is on Pilgrimage, a journey to a holy place. Typically, this is a physical journey (often on foot) to some place of special significance to the a ...

s, riding a caricatured ''

Mayflower ''Mayflower'' was an English ship that transported a group of English families, known today as the Pilgrims, from England to the New World in 1620. After a grueling 10 weeks at sea, ''Mayflower'', with 102 passengers and a crew of about 30, r ...

'' with a number of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

-era

anachronism An anachronism (from the Ancient Greek, Greek , 'against' and , 'time') is a chronology, chronological inconsistency in some arrangement, especially a juxtaposition of people, events, objects, language terms and customs from different time per ...

s (such as a navy gunnery deck, a

Henry J. Kaiser Henry John Kaiser (May 9, 1882 – August 24, 1967) was an American industrialist who became known as the father of modern American shipbuilding. Prior to World War II, Kaiser was involved in the construction industry; his company was one of ...

nameplate and a fuel rationing card) land at

Plymouth Rock Plymouth Rock is the traditional site of disembarkation of William Bradford and the ''Mayflower'' Pilgrims who founded Plymouth Colony in December 1620. The Pilgrims did not refer to Plymouth Rock in any of their writings; the first known writt ...

and establish

a colony ''A Colony'' (french: Une colonie) is a Canadian drama film from Quebec, directed by Geneviève Dulude-De Celles and released in 2018. The film centres on Mylia (Émilie Bierre), a young girl starting high school who is torn between her new friends ...

, where they quickly separate into "Ye Democrats" and "Ye Republicans." The Pilgrims all stand in line for cigarettes (some are caricatures of Avery's animation crew), while the

town crier A town crier, also called a bellman, is an officer of a royal court or public authority who makes public pronouncements as required. Duties and functions The town crier was used to make public announcements in the streets. Criers often dress ...

bemoans that he has been made eligible for the

draft Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vessel ...

with a card bearing his " 1-A" eligibility in his hand. A pear-shaped Pilgrim, who speaks with the milquetoast mannerisms of Bill Thompson (here impersonated because he had been drafted and was unavailable), emerges from his dilapidated

teardrop trailer A teardrop trailer, also known as a teardrop camper trailer, is a streamlined, compact, lightweight caravan, which gets its name from its teardrop profile. They usually only have sleeping space for two adults and often have a basic kitchen in th ...

home and goes hunting for a

turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

for a

Thanksgiving Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Philippines. It is also observed in the Netherlander town of Leiden and ...

dinner. The turkey emerges from the " House of Seven Gobbles" (a literal

black market A black market, underground economy, or shadow economy is a clandestine market or series of transactions that has some aspect of illegality or is characterized by noncompliance with an institutional set of rules. If the rule defines the se ...

in disguise) and, seeing an easy mark and speaking in an impersonation of

Jimmy Durante James Francis Durante ( , ; February 10, 1893 – January 29, 1980) was an American comedian, actor, singer, vaudevillian, and pianist. His distinctive gravelly speech, Lower East Side accent, comic language-butchery, jazz-influenced song ...

, offers himself to the pilgrim, only to use this as the start of a series of rapid-fire gags that stretch the limits of even

cartoon physics Cartoon physics or animation physics are terms for a jocular system of laws of physics (and biology) that supersedes the normal laws, used in animation for humorous effect. Many of the most famous American animated films, particularly those from ...

, with the turkey consistently getting the best of his increasingly befuddled and frustrated opponent. Eventually the two make up and decide to " eat at Joe's," following the advice of a clapboard-wearing bear advertising his steakhouse that appears throughout the short. When they reach Joe's steakhouse, the door closes, loud crashes and thuds are heard, and Joe the bear is seen coming out of the restaurant without his sandwich board; on his back is a tattoo which reads "I'm Joe". The bear is grinning and picking his teeth, as the swallowed-whole turkey and pilgrim sulk in the bear's stomach. The pilgrim closes the cartoon by holding up a sign of his own: "DON'T eat at Joe's."

Voice cast

as Crows Nest Pilgrim, Turkey Call, Turkey Gobble, Junior Pilgrim * Frank Graham as Indian *Leone LeDoux as Crying Pilgrim *

Wally Maher Wally Maher (August 4, 1908 – December 26, 1951) was an American actor, primarily on old-time radio; he was also known as the original voice of Tex Avery's cartoon character Screwy Squirrel. Early years Maher was born in Cincinnati on August 4, ...

as Jimmy Durante Turkey

Notes

*Internet sources claiming

Daws Butler Charles Dawson Butler (November 16, 1916May 18, 1988) was an American voice actor. He worked mostly for the Hanna-Barbera animation production company where he originated the voices of many familiar characters, including Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Ho ...

provided a voice are incorrect, as he did not arrive in Hollywood until after World War II. He did make his first voice appearance in ''

Little Rural Riding Hood ''Little Rural Riding Hood'' is a 1949 MGM animated cartoon short subject directed by Tex Avery, conceived as a follow-up to his 1943 cartoon ''Red Hot Riding Hood''. In 1994, the cartoon was ranked in 23rd place of The 50 Greatest Cartoons. It is ...

'' (1949) as the voice of the city wolf. *''Jerky Turkey'' is one of six MGM cartoons in the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, ...

. The others are ''

The Discontented Canary ''The Discontented Canary'' is a 1934 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned ...

'' (1934), ''

The Calico Dragon ''The Calico Dragon'' is a 1935 Happy Harmonies cartoon short directed by Rudolf Ising for the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio. Even though the start and end dates for certain scenes are incomplete, the cartoon was produced relatively quickly, ...

'' (1935), '' To Spring'' (1936), ''Bosko's Easter Eggs'' (1937), and '' Doggone Tired'' (1949). *Voices were provided by radio actors Wally Maher, who had previously voiced

Screwy Squirrel Screwy Squirrel (also known as Screwball Squirrel) is an animated cartoon character, an anthropomorphic squirrel created by Tex Avery for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. He is generally considered the wackiest and outright most antagonistic of the screwball c ...

, and Leone LeDoux,''The Animated Film Encyclopedia'', Graham Webb, McFarland Publishers, 2000. who specialised in baby cries. *The Turkey from the short was planned to have a cameo in ''

Who Framed Roger Rabbit ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' is a 1988 American live-action/animated comedy mystery film directed by Robert Zemeckis, produced by Frank Marshall and Robert Watts, and loosely adapted by Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman from Gary K. Wolf's 1 ...

,'' but was later dropped for unknown reasons. However, he can be seen in the storyboards from the deleted "Acme's Funeral" scene.

References

External links

* *
Available at the Internet Archive
{{Tex Avery 1945 animated films 1945 short films 1945 films 1940s American animated films 1940s animated short films Films directed by Tex Avery Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer animated short films Articles containing video clips Thanksgiving in films Cultural depictions of Jimmy Durante Animation based on real people Films scored by Scott Bradley Films about birds Films about hunters Films with screenplays by Henry Wilson Allen Fiction set in 1620 Films set in the 1620s Films set in Massachusetts Films produced by Fred Quimby Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio short films