''Jerky Turkey'' is a

1945 1945 marked the end of World War II, the fall of Nazi Germany, and the Empire of Japan. It is also the year concentration camps were liberated and the only year in which atomic weapons have been used in combat. Events World War II will be ...

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

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 America ...

. ''Jerky Turkey'' is one of three MGM cartoons in the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no Exclusive exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly Waiver, waived, or may be inapplicable. Because no one holds ...

in the United States as its copyright was not renewed.

Plot

In 1620,

Pilgrim The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often vocalize it as ...

s, riding a caricatured ''

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

'' with a number of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

-era

anachronism An anachronism (from the Greek , 'against' and , 'time') is a chronological inconsistency in some arrangement, especially a juxtaposition of people, events, objects, language terms and customs from different time periods. The most common type ...

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 for his shipbuilding and construction projects, then later for his involvement in fostering modern American health care. Prior to World War II, ...

nameplate and a fuel rationing card) land at

Plymouth Rock Plymouth Rock is a boulder in Plymouth, Massachusetts, that symbolizes the historical disembarkation site of the '' Mayflower'' Pilgrims who founded Plymouth Colony in December 1620, and has been claimed to be the Pilgrims' actual landing site. ...

and establish a colony, where they quickly separate into "Ye Democrats" and "Ye

Republicans Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

." 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 dre ...

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 v ...

with a card bearing his " 1-A" eligibility in his hand. A pear-shaped Pilgrim, who speaks with the

milquetoast Caspar Milquetoast was a popular American cartoon character created by H. T. Webster. The term “milquetoast” has since come to be used for a meek or timid person. Milquetoast may also refer to: *Dr. Milquetoast, a character in " The Pacifis ...

mannerisms of Bill Thompson (here impersonated because he had been drafted and was unavailable), emerges from his dilapidated teardrop trailer home and goes hunting for a

turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

for a

Thanksgiving Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in October and November in the United States, Canada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Germany. It is also observed in the Australian territory ...

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

black market A black market is a Secrecy, clandestine Market (economics), market or series of transactions that has some aspect of illegality, or is not compliant with an institutional set of rules. If the rule defines the set of goods and services who ...

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, and pianist. His distinctive gravelly speech, Lower East Side New York accent, accent, comic language-butchery, jazz-influenced son ...

, 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, 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 the bear is seen coming out of the restaurant without his sandwich board; on his back is a tattoo which reads "I'm Joe". Joe the bear is grinning and picking his teeth, as the swallowed-whole turkey and pilgrim sulk in Joe'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 as Jimmy Durante Turkey

Production

Some voices were provided by radio actors Wally Maher and Leone LeDoux, 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. Among some of the more outrageous cartoon characters, Screwy's feats include pulling ob ...

and who specialized in baby cries, respectively. Some internet sources cite voice actor Daws Butler as the voice of jerky turkey, but he did not make his first voice appearance until 1948 in

Screen Gems Screen Gems is an American film production company owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of Japanese conglomerate, Sony Group Corporation. ''Screen Gems'' has served several different purposes for its parent companies over the de ...

' ''Short Snorts on Sports.'' Butler would go on to voice numerous characters in later Avery productions, including 1948’s ''

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 ...

'' his first with the company. Much like other Avery shorts, this cartoon features a celebrity voice impersonation. In this short it is a

impression. While it's not known if he would have had a cameo, The Turkey from the short can be seen in a storyboard of a deleted scene from ''

Who Framed Roger Rabbit ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' is a 1988 American fantasy comedy film directed by Robert Zemeckis from a screenplay written by Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman. It is loosely based on the 1981 novel ''Who Censored Roger Rabbit?'' by Gary K. Wol ...

'' entitled "Acme's Funeral".

In other media

*In the late 1980s, footage from this cartoon was used for a video for the 1965

Fontella Bass Fontella Marie Bass (; July 3, 1940 – December 26, 2012) was an American R&B and soul singer-songwriter best known for her number-one R&B hit " Rescue Me" in 1965. She was nominated for a Grammy Award twice. Early life Fontella Bass was bor ...

hit " Rescue Me" that aired on the cable channel

VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism for Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network that launched on January 1, 1985, and is currently owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global's networks division based in New Y ...

.Fontella Bass - Rescue Me (Obscure Music Video)
(YouTube video). Retrieved 2025-04-13.

References

External links