Ye Turkey Dilemma

1939 was a very strange year. The United States was still in the throes of the Depression, which goes far to explain how it became known as the Year of Two Thanksgivings. It was the tradition at the time that Thanksgiving was held on the last Thursday of November; unfortunately, that year the Thursday fell on the last day of the month. This snipped off a whole week of Christmas shopping. Most distressing for the merchants. They appealed to FDR, and by federal fiat he declared that from now on Thanksgiving would be celebrated on the third Thursday of November. This was seen as rather high-handed by some folks (especially Republicans) many of whom insisted on celebrating on the traditional day, while Democratic states hewed to Roosevelt’s decree. Some, like Texas (as you can see by the map) used both days. We always did like doing things big. As the years passed the people fell into line with the Feds until most people don’t recall the tale, “and it wasn't long before this yearly custom became an annual tradition.”

Which is neither here nor there, except that I believe that this national fracas helped inspire the little spate of ‘Thanksgiving’ cartoons for the next decade, or at least cartoons themed with Pilgrims and turkeys, which began in 1940 (though there was at least one forerunner). Let’s look at them, shall we?

Johnny Smith and Poker-Huntas (Warner Brothers, 1938) starred Egghead, a sort of prototype of Elmer Fudd, “as Johnny Smith, a caricature of the colonist Captain John Smith, arrives on the Mayflower to be met by some sarcastic Native Americans as he makes his escape with Poker-Huntas, a caricature of Pocahontas, and makes off to England with her to raise a family. Since the early 2000s, this short hardly airs on American television due to prominent Native American stereotyping.” -looneytunes.fandom.com.

Pilgrim Porky (Warner Brothers, 1940) “Porky is the captain who leads the pilgrims from Plymouth to America. Along the way several misadventures happen, eventually ending with them arriving next to a chief sitting bull.” - looneytunes.fandom.com. Again, seldom seen or heavily edited for stereotyping.

Tom Turkey and His Harmonica Humdingers (MGM, 1940) The nattily dressed Tom Turkey strolls down the street, playing his harmonica and giving a stuck-up turkey matron the biz. He goes into the general store where he is joined by a batch of cronies in a harmonica symphony that almost destroys the store, much to the owner’s dismay. When the matron sees Tom dancing with a mannequin in the shop window, she gathers a squad of the wives of the other patrons who soon put an end to the merriment. Tom jauntily leaves, still playing his harmonica and dancing with the dummy. No Pilgrims or Thanksgiving, but … turkeys.

The Hardship of Miles Standish (Warner Brothers, 1940) A parody of the Longfellow poem The Courtship of Miles Standish. A grandfather, dissatisfied by the tale they have just heard on the radio, retells the story to his grandson. Miles Standish (a caricature of Hugh Herbert) wants to woo Priscilla Mullins (a caricature of Edna May Oliver) but is too shy. He sends her a singing telegram by way of John Alden (Elmer Fudd, here looking much closer to classic form). They are interrupted by a sudden Indian attack, but when the Native Americans leave guiltily after actually breaking a window for which Elmer demands payment, the impressed Priscilla states, ‘Speak for yourself, John.’ The grandfather says that’s the way he heard it, and may lightning strike him if it’s not true, with predictable results.

Tom Turk and Daffy (Warner Brothers, 1942) Daffy Duck is building a snowman when a turkey comes running up to him, begging him to hide him. After several futile, painful attempts Daffy stuffs the turkey into his snowman. Porky Pig arrives, a Pilgrim hunting for a turkey for dinner. At first Daffy refuses to squeal, but when Porky describes the meal he is preparing, he breaks down at the mention of candied yams (‘It was those yams! Those nasty yams!’) and points Porky to the hiding place. The turkey escapes and plants his tailfeathers on Daffy, which sends Porky off on a chase after the duck.  After some shenanigans, Daffy runs across Tom working on the same snowman and begs the turkey to hide him. After recapitulating all the torturous hiding places Daffy put him through, they vanish into the distance in an endless progression of punishing hidey holes.

Jerky Turkey (MGM, 1945) The Pilgrims arrive at Plymouth rock and are soon divided into Ye Republicans and Ye Democrats. One pudgy Pilgrim, voiced by Bill Thompson (who was the voice of Droopy), or at least by director Tex Avery doing an imitation of Thompson, is out in search of a turkey for Thanksgiving. He runs across a wily bird (voice and appearance based on Jimmy Durante) who is running a Black Market outside the war-time food restrictions of the era. The turkey sells himself to the Pilgrim and then escapes, and most of the rest of the cartoon is a series of surreal antics as the chase ensues. It is periodically interrupted by a bear bearing a sandwich sign that says: “Eat at Joe’s”. The pair finally agree to settle their differences and eat their Thankgiving meal together at Joe’s. They follow the bear into the restaurant. The bear reappears outside a few seconds later, looking noticeably fatter and wearing a sign that proclaims: “I’m Joe.” Inside his stomach a disgruntled turkey and Pilgrim hold up a sign: “Don’t Eat at Joe’s!”

Wigwam Whoopee (Paramount, 1948) The Pilgrims land at Plymouth Rock, towing Popeye (dressed like John Smith) in a rowboat behind them. He goes ashore with his blunderbuss and starts exploring. He comes across Princess Pocahontas (Olive Oyl) taking a shower under a waterfall singing, of course, “By a Waterfall, I’m Calling You-oo-oo-hoo”. After initial misunderstandings, Pocahontas decides she 'likes likes' Popeye, and takes him to her village. But Chief Shmohawk already has designs on the beauty(?) and when she declares her new intentions does what he can get rid of Popeye, aided by a young tribesman who has his own designs on Popeye’s two strands of hair for a scalp. This eventually ends with Popeye being tied up to burn at the stake while the unwilling princess is pursued by Shmohawk. Hearing her peril, he eats his spinach and proceeds to pummel the attacking tribe, and the Chief himself (who rides a charging buffalo, in a confusion with the Plains tribes) is flattened into an Indian head nickel. Popeye and Olive/Pocahontas smooch, and the Indian boy finds as a final surprise that Popeye’s spinach-enhanced hair is too tough even for his tomahawk.

The Little Orphan (MGM, 1949) When Jerry Mouse suddenly finds himself in charge of Nibbles, a basket orphan found on his doorstep, he decides to feed the ever-hungry child from the Thanksgiving banquet already laid on the table. Filthy vermin! They appropriate Pilgrim costumes from the table settings in a bit of whimsey as they proceed. Tom notices their depredations, and as a counterpart to their costumes don a feathered headdress (from a duster) and gives out a war-whoop as he attacks. After an exchange of violence Jerry is knocked out cold, but Nibbles pummels Tom with various clever stratagems until he surrenders. All three sit down together in a truce to eat the turkey dinner, but before Tom or Jerry can touch it, Nibbles quickly devours the whole bird in a disgusting display of greed and selfishness. The ‘little orphan’ pats his bloated belly with satisfaction. Won an Academy Award.

Holiday for Drumsticks (Warner Brothers, 1949). A hillbilly couple, Ma and Pa, get a turkey (Thomas) to fatten for the upcoming Thanksgiving season. He is put in the barnyard and given the most luxurious food (quite a bit of ‘food porn’ in this film), which attracts the envy of Daffy Duck. Under the guise of saving Tom from a grim fate, Daffy will eat all his food and torturously exercise him until he’s too skinny to slaughter. When the day comes Pa does indeed declare him a ‘boney-lookin’ critter’ and not fit for the table. Daffy, on the other hand, boasts about his fine-looking meat. ‘Yeah, but it’s a shame you can’t eat duck for Thanksgiving … gulp …Or can yuh?’ Pa proceeds to chase Daffy with ax and gun while the duck desperately tries to lose weight using the same methods he tortured the turkey with. Finally in desperation he asks Tom to hide him. The turkey batters him with various malicious efforts and then he declares that Daffy must leave the country, ‘go to Rio where they don’t have Thanksgiving.’ He sends the discombobulated duck off on a cruise, which is really into the hillbillies’ oven. Daffy is safe, however, because, as Ma explains, she can’t get the stove going. ‘I keep a-lightin’ the matches and he keeps blowin’ ‘em out.’

Pilgrim Popeye (Paramount, 1951) will be my last cartoon from the ‘Classic Period.’ Popeye sings a little hymn to nippy November weather as he goes out to feed his pet turkey. “It is Thanksgiving Day, and three of his nephews are all set into turning the turkey into the main course. But Popeye cannot bring himself to do the deed, so he tells them a story about the time he was a Pilgrim and a turkey saved his life. In the ensuing flashback, Popeye is hunting the turkey, which keeps outsmarting him. He finally corners the bird, which gives him a sob story about being too scrawny to eat. Popeye therefore gives it some spinach, but before the bird can eat it, Popeye is captured by Indians, and they tie him to a stake. The turkey, watching, remembers about the spinach, which manages to turn it into an eagle. He swoops down, carries off the first batch of Indians and throws them into a mountain; he turns another batch into a totem pole. Popeye finishes his story and sees that the boys are missing; it is dinner time.” - popeye.fandom.com. Popeye fears the worst, but rushing inside he finds the turkey is the guest of honor. They open the cover of the main dish: an enormous plate of spinach, garnished with boiled eggs. It is then that the turkey utters the immortal line: ‘What! No toikey?'

I am sure there are many more Thanksgiving animated shorts, but these are the ones I recall from my childhood (except Pilgrim Porky; never saw that). Some are very hard to find in even expurgated form, filled as they are with racial stereotypes and political incorrectness.  But at their best their artwork evokes a season, and if not historically accurate are now themselves artifacts of a period in history.