Hey, for today's video link, how about a cartoon? How about a Tex Avery cartoon? This is Jerky Turkey, which was released to theaters on April 7, 1945…like you couldn't guess the approximate date from all the World War II references. It's another in the endless (for a time) stream of attempts to create a new Bugs Bunny by having a hapless character chase a crazy, carefree animal character who has the ability to defy all laws of physics and to pull explosives out of nowhere. Tex did a few of them, none of which evoked the magic he'd achieved with the wabbit in A Wild Hare.
Preston Blair, who we wrote about here, did a lot of the animation of the doughy pilgrim. And this particular print seems to have a few frames clipped out in and around some of the more "violent" jokes but I can't help that.
I've always found it interesting that these cartoons "work" for people too young to get a lot of the phrases and gags. The lineup to purchase cigarettes, of course, had to do with wartime shortages. The billboard that asks, "Was this trip really necessary?" is derived from the advertising campaigns at the time encouraging Americans to save gas and to ask, every time they traveled, "Is this trip really necessary?" I wonder if very small kids even know what the "1-A" notice means. I hope they never have to experience it first hand.
Okay, enough intro. Here's Jerky Turkey…
