Here again, in honor of the day, is Jerky Turkey, a Tex Avery cartoon that was released by MGM on April 7, 1945. Tex did a number of cartoons like this, trying to create a new Bugs Bunny by whipping up some annoying character who gets chased around for seven minutes, forever turning the tables on his pursuer. This isn't the best but it's also not the worst.
Most references say that Daws Butler supplied the voice of the turkey and that Bill Thompson played the Pilgrim, and I'm pretty sure they're wrong on both. Not only does the turkey not sound like Daws's Durante impression but Daws didn't even get into the animation business until several years after this cartoon was in theaters. The doughy pilgrim has a voice not unlike Thompson's Droopy/Wallace Wimple sound but without its distinctive texture. So who are we listening to? Beats me. It might be Harry E. Lang, who was in most of the cartoons Tex was making around this time, though the voice coming out of that turkey call sounds like Frank Graham and it would be odd to hire him just to do that one line. Enjoy…
