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Animated movies come in all shapes, sizes, and styles. Some are smart and sophisticated; others are silly and slapsticky. There are animated movies that feature monsters, talking animals, and just plain, everyday kids. And there are animated movies about every imaginable holiday—including director Jimmy Hayward’s wacky time-traveling Thanksgiving adventure, Free Birds.
Reggie (voiced by Owen Wilson) has never fit in with the other turkeys—mostly because while the others blindly follow the farmer, Reggie realizes that they’re being fattened up for Thanksgiving. But Reggie is one lucky turkey. When Thanksgiving comes, he’s chosen to be pardoned by the President—and, following the ceremony, he’s whisked away to Camp David, where he settles into a luxurious life of pizza and telenovelas.
But then Reggie meets Jake (Woody Harrelson), a big, burly turkey who’s convinced that he and Reggie are destined to travel back in time to the first Thanksgiving, to take turkeys off the menu. And a reluctant Reggie soon finds himself on a wild and crazy adventure into the past.
The idea behind Free Birds is definitely an interesting one. In fact, throughout the years, my dad and I have spent many a Thanksgiving dinner discussing how we wished that the pilgrims had cooked up a cow instead of a turkey on that first Thanksgiving. So why not let time-traveling turkeys play a part in the action?
The problem, however, is that none of the filmmaking team seems to have thought very far beyond that clever initial concept. When someone first pitched the story, apparently no one in the room thought to ask, “And then what?” Because, as it turns out, there’s just not much of a story to tell.
So, instead of enjoying a smart and well-developed story, we’re left to sit through a lengthy set-up involving clueless farm fowl, an annual holiday tradition, and a precocious but seemingly narcoleptic little girl. After that, we meet a strangely sarcastic (yet also strangely entertaining) time machine named S.T.E.V.E. (George Takei) and a bunch of seriously unhinged colonial settlers. Some of the gags are funny the first time around, but they’re generally taken way too far and drawn out way too long. And as the story continues to meander through all kinds of strange adventures in colonial Plymouth, it goes from intriguing to odd to just plain irritating.
In the end, Free Birds is a cute idea gone horribly wrong. The story is rambling and forgettable, the humor falls flat, and it all comes off feeling like a straight-to-video release. So if your kids are absolutely desperate for some Thanksgiving-themed entertainment this November, pick up A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving on DVD instead.
Blu-ray Review:
If you enjoyed the random humor of Free Birds, you can trace its comedic roots by checking out the special features included on the film’s Blu-ray release. Extras include a trio of behind-the-scenes features—like Animating Free Birds: The Main Course, which offers a brief overview of the animation process involved in making one of the film’s scenes. You’ll see everything from character animation to set design—and you’ll even get to see various animators acting out the turkeys’ dance moves. And if those dance moves crack you up, you won’t want to miss Winging It: Animators in Action, which shows even more of the animators’ acting reference footage.
If music is more your thing, you’ll want to take a look at Talking Turkey with Composer Dominic Lewis, in which the rookie composer discusses the challenges of scoring animation, his thought process, and his take on the future of film scores. And you’ll want to pair that with the super-short “Shake a Tail Feather” video (which is really only a few seconds in length).
And, finally, for a quirky take on the film’s historical contributions, check out Birds Flipping History, which shows a bunch of kids in a revised Thanksgiving pageant.
I may not have enjoyed the random craziness of Free Birds, but I’ll freely admit that the special features deserve a look. If you have an interest in animation, Animating Free Birds offers a brief but interesting look at how it’s done—and it’s just plain fun to watch a bunch of animators making fools of themselves on camera in Winging It. So after your kids make you sit through the movie for the fourth, fifth, or sixth time, take a time out to check out the features.
Listen to the review on Reel Discovery:
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