FREE BIRDS

2013, Reel FX Creative Studios

Animation

Rating: PG

Approx. 90 mins.

THE STORY:

Reggie the turkey (Owen Wilson), the voice of doom in the farmyard, is suddenly rescued from a life of warning others about their impending doom by a presidential pardon. He is transported to the White House where he lives a life of indulgence and luxury. Suddenly he is again uprooted, this time by time-travelling turkey commando Jake (Woody Harrelson). Following on the orders of the mysterious 'Great Turkey', Jake drags a very reluctant Reggie back to 17th century New England with a plan to ensure turkeys are off the menu for the first Thanksgiving dinner.

Once there, they encounter the local wild turkey tribe, and Reggie meets the unlikely love of his life, Jenny (Amy Poehler), daughter of the tribe's aging leader. They all join forces to take on the evil Myles Standish (Colm Meaney) and the pilgrims whose sole mission is to kill as many turkeys as possible.

QUESTIONABLE LANGUAGE:

• Oh my God
• Stupid

VIOLENCE:

• some shooting and hunting
• turkeys die though not on screen

TEACHING POINTS:

• I was really thrown by the happy ending and not sure what message this was supposed to convey to kids, so... not sure

THE UPSHOT:

The film definitely has the niche factor of being the only major animated film related to Thanksgiving. And then there's the niche factor of being about the hypothetical reversal of a 'genocide' (i.e. the culling of turkeys at Thanksgiving). The more I think about it, the more uncomfortable I get. Fortunately, the film doesn't exactly encourage a lot of mental activity. I just kept hoping there would be no questions from the 6 year-old in the room about that aspect.

The pros: The lead female character is a positive example-- smart, brave, flawed-- the voices are good, the animation is appealing, the humour is solid. The cons: It seemed longer than it needed to be and got confusing. The time travel thing got complicated for the 6 year-old in the room-- some blurriness about what is historical fact and what is fantasy-- but it was enjoyable to watch for the most part. Then there's the cultural (in)sensitivity aspect where turkeys appear to be collapsed with First Nations. As I said, though, it seems to discourage mental over-exertion, so you can make as much or as little of this as you choose.

3/5