Jim Henson’s Turkey Hollow premieres tonight (November 21st) at 8:00/7:00 Central on Lifetime.
The Lifetime network has been making original TV movies for decades, including such all-time classics as Love’s Deadly Triangle: The Texas Cadet Murder, I Killed My BFF, and Sleeping with the Devil. But for all the varied subject matter they’ve covered, they had never done a movie featuring hairy forest monsters who communicate primarily via sound effects.
UNTIL NOW.
If you’re an avid Henson fan, you know the history of the Turkey Hollow project, from unproduced treatment by Jim Henson and Jerry Juhl to Archaia’s graphic novel adaptation by Roger Langridge. When Langridge’s book came out, we figured that was as close as we’d get to seeing the material onscreen, but now here we are with a full-feathered TV movie, and it’s an altogether pleasant family-friendly production.
Early in Jim Henson’s Turkey Hollow, we meet Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, who will serve as our narrator. His role in the film is somewhat odd, although I wouldn’t go so far as to call it ludicrous. Is he playing himself? He never interacts with the human actors, so maybe he’s the omniscient Spirit of Thanksgiving.
Ludacris introduces us to the Emmerson family: Teenage Annie, young Tim, and their father Ron, who is recently divorced but can’t bring himself to say the word “divorce.” Tim is a wide-eyed kid who’s ready to believe in magic, while Annie is the kind of surly, cynical, smartphone-addicted teenager you may have seen before in every movie and TV show featuring a teenager.
Did I say smartphone? Yep, rather than setting the story in the late 1960s when the original treatment was written, the film moves the action to the present day. The decision doesn’t detract from the story at all, and if it makes the movie more accessible to youngsters in the potential viewing audience, all the better. Really, though, there’s not much in the script that places it at this particular moment in history, although I suspect references to Instagram and Honey Boo Boo won’t age well.
The Emmersons have come to the town of Turkey Hollow to spend Thanksgiving with Ron’s Aunt Cly, but we later learn that Ron may have an ulterior motive for bringing the kids there. Cly is played by the always-appealing Mary Steenburgen as a wry hippie lady. I seem to recall the Aunt Cly in Roger Langridge’s version being a bit quirkier, whereas Steenburgen’s Cly has obviously seen some crap in her day. We also learn about Aunt Cly’s late husband, Uncle Ned, who devoted his life to searching for the Howling Hoodoo, a legendary local Bigfoot-like beast. This inspires Tim to seek out the Howling Hoodoo himself, which naturally leads to adventure.
There are also turkeys. A lot of them. There are 175 turkeys, and they’re owned by the bad guy, Eldridge Sump, who threatens the family after Tim trespasses on his property and commits a major faux pas with the gobbling birds. You would expect a fellow named Eldrige Sump to be decidedly villainous, and he is, without ever going too far over the top. Sump also has two stupid henchmen whose stupid henchmen actions put Annie and Tim in peril.
You’ll notice I haven’t mentioned the monsters yet. When I first heard that the TV movie would simply be called Jim Henson’s Turkey Hollow rather than the original Musical Monsters of Turkey Hollow, I thought maybe it was because the producers were going for brevity, or because they had chosen not to make it a musical and didn’t want to mislead anyone. I might have been right, but another equally likely reason could be that the monsters are essentially supporting characters in this incarnation of the story. Turkey Hollow the movie is more concerned with the Emmerson family and their relationships than with the monsters or music.
In fact, the monsters don’t make their first appearance until a good half-hour into the movie, and then they’re absent for another stretch before the ending. I know it’s expensive and technically challenging to film creatures, if I have one major complaint with Turkey Hollow, that’s it: I wanted more monsters! More Zorp, more Burble, more Squonk, more Thrinng! And as amusing as the monster’s namesake noises are, it would have been nice to hear them actually make some (good) music.
As the movie’s been promoted, I’ve seen a few people remark that the monsters are too ugly and/or scary, and while they’re not what you’d call adorable (nor are they intended to be), I think they look cool. I’m a big “Animatronics, yay! CGI, overused!” person, and sometimes I wonder if I’m blinded by my affection for old-school, tangible effects. But you know what? There’s truly something special about an expertly built puppet performed by a talented puppeteer that computer animation can’t match. These furry creatures, as performed by Alice Dinnean, Gord Robertson, Rob Mills, and Jason Hopley, have a real life to them, even if they don’t have distinct personalities. For the record, my favorite is Burble.
Thanksgiving tends to be the forgotten holiday, with very few TV specials devoted to it. So Turkey Hollow is not just a fun movie, it’s fulfilling a need. It’s way less boring than Thanksgiving-weekend football games, and I can easily imagine families sitting down to watch it together, rooting for the Emmersons, booing Eldrige Sump, and hopefully making monster sounds during the commercials.
Click here to read all about the making of Turkey Hollow! And click here for our exclusive video of the Turkey Hollow monsters at the Jim Henson Creature Shop!
Click here to hunt for the Howling Hoodoo on the Tough Pigs forum!
by Ryan Roe – Ryan@ToughPigs.com
