Can two time-traveling turkeys actually save their species from the Thanksgiving dinner table?
In short: In the 2013 animated comedy Free Birds, two turkeys hijack a government time machine to rewrite history. Their mission: travel back to 1621 to remove their ancestors from the first Thanksgiving menu. It is a bizarre, high-stakes quest that blends science fiction, historical satire, and a quest for culinary revolution.
Directed by Jimmy Hayward, Free Birds follows Reggie, a pardoned turkey living a life of luxury at Camp David, and Jake, a militant turkey obsessed with the 'Great Turkey' and a mission to save his kind. After stealing a time machine named S.T.E.V.E. from a government facility, the duo arrives in 1621. There, they encounter a flock of turkeys living in hiding, led by Chief Broadbeak, and attempt to sabotage the Pilgrims' preparations for the inaugural Thanksgiving feast.
The film’s production was marked by significant shifts in tone. Originally titled Turkeys and developed with a more comedic, cartoonish aesthetic, the project underwent a major overhaul after Relativity Media executives demanded a more serious direction. This led to the firing of director Ash Brannon and the removal of planned elements, such as a cybernetic pig antagonist. The final product, released in November 2013, faced harsh criticism from reviewers who found the narrative cluttered and the humor lacking, though it eventually cultivated a dedicated cult following.
Despite its mixed critical reception—with many reviewers citing the film's uneven execution and controversial depictions of historical figures—Free Birds achieved a worldwide box-office gross of over $110 million. The film remains a strange footnote in animation history, notable for its ambitious, if divisive, premise. By the end of the journey, Reggie discovers his own paradoxical role in the timeline, ultimately convincing the Pilgrims and the Wampanoags to swap turkey for pizza, forever altering the trajectory of the holiday tradition.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Free Birds
- Also: Wikidata — Free Birds · CC0
- Also: Wikidata — Free Birds · CC0
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