A Thanksgiving Tale

Aside from the obviously set-based construction, this was a superb piece of family holiday work! I do recall viewing it on one of the big cable channels in 1985! We have it on video after recording it off cable (HBO or Showtime) and my family's been watching it almost every Thanksgiving ever since! 1985..........I was about 10...11 years old around that time. When it was airing, I remember my Dad calling us to the living room to watch it. The music was certainly unforgettable! The turkey character, although slightly naive in the beginning, was a heart-full character. With the classic cat-vs-dog set-up going on, it made for a memorable family classic!

"A Thanksgiving Tale" is a work of brilliance. This children's special was first aired on Showtime in 1983. It was performed with puppets by some of the same people who went on to do "Alf." (You can hear the voice of Alf in one of the rat characters.) I've seen it at least twenty times. Like a great "Simpsons" episode, "A Thanksgiving Tale" appeals to both children and adults.

It is the story of Tom, a nerdy turkey with dreams of show biz success on the legitimate stage. He gets off his bus at the wrong stop, and ends up in New Jersey. (When the bus driver said "Newark," Tom mistook this for "New York.") Tom hooks up with a group of cats, who offer him a bed for the night. Tom doesn't realize their real intention: To eat him the next day as their Thanksgiving dinner! A group of dogs living in the same alley come to Tom's rescue. The story of the conflict between the cats and dogs eventually mirrors the traditional (perhaps, not so PC or historically accurate) portrayal of cooperation and sharing between Native Americans and the early American settlers during the first Thanksgiving.

This synopsis might suggest a cloying, overly sentimental kid's story. But in a move that was way ahead of its time, this show avoided making their characters cute and sugary. The cats and dogs bicker like a dysfunctional family. They are selfish and self involved. Even in the end, during their Thanksgiving pageant, they retain their recalcitrant personalities. "I don't know how I got talked into this!" one irritable dog yells out from backstage, unhappy at having to wear a dorky Indian outfit in the pageant. "I hope my mother isn't watching."

Tom is a hilarious and sweet creation of self delusion, stupidity and show biz egomania. Although he's the character with the least understanding of what is happening, and with the least amount of power to affect the action, he eventually emerges as the voice of both reason and kindness. He is the heart of the story. (I'm just sorry we didn't get to hear him do his Elvis impersonation.)

Each cat and dog is vested with their own unique personality. Costume and production design are top notch. The clubhouse the cats live in is very "real," with dirty windows and clutter. One character wore a necklace made out of paperclips. Tom's bag has a copy of "Variety" stuffed into it. These details enhance the story.

As with "The Simpsons," there are many subtle references to pop culture. Watch closely for allusions to Tennessee Williams, Cary Grant, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Groucho Marx's "You Bet Your Life" TV game show, and Bob Dylan's unique singing style. If you get a chance to see "A Thanksgiving Tale," don't miss it.

It's so bad but it's also kinda funny. The writers forgot what they were writing about 5 minutes in lol.

OK so the dogs protect the restaurant and can't wait for Thanksgiving so they can have "leftover turkey". Then a turkey shows up who is lost, the cats want to eat it but the dogs want to stop the cats from eating the turkey... EVEN THOUGH the dogs are going to be eating left over turkey the very next day....

WHAT!? LOL 😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣🤣

Also the dogs get paid in leftover food and money because they also pay the rats a few bucks to play a trick on the cats. And the turkey takes a bus so it's confusing as to if the animals are anthropomorphic or they exist with humans and they know they can understand them.

I was looking for other good Thanksgiving TV specials, until I found on YouTube (thank goodness) this live-action special with puppetry by the man who gave us the TV character Alf. After watching it, I thought it was a great special for the young and old, about a group of alley dogs saving a turkey from being Thanksgiving dinner for a group of hungry alley cats next door to them.

I also thought it had the meaning of Thanksgiving without being out-dated or even corny; that is all I could say. Now this special is one of my favorite Thanksgiving specials, and I really wish it was on DVD.