Overall, for a Thanksgiving film for the family, “Turkey Hollow” is a Jim Henson telefilm that both parents and children can enjoy and I was entertained from beginning to end! Recommended!
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TITLE: Jim Henson’s Turkey Hollow
FILM YEAR: 2015
DURATION: 88 Minutes
BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition
COMPANY: Lifetime Television
RATED: TV-PG
RELEASE DATE: 2015
Directed by Kirk R. Thatcher
Teleplay by Tim Burns and Christopher Baldi
Story by Jim Henson, Jerry Juhl, Kirk R. Thatcher
Executive Producer: Lisa Henson, Halle Stanford, Michael J. Taylor
Produced by Harvey Kahn, Ritamarie Peruggi
Music by Mick Giacchino
Cinematography by Randal Platt
Edited by Richard Schwadel
Casting by Jackie Lind, Jason L. Wood
Production Design by Linda Del Rosario, Richard Paris
Set Decoration by Ian Nothnagel
Costume Design by Tanya Lipke
Starring:
Mary Steenburgen as Aunt Cly
Jay Harrington as Ron Emmerson
Graham Verchere as Tim Emmerson
Genevieve Buechner as Annie Emmerson
Reese Alexander Sheriff Grover
Gabe Khouth as Buzz
Peter New as Junior
Linden Banks as Eldrige Sump
Ludacris as the Narrator
The movie follows the story of the Emmerson family, recently divorced father Ron (Harrington) and his kids Tim (Graham Verchere) and Annie (Genevieve Buechner), as they head to the quaint town of Turkey Hollow to spend a rustic Thanksgiving at the farm of Ron’s eccentric Aunt Cly (Steenburgen). Surprised by the lack of internet and technology in Turkey Hollow, Tim and Annie soon find themselves swept up in tracking the “Howling Hoodoo,” an elusive monster that, up until now, Turkey Hollow residents have long dismissed as mere legend. The Thanksgiving holiday threatens to take a bleak turn when a scheming neighbor frames Aunt Cly for turkey theft, but the fractured family teams up with some surprising new friends to save the day. Ludacris appears as an on-screen narrator in the film.
For day 9 of my holiday film marathon, I wanted to select a Thanksgiving telefilm (to take a day off from a Christmas film), so what best than “Jim Henson’s Turkey Hollow” which aired on Lifetime back in 2015.
Famous puppeteers Jim and Jane Henson were known for their successful TV series such as “The Muppet Show”, “Fraggle Rock”, “Bear in the Big Blue House” and creating the muppet characters for “Sesame Street”. The company, The Jim Henson Company would go on to make numerous Muppet related films, “The Dark Crystal”, “Labyrinth”, to name a few.
Jerry Juhl would write a special as one of Jim Henson’s proposed specials titled “The Musical Monsters of Turkey Hollow” back in the ’60s but it would stay in the Henson archives for decades.
The story would receive an update (as the original was set in Thanksgiving of 1968) and would be made into a Lifetime Television Thanksgiving telefilm directed by Kirk R. Thatcher and a teleplay by Tim Burns and Christopher Baldi.
The telefilm would star Mary Steenburgen (“Last Vegas”, “Back to the Future Part III”, “Step Brothers”), Jay Harrington (“Better Off Ted”, “Coupling”, “Summerland”), Ludacris (“Crash”, “Fast Five”, “Fast & Furious 6”, “2 Fast 2 Furious”), Graham Verchere (“Stargirl”, “The Good Doctor”, “Fargo”), Genevieve Buechner (“The Final Cut”, “Caprica”, “Jennifer’s Body”), Reese Alexander (“The Interview”, “Descendants”), Gabe Khouth, Peter New and Linden Banks.
The film revolves around a divorced man named Ron Emmerson (portrayed by Jay Harrington) taking a trip along with his kids, Annie (portrayed by Genevieve Buechner) and Tim (portrayed by Graham Verchere) to New England, to a place called Turkey Hollow.
Ron is having difficulty dealing with his divorce and his wife taking everything and raising two children. So, difficult that he can’t come out and say he’s divorced.
The three are heading to Ron’s Aunt Cly (portrayed by Mary Steenburgen) and to the children’s chagrin, they aren’t so happy because the area has no wifi and also the kids, especially Annie, feels their father is just taking them to Aunt Cly so she can take care of them, while he works.
As the kids are getting acquainted to their new rooms, Tim stumbles into a room where Cly’s deceased husband would spend his time at. And Tim discovers newspapers about a monster known as Howling Hoodoo and also seeing a special weapon which Cly’s husband had created and more.
While trying to get some sleep, Tim hears noises and when he goes to investigate, it leads him to her Aunt Cly’s scheming neighbors, Eldridge Slump (portrayed by Linden Banks) and his redneck minions, Buzz (portrayed by Gabe Khouth) and Junior (portrayed by Peter New).
As Tim goes into the property, he accidentally releases 175 turkeys and is caught by Eldridge and his goons. And when Sheriff Grover (portrayed by Reese Alexander) is brought in, Eldrige wants payment for his turkeys (about $10,000) and if he doesn’t get the money within two days, he wants Aunt Cly’s property.
Because Tim caused a financial headache, he decides to act on the newspaper article of catching the Howling Hodoo for $10,000. Of course, Annie tries to be the reason and tell her younger brother that the newspaper is old and fake but while out in the forest, they discover these unusual looking monsters, Squonk, Zorp, Burble and Thrink. Can these little monsters help them find the Howling Hodoo?
For the most part, this is no doubt a Jim Henson film. The musical monsters is a giveaway but at first, I was thinking this was going to be a really uninteresting telefilm, but truth be told, I have not been let down by a Jim Henson show or film and I felt this telefilm was actually pretty good.
It does have “The Goonies” vibe, albeit, instead of having numerous friends, it’s brother and sister along with four monsters who love to eat gravel.
But it’s a charming film in which the human characters are the primary characters and the story revolves around them. The monsters show up when in need, and probably that’s a good thing. While I love Jim Henson’ puppet characters, these four monsters look a bit creepy. Some kids may be apprehensive when they see them on TV.
But for the most part, the telefilm is fun and it is rated PG because you have these two redneck creeps trying to catch the children and yeah, there is implied sexual innuendo, moreso comedy banter from Sheriff Glover when he sees Aunt Cly.
The acting was pretty good, although Ludacris’ narrator character is more of a pause in the storyline, probably not even needed, but I guess it does serve as comedy intermissions.
But overall, for a Thanksgiving film for the family, “Turkey Hollow” is a Jim Henson telefilm that both parents and children can enjoy and I was entertained from beginning to end! Recommended!
PURCHASE THIS FILM ON AMAZON PRIME
