Apropos of this unusual year, it is only fitting that I should have (what else?) an unusual Thanksgiving!
I just walked over to the refrigerator and found this...
As a certain "other dog" animated by Chuck Jones would say...
"WHAT, NO GRAVY?"
Yeah, it's 2020... so no gravy! But I must say that "Wal-Mart Great Value Smoked Turkey Breast" is probably the best example of turkey cold-cuts I've ever eaten... even better than that directly from the deli counter! Yes, really!
...So, that's *something*, at least...
Thanksgiving 2020 was scaled down in other ways as well...
Tying-in with this post's beginning, all I watched this year was the Huckleberry Hound cartoon "Grim Pilgrim" (1959) - thanks to a recently (and joyously) received... er, "private label" DVD set containing all the Huck Hound cartoons that Warner Home Entertainment never officially released - save two.
The story of Pilgrim Huck's Thanksgiving Day turkey hunt is a suitably good and funny one...
...And has the distinction of being the ONLY Huckleberry Hound cartoon to be written by the great Michael Maltese - who quickly found himself hard at work writing every single cartoon (three per show) for the three seasons of "The Quick Draw McGraw Show!"
So, at least I get to associate the greatest cartoon writer of all time (he and Warren Foster were "1 and 1a" - as they say, hey-hey-hey) with Thanksgiving... and that's *another something*!
But, if you really want a *something* to be thankful for on Thanksgiving 2020, go to our great friend Sergio Goncalves' Blog for even more "Thanksgiving with Michael Maltese" - RIGHT HERE!
Go on... I guarantee it'll make your Thanksgiving 2020 more fun... and decidedly less... "grim"!
7 comments:
Since Thanksgiving (even this scaled-down 2020 version) came a bit quickly this year, I got this post out, before addressing a very insightful comment on The Great Gazoo (subject of our last post) by our great friend Scarecrow33 – and adding my typically long response to it. So, if anyone’s “gotta get some Gazoo”, go back to the last post and check it out.
Happy Thanksgiving, Joe! You may be surprised to learn that there are *no* Thanksgiving comics which I care to re-read. The holiday just doesn't have many ritual elements that lend themselves to a fun comic book story. The ones about live turkeys never did much for me. Also, of course, it's a USA-only holiday, so that way reduces the potential number of Disney comics stories set on Thanksgiving! (Yes, I know Canada has its own Thanksgiving Day at the more harvest-appropriate time of mid-October...but Lincoln had to wait for a Union victory in order to declare a national day of thanksgiving, and there wasn't a victory till November.) For lack of T'g comics to re-read, I instead re-read a couple of great picture books: Hudson Talbott's We're Back! about the dinosaurs brought to late-20th-century Manhattan, just in time for the Macy's T'g parade (it was made into an inferior animated movie, but the picture book is *excellent*, very funny with great art), and Marjory Wunsch's Spaceship Number Four, where a girl makes a wooden rocketship while her family gathers for T'g dinner, and the cat takes off in it. So if you're looking for books to share on future Thanksgivings with the grandkids....though you probably have plenty of T'g-themed comics to share with them!
We of the Trio of the Talking Turkeys think we like this idea of "scaled-down Thanksgiving" - but why stop there? Why not scale the turkey-eating part right out of it? Smoked turkey - bah! Why not, er, braised rabbit?
Uh-oh. I think we've drawn the ire of the Horde of the Violet Hare! If we don't show up around here again, Joe - check their hide-out for wishbones! Yikes!
Thanks so much for the shout-out, Joe! I really appreciate it. What a coincidence that our respective Thanksgivings both involved Mike Maltese.
I’ve seen "Grim Pilgrim." A great one, as are all Huckleberry Hound shorts. Huck is my favorite H-B character. It’s a shame not all of his cartoons have been officially released on DVD.
Elaine:
I am indeed surprised at no Thanksgiving-specific reads, given your inclination toward seasonal and holiday-related comics reading. …Something I always enjoy hearing about, and should emulate more closely than I do. But, I guess if turkey stories aren’t your cup of Thanksgiving tea, there’s not much else to fall back on.
I rather like them myself… especially since the turkey usually prevails (or, at least, maintains the status-quo) in the end – as seen in the Huck Hound cartoon.
No grandkids, and pretty much “no anything” this year. We used the day to clean the house. Perhaps most indicative of this (hopefully) unusual year were my “Thanksgiving reads”, which I had not done before I prepared the post... St. John’s HECKLE AND JECKLE # 17 and Gold Key’s TWILIGHT ZONE # 40 – recent acquisitions and first-time reads both in no way related to Thanksgiving.
But, there WAS that delicious Wal-Mart Sliced Turkey! It is truly the tastiest packaged sliced turkey around!
I'm thankful for that AND Cici, Averi, and especially Esther... in decidedly reverse-order!
Turkey Trio:
You write: “We of the Trio of the Talking Turkeys think we like this idea of ‘scaled-down Thanksgiving’ - but why stop there? Why not scale the turkey-eating part right out of it? Smoked turkey - bah! Why not, er, braised rabbit?”
Turkey… Rabbit… Bah! They all “taste like chicken!”
…Except for that (…all together now) delicious Wal-Mart Sliced Turkey!
As The Phantom Blot once said about a museum exhibit of “Victorian Ink Blots”… “SUBLIME!”
Just curious, as a “Trio of Talking Turkeys”, do you continue and complete each other’s sentences like Huey, Dewey, and Louie? Or, do you all speak in unison?
And I would imagine that, if one of you were liberal, one of you were moderate, and one of you were conservative, it would make the Thanksgiving Dinner Table Discussion very awkward… as if “being turkeys” wouldn’t make it awkward enough!
Regardless of all that, one thing I'd expect is that you all would (…wait for it) “talk turkey”!
Sergio:
The Michael Maltese thing was truly one of those wonderful coincidences – and I was happy to link to your mutually-serendipitous post!
As I’ve said elsewhere, my “Favorite Animated Character – Theatrical Division” is Bugs Bunny, and my “Favorite Animated Character – Television Division” is Huckleberry Hound! …And I don’t ever see that changing!
In fact, there’s only one thing better than watching a bunch of Bugs Bunny and Huckleberry Hound cartoons… and that’s watching a bunch of Bugs Bunny and Huckleberry Hound cartoons while eating some (…all together now) delicious Wal-Mart Sliced Turkey!
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