Turkey Hollow is a 2015 Made-for-TV Movie made by the Jim Henson Company, adapted from an unproduced 1968 treatment by Jim Henson and Jerry Juhl called The Musical Monsters of Turkey Hollow, which itself was adapted into a graphic novel by Roger Langridge (The Muppet Show Comic Book) published at Archaia Entertainment the previous year.
The Emmersons visit their relative Cly in the small town of Turkey Hollow for Thanksgiving. Bored by the town's lack of modern technology, Tim and Annie try to find a local legendary creature called the Howling Hoodoo.
Turkey Hollow contains examples of:
- Adaptational Location Change: The 1968 treatment and its comic adaptation placed Turkey Hollow somewhere in New England, while the film moves the story to the Pacific Northwest.
- Bigfoot, Sasquatch, and Yeti: Tim and Annie try to find a creature very similar to bigfoot, but the monsters turn out to be very small.
- Bizarre Instrument: Before Ned died, he made an instrument to communicate with the creatures. It's keytar with horns.
- Bratty Teenage Daughter: Annie at first is a self-absorded teenage girl who's moslty on her phone, resenting her dad and brother, but she gets better after thinking about how she treats her family.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: Eldridge is a rich turkey farmer who has no qualms about commiting felonies to get ahead.
- Disproportionate Retribution: If Cly doesn't pay Eldridge for the turkeys Tim accidently set loose in a few days, he can legally take her entire farm. According to Sheriff Grover, this law was made in the 19th Century because of an epidemic of people stealing each other's livestock.
- Drink-Based Characterization: Ron wants espresso in the morning, but Cly doesn't have an espresso machine.
- Easily-Overheard Conversation: When Eldridge's employees talk about how Eldridge is lying about the missing turkeys, they do it right in from of Tim and Annie.
- Eat Dirt, Cheap: The monsters eat rocks, which is useful when Tim and Annie are kidnapped and held in a building with a rock wall.
- Foreshadowing: The day after Eldridge is set to take Cly's farm for the loss of his turkeys, the turkeys come back. Cly later determines that they were addicted to the illegal turkey hormones he feeds them.
- Freudian Slip: When Sheriff Grover knocks on Cly's door in the middle of the night and sees her in her nightgown, he says, "Sorry to disrobe you so late." He's very prone to doing this in general when Cly's around.
- Hates Being Nicknamed: Annie repeatedly objects to being called "Banana", which is the nickname her dad uses for her, saying she hates it.
- Hollywood Law: Turkey Hollow has an old law dating to the 1800s saying anyone who's taken another person's livestock must compensate them within two days or their own land is forfeit. Probably not surprisingly, it's doubtful a law like that would be constitutional now (or even in the 19th century) as it's too little notice, not to mention that liability isn't even proven (Cly's blamed without real evidence nor a chance to legally defend herself).
- Hurricane of Euphemisms: Ron uses ever word but "divorce" at first to describe having ended his marriage with his wife.
- In Case You Forgot Who Wrote It: Jim Henson wrote the original story in 1968 and the full title is "Jim Henson's Turkey Hollow".
- I Need a Freaking Drink: After Sheriff Grover sees monsters eating Thanksgiving Dinner with the Emmersons, Cly immediately give him some wine.
- Jerkass Realization: After getting kidnapped, Annie thinks about her life and realizes how poorly she treats her family.
- Laugh Track: The narrator wants the movie to have a laugh track so it's easier for him to tell jokes.
- New-Age Retro Hippie: Cly is an elderly hippie who runs an organic farm. In the comic adaptation of the 60s treatment, Annie is drawn as one and is depicted as a young folk guitarist.
- No Animals Were Harmed: The narrator tells the viewers that no turkeys were harmed in the making of the movie.
- No One Gets Left Behind: Thrinng trips, falls, and tells Zorp to leave him, but Zorp refuses. It's the only time in the movie the monsters' dialogue is translated.
- Not-So-Final Confession: Tim and Annie confess the bad things they've done to each other after getting kidnapped by Eldridge's goons.
- Not-So-Harmless Villain: Eldridge's goons appear to be complete idiots at first, but they kidnap the heroes and would have given them brain damage via electrocution if it weren't for the monsters.
- Obfuscating Disability: Eldridge pretends to need a cane to walk whenever he's around anybody other than his employees. When Sheriff Grover arrests him, he immediately runs away.
- Omnidisciplinary Lawyer: Eldridge hires a lawyer when he tries to take Cly's farm. When he gets arrested, the lawyer immediately becomes his criminal defense attorney.
- The Other Rainforest: This movie takes place in the Pacific Northwest, but nobody says which state.
- Pardon My Klingon: One of the monsters says something in the monster language, which makes the narrator say, "That profanity is uncalled for."
- Phoneaholic Teenager: Annie has her smart phone in the first scene. When they enter the town limits and lose coverage, she isn't happy.
- Plot Allergy: Annie is allergic to feathers. When she gets kidnapped and held in a building full of live turkeys, she has trouble breathing and needs to get out as soon as possible.
- Rimshot: When Annie sees the monsters eating rocks, she says she doesn't want to know what comes out of the other end. The movie cuts to the narrator doing a rimshot.
- Saving the Orphanage: The heroes have to save Aunt Cly's farm.
- "Scooby-Doo" Hoax: The first "Howling Hoodoo" Tim and Annie find is just a dummy propped up on strings. The culprit is most likely Eldridge, as the path past it leads to his secret facility where he keeps his illegal Turkey hormones stashed.
- Ten-Second Flashlight: Tim goes into the woods with Cly's flashlight, but the battery dies.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Cly loves beets more than anything.
- Workaholic: Ron sees the trip as an opportunity to work while Cly provides some free babysitting.
- Would Hurt a Child: Eldridge tells his goons to electrocute Tim and Annie until they suffer so much brain damage they can't remember anything.
- You Meddling Kids: Tim and Annie point out Eldridge could've gotten away with everything "If it weren't for us meddling kids".
