“Beyond the Turkey: How ThanksKilling 3 Changed Its Cast Forever”
ThanksKilling 3 is a franchise with a very limited target audience as the first part of the franchise is in very few collections. The franchise is known for the absurdity of its sequels. The pulsating absurdity from the tagline ‘This is the first movie to skip its own sequel’ touches on the nonsensical absurdity the movie revels in. Most of the attention focused on the nonsensical absurdity of the movie is the killer turkey puppets and the absurdity of the plot which acts as the center of attention in the movie. Besides these absurdities in creativity, most attention is focused on the killers that shaped and changed the lives of the individuals that brought creativity to the movie. ThanksKilling 3 was, in a sense, the creative awakening and the absurdity madness that changed the lives of the staff that worked in the over cinematic as puppets in the movie.
A Sequel That Shouldn’t Exist — And Yet Does
The film is sarcastically both a sequel to ThanksKilling and a satire on sequels. In ThanksKilling 3, Turkey, the egotistical, murderous bird in ThanksKilling (2009), attempts to obliterate all copies of ThanksKilling 2. Supposedly, it was so awful, it was erased from existence. The “quest” involves a talking puppet family, space worms, and a mystical DVD. It is as ridiculous as it sounds, and that is the intention.
The actors and puppeteers had to work within this meta-universe of reality and parody. Many of them were young and fresh out of college or aspiring to make a name in low-budget cinema. This was a jumping-off point for many, and for some, it was a strange diversion from which they could not fully move on.
Daniel Usaj: The Transition from Straight Man to Subversive Artist
Usaj’s Donny was the most emotional and goofy in the chaos of the film. Donny was a grieving inventor searching for meaning and caught between the absurd and the emotional. For Usaj, this role came while he was deeply questioning his place in acting and caught between profoundly wanting serious roles and the indie projects he was offered.
After ThanksKilling 3, his career offered him little beyond bowing to the absurd he described in his interviews. Instead of fighting, he leaned into being, as he put it, typecast in eccentric indie horror comedies and absurdist performance art underground and Canadian cinema he embraced in the 00s. Usaj described the absurd, in the role to him of ThanksKilling 3, as liberating and a way to stop worrying about career ‘respectability’ and to create for the joy of it. The film offered little beyond bowing to the absurd he described in his interviews. Instead of fighting, he leaned into being, as he put it, typecast in eccentric indie horror comedies and absurdist performance art underground and Canadian cinema he embraced in the 00s.
Preston Altree and the Voice Behind the Feathers
Preston Altree’s disembodied voice became the foul-mouthed, sarcastic Turkey’s deranged charm, and became the franchise’s mascot, Altree later remarked it was weird legacy to leave behind. Altree’s voice became a double-edged sword as the years went by after ThanksKilling 3.
As Altree recalls, fans at conventions would wave their phones begging him to repeat Turkey’s most vile lines. Altree was later to admit that it was this love that became burden; he became known as “the turkey guy”. In voice acting, Altree was able to focus on his creativity while working on video games and animation, and even bunting voiceover clinics. In a podcast he quipped, “People remember me as a puppet turkey, but it opened doors I never knew existed.”
The Puppeteers — Unsung Heroes of the Chaos
While the audience enjoyed the witty absurdity of the dialougue, little did they realize the daunting task for the puppeteers to synchronize and manage multiple characters within a single scene. Low production budgets meant stretched long working hours with poor chilled air, and poorly fabricated improvisation on the means of moving the puppets.
Sarah Hagey, one of the lead puppeteers who helped design some of the characters, described it as “the most exhausting fun I’ve ever had.” After ThanksKilling 3, she worked with small puppet theater troupes, and even joined the art department of children’s television. Her experience on ThanksKilling 3 — crude humor and all — taught her how to imbue inanimate objects with personality.
Hagey later said that ThanksKilling 3 helped her find her tribe: “We were just a bunch of weird, passionate people trying to make something so dumb it became brilliant.”
A Cult Following and an Unexpected Afterlife
For years after the release, the film refused to die — much like its murderous turkey. Midnight screenings, fan-made merch, and ironic Thanksgiving watch parties turned ThanksKilling 3 into a seasonal ritual. The cast, initially embarrassed by its reception, grew to appreciate its lasting power.
Fans attending these events would come dressed in costumes as Turkey or bamboozled puppets. Every so often, lines would be recited from the film by the impersonators, lines of the scripts the original actors performed took witch able to place. For numerous cast members, the bamboozled Turkey universe provided the semblance of stargdom in the inaudience. Red carpet events were not their forte. They Pocast casts were stargdom in the inaudience. Red carpet events were not their forte. They Pocast casts were stargdom in the inaudience. Red carpet events were not their forte. They Pocast bamboozled Turkey universe provided the semblance of stargdom in the inaudience. Red carpet events were not their forte. They Pocast casts were stargdom in the inaudience. Red carpet events were not their forte. They Pocast bamboozled Turkey universe provided the semblance of stargdom in the inaudience. Red carpet events were not their forte. They Pocast the semblance of stargdom in the inaudience. Red carpet events were not their forte. They Pocast the semblance of stargdom in the inaudience. Red carpet events were not their forte. They Porvided the semblance of stargdom in the inaudience. Red carpet events were not their forte. They provided the semblance of stardom in the inaudience…