"Holiday For Drumsticks" is a 1949 Merrie Melodies cartoon starring Daffy Duck and directed by Arthur Davis.
In preparation for Thanksgiving, a hillbilly couple get a turkey and proceed to have him fattened up. Daffy, who lives on their farm, is incensed that a new bird is getting more food than him and warns the turkey, Thomas, about his fate of becoming a meal and advises him to reduce. As Tom burns off weight, Daffy pigs out on all the extra food himself. Sure enough, come Thanksgiving Day, Tom is too scrawny to be eaten. Unfortunately, Daffy's bragging about him being fat and tender, along with a poor choice of words, makes him realize there's no written law that it has to be a turkey eaten on Thanksgiving...
This cartoon provides examples of:
- The Alleged Car: At the beginning of the cartoon, Pa's old car is so rickety that it barely makes it up the hill, and then when it reaches the house, it completely falls apart.
- Cuckoo Clock Gag: At two o'clock on Thanksgiving Day, a cuckoo comes out of the hillbillies' clock. Instead of cuckooing, though, it uses a triangle as a dinner bell.
- Cut a Slice, Take the Rest: During his Gluttony Montage, Daffy cuts into a cherry pie before promptly eating the bigger part in one gulp.
- False Friend: Daffy pretends to come to Tom's aid by telling that the hillbillies want to fatten him up for Thanksgiving dinner, but it was mainly to get all the extra food Tom was receiving all to himself.
- Feuding Families: Ma and Pa are shown to have a feud with their neighbors, being nonplussed as they casually dodge bullets (and even use them) before Pa eventually returns fire.
- Gainax Ending: The cartoon ends with Daffy and Ma caught in a cycle: every time she tries to light the stove, he blows out the match. Based on the pile of used matches surrounding Ma, it goes on for some time.
- Kill Tally: Pa has one on the wall for how many of his neighbors he's shot. He's up to 74.
- Mundane Utility: Ma and Pa take advantage of the bullets being shot at them to pour coffee from the coffee pot and light a smoking match respectively.
- Temporary Bulk Change: After his weight loss regimen, Tom is thin as a rail, while Daffy has a big Balloon Belly from eating all the food meant for Tom.
- Tempting Fate: After bragging to Pa about how tender he is compared to Tom, Daffy states, "It's a shame you can't eat duck on Thanksgiving". Pa, who has been emotionless the whole cartoon, then flashes a Slasher Smile (complete with a creepy gleam in his eyes).Daffy: [Loud Gulp] Or can ya?
- Thanksgiving Episode: Daffy takes the place of a turkey meant for a hillbilly couple's Thanksgiving dinner.
