Free Birds - previously titled Turkeys - is the first feature-length 3D animated theatrical release for Real FX Creative Studios (Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away). The trailer makes the story appear to be all over the map, as it starts off headed in one direction - with a smarter-than-average turkey becoming the U.S. president's daughter's pet - before suddenly heading off in a completely different direction and turning into a wacky buddy/time-travel adventure.

The voice cast is headed by Owen Wilson and Woody Harrelson - as "turkeys from opposite sides of the tracks" (bet you didn't imagine you'd read that line when you woke up this morning) - and includes Amy Poehler, Dan Fogler and George Takei, who lend their voices to the various poultry that Wilson and Harrelson encounter in the present and 17th century (where they try to stop the first Thanksgiving).

Freed Birds was directed by Jimmy Hayward, who also helmed the popular 3D cartoon version of Horton Hears a Who! and the not-so-popular live-action Jonah Hex comic book movie. Honestly, though, there are enough mildly amusing trailer moments - in combination with the... unorthodox plot - to suggest that Free Birds might have the same quirky heart and charm as Hayward's Dr. Seuss adaptation.

Free Birds movie trailer

The screen story for Freed Birds was co-written by David I. Stern (Open Season 2 & 3) and John J. Strauss (The Santa Clause 2 & 3), with the screenplay penned by Hayward and Scott Mosier (Clerks the animated TV Series); the latter also served as a producer.

The film's quality of animation is nowhere close to that featured in recent animated offerings from studios like Pixar, DreamWorks and Blue Sky; though, it is a step-up from the visual style in this past winter's throwaway kiddie flick, Escape from Planet Earth. All the same, Free Birds will have family audiences to itself when it opens in theaters - a few weeks before Thanksgiving - so the movie could do all right by itself at the box office (like Escape from Planet Earth did earlier this year).

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Free Birds opens in U.S. theaters on November 1st, 2013.

Source: iTunes Movie Trailers