Amy Poehler didn’t squawk at the chance to voice a 17th century Plymouth turkey in the animated “Free Birds.”
“I did this on my hiatus,” said the “Parks and Recreation” star at the Four Seasons hotel.
The premise of the goofy family film has a couple of contemporary turkeys (Owen Wilson and Woody Harrelson) hop on a time machine and travel back to 1621 and the very first Thanksgiving in hopes of taking turkey off the menu.
“I never had gotten a chance to work with either of these guys before, but I worked with Jimmy (Hayward, the director) on ‘Horton Hears a Who’ and had a great time. So I was excited to do it again,” said the Burlington native.
“It was fun to play someone who is part of a flock, which is what my character focuses on, which is, ‘You can’t do it alone and have to stick together.’ That’s a message that applies to all people, a theme I understand.”
Also for the 42-year-old newly single mother — she’s separated from actor Will Arnett — of Archie, 5, and Abel, 4, she knows, “It’s nice to be able to work on something that you can show some of the art from the film to my kids. Which is really cool.
“My two young boys like a buddy adventure; these two guys traveling together speaks to them and that’s great because most of the time, like most kids, they’re disinterested in what you do.”
As for questions about time travel, Poehler couldn’t help but joke.
What historical time period would she visit?
“I would go back to last night and get more sleep,” she quipped. “Is that short-sighted?”
And if she could travel back to a moment in her life to relive it?
“I was in a dog run once and threw two tennis balls in the air and my Labrador caught them both and everybody clapped. I’d like to see that again.”
As for Thanksgiving, “I started a new thing with my kids. We watch a movie we’ve never seen before. That’s always fun with kids. Last year we watched the original ‘Willy Wonka,’ which was great.”
And this year?
“Maybe,” she said with a sly smile, “ ‘Free Birds’?”