CORPORATE LINE: Disney’s first venture into the realm of CGI animation (without Pixar) tells the tale of all-animal town Oakey Oaks’s most infamous resident, Chicken Little (voiced by Zach Braff), who causes town-wide panic when he claims the sky is falling. A year later he’s still shunned by everyone, including his dad (Gary Marshall), a single rooster with an incredibly wide tie. Determined to end his losing streak, the bespectacled Little joins the baseball team, even though he can barely lift the bat. Luckily his three equally outcast friends have faith in him: a pig with a yen for ’70s disco (Steve Zahn); a Harpo Marx-esque goldfish in a diving helmet; and Abby, a buck-toothed female duckling (Joan Cusak). According to her sources in magazines such as Modern Mallard, Abby is sure Chicken Little merely needs “closure” with dad over the sky incident. But when the sky really does start falling due to a full-on alien invasion, and only Chicken Little knows why, dad still doesn’t want to believe him.
Kids are sure to understand Chick’s frustration in this matter, and parents will dig the sly riffs on films like VERTIGO (1958), THE BLOB (1959), INDEPENDENCE DAY (1996), and WAR OF THE WORLDS (1953), as well as Disney’s own back catalog. In place of the usual musical numbers, CHICKEN LITTLE includes montages set to Barenaked Ladies songs and reinterpreted pop favorites (the old Art Garfunkel gut-wrencher, “All I Know,” is a standout), while celebrity voiceovers come from Harry Shearer, Wallace Shawn, Patrick Stewart, Adam West, and Don Knotts, with Amy Sedaris as the obnoxious “Foxy Loxy.”
THE REVIEW:
Chicken Little has some laughs and kids will definitely be entertained. The problem is how much we expect from a Disney film and how far this is from being good enough to carry the Disney name. In fact Chicken Little does a great job of copying the usual Disney formula without being great.
Chicken Little is definitely lovable. Kids adore him—however my kids didn’t care to watch the film over and over again as they did with other films like Toy Story. The message is good and yet it’s a message that is clearly used over and over again.
THE EXTRAS:
Included are deleted scenes with 3 alternate openings.
“Hatching Chicken Little” – A ‘making of’ featurette that goes from beginning to end and covers the creation to voices and more.
‘Where’s Fish?’ – This is an interactive game.
The Cheetah Girls and Barenaked Ladies music video. Finally there is a karaoke sing along that is a lot more fun for kids.
FRANKLY: Kids will definitely like Chicken Little. They won’t love it so it makes for a good rental.
+ Charlie Craine
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