Chicken Little - Dark Publications

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Product Description
When the sky really is falling and sanity has flown the coop who will rise to save the day? together with his hysterical band of misfit friends chicken little must hatch a plan to save the planet from alien invasion & prove that the worlds biggest hero is a little chicken. Studio: Buena Vista Home Video Release Date: 02/02/2007 Run time: 81 minutes Rating: G

Amazon.com
A classic fable gets fused with War of the Worlds in Disney's Chicken Little. In the small town of Oakey Oaks, young Chicken Little (voiced by Zach Braff, Garden State) struggles to live down the embarrassment of having once thought the sky was falling. But when he gets struck again by a hexagonal, sky-camouflaged, hi-tech doohickey, he and his friends Ugly Duckling (Joan Cusack, School of Rock), Runt of the Litter (Steve Zahn, Sahara), and Fish Out of Water discover that aliens are preparing to invade Earth--but since no one believed Chicken Little the first time, why would they believe him now? Though kids will enjoy the bright whizz-bang action sequences of Chicken Little, discerning parents will find the movie tedious. Technically, it has the computer animation quality of Pixar--but with none of their intelligence, heart, or simple storytelling skill. The basic idea of connecting the fable to aliens is amusing, but the script routinely bogs down in clumsy father-son issues that seem like material edited out of Finding Nemo. The jokes rarely have anything to do with the characters, but are mostly pop-culture references that are sadly out of date. The action sequences were obviously created with the inevitable video game in mind, for which the movie is little more than an advertisement. Chicken Little falls flat. --Bret Fetzer

Customer Reviews: Read 157 more reviews...

5 out of 5 stars

Very, very good March 11, 2006
37 out of 46 found this review helpful

I find it interesting that this film's reviews show a wide range of opinion. The premise is an odd one: blend the traditional Chicken Little story (a little chicken gets hit on the head by an acorn, believes the sky is falling, panics, incites panic in others, and becomes a laughingstock) with, of all things, H.G. Wells's "War of the Worlds"!

In this hybrid, Chicken Little, voiced annoyingly well by Zach Braff, is hit on the head, creates a panic, becomes a laughingstock, and then tries to regain his social status amongst the other "kids" (all different kinds of animals), plus tries to gain his loving father's respect. His father, voiced paternalistically perfectly by Gary Marshall, is a single father, who loves his only child, but he was also deeply embarrassed by the sky-is-falling fiasco.

Chicken Little has three friends: Runt, an enormous piglet with self-esteem issues, voiced neurotically well by Steve Zahn; Abby "Ugly Duckling" Mallard, who is a cornucopia of well-intentioned and sometimes reasonable pop psychology advice, voiced offbeatly by Joan Cusack; and Fish Out of Water, an irrepressibly happy little fish wearing a diving helmet filled with water, voiced perfectly unintelligibly by Dan Molina. The quartet are busy trying to survive school, peer pressure, low social ranking, and frequent embarrassments, and are doing quite well at it. There are also some very good voice-cameos: Don Knotts as Mayor Turkey-Lurkey, Patrick Stewart as the teacher, and Frank Willard as the "visitor" father.

And then, the unthinkable happens: the sky falls on Chicken Little's head again, one year after the first incident. Chicken Little, and then his friends, realize that this is actually a Close Encounter of the Third (or Fourth?) Kind, that evolves into a full-scale alien invasion, because of a moment of parental distraction and a huge misunderstanding. Can the quartet save the world and avoid an unnecessary interplanetary war? Can Chicken Little get his father to believe in him? Those two issues are inextricably interwoven.

The story is pretty off-the-wall, but is fun to watch, and lends itself to lots of action and interaction. The father-son issue, and the parent-child issue, are dealt with nicely. I feel that the animation is very good, and harkens back to classic cartoons of yesteryear. The colors were vivid, and there was great attention to detail (e.g., the traffic light was run by a chameleon, who changed color along with the sign being held up). I very much liked how the different animal citizens of Oakey Oak acted somewhat like people, but also retained their natural, realistic aspects (e.g., the dog family did eat in a restaurant, but ate their food right out of a bowl, and lapped up their beverages). Even the vehicles driven by the animals were customized to each species, and the vehicles seemed to be just as much alive as their passengers.

Among the special features of the DVD, you can see most of the actors doing their voiceover performances. And, instead of offering us alternative endings, we can see three alternative openings to the story, including one where Chicken Little is a girl instead of a boy.

Is this a good, fun film for younger children and for families with young children? I think it is. Will it appeal to teenagers? Probably not. Will parents find any objectionable in it? I highly doubt it. Will adults enjoy it as much as, say, "Shrek" or "Ice Age"? No, the humor does not strike different levels like it does in those films. But, adults will probably enjoy it for at least one viewing, and smile a lot.

I have to add that the one character, Fish Out of Water, is one of my favorite animated characters ever. I found him to be irresistibly likeable. Mom, can I have one? I promise to take care of him! Please!

4 out of 5 stars

Made in 2005 but feels like a good old cartoon January 18, 2006
15 out of 17 found this review helpful

The Disney studios dropped traditional animation. It is, for historical reasons, very sad and this is definitely the end of an era for animation, and cinema in general.

I must say the trailer for Chicken Little did not make this movie very appealing. We took our 4 year old daughter to see it and all enjoyed it after all. The humour is upbeat, no doubt modern, but never trivial or vulgar. The characters play much better than expected (the fish is a truly classic but effective cartoon character) and even though the storyline probably does not go any further than the average"Goof Troop" tv episode, the dialogues and the action surely deliver good entertainment.

For animation fans, which I am, I don't think we should try to compare Chicken Little with a Pixar film for it would not live up to that but still, this one comes highly recommanded.
Unlike some of the dreamworks 3D flicks, Chicken Little has a heart and you can feel that the animators and directors really have a good appreciation and understanding of animation.

A certain heritage and tradition of American animation lives on throught this movie.
Seeing that Disney scored at their first attempt at 3D animation is a relief, now let's wait for their next release to confirm the hopes.

3 out of 5 stars

Chicken Nuggets... March 21, 2006
12 out of 17 found this review helpful

Chicken Little is a decent offering. So are chicken nuggets. Undiscerning kids like both. The film is funny and at times nice to look at. But, is this a Disney film? Well, yes. In the same sense that Lilo and Stitch is. And Brother Bear... And Home on the Range... But when was the last Disney Classic that could possibly be considered a classic? But I digress.

Chicken Little has a lot going for it: Great voice casting. A fun color palette. A great musical score by John Debney. Some recognizable pop songs to make the film more hip. But the story itself isn't either sturdy or identifiable. The story lays there and by the time aliens attack the planet (in an homage to Spielberg's War of the Worlds) the story seems devoid of care. But again, I digress.

Chicken Little is a film for kids, and in that arena it works. Characters are easy for them to follow and root for.

The DVD itself offers some fun nuggets of its own. A couple deleted scenes including a 2 dimensional (hand drawn) opening segment that was deleted. This scene with some proper editing may have been a good piece but as the hosts tell, it didn't seem to fit with the tone of the film.

Chicken Little is a fair offering, but pales in comparison with the potential of the artistry of Disney.

1 out of 5 stars

Chicken Little is not for your Little One! November 27, 2005
11 out of 16 found this review helpful

I thought Chicken Little would be a safe bet for my 4 year old son. Was I wrong! I read newspaper reviews to get a "feel" for the movie and did not get any indication that this movie would be inappropriate for younger kids. Plus it's rated G - we have seen other G films from Disney without issue. It looks like Disney is stretching their concept of what is a G film. Thanks for the nightmares Disney! What were you thinking? Our hero boards an alien ship and a "lab" area with pulsating tubelar "organs" in suspended jars. The music is appropriately eerie to add to the scary effect. "What are those mommy?". "Will they be ok?". Then Chicken and his friends run into 2 very large spidery mechanical creatures with menancing domed heads. When the aliens chase the gang away, it's with blade wielding propellers that can mow down a corn field. Later the aliens attack the town with lasers, zapping characters into apparent nothingness. "Mommy, where did Foxy go?" "Why are they shooting everyone?". And to make matters worse, the scenes are rather drawn out. I tell my son, "You'll see, hang on...." and it just plays on! What a terrible movie for kids. Don't take any child younger than 6 or at least not to a theatre viewing of this movie. It's just too much to absorb via big screen. Only jaded, bored kids would not be bothered by the scenes in this movie.

1 out of 5 stars

Disappointment Indeed. November 29, 2005
9 out of 13 found this review helpful

I saw Chicken Little a few weeks ago and I was not impressed at all.

The plot was not very interesting, there were few humorous parts, and halfway through the movie I was squirming in my seat waiting for it to end.

I do not recommend seeing this movie, I had high hopes....and that was all that they were.

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