Chicken Little

Alright everyone, now we’re going to look at Disney’s take on a classic children’s tale, “Chicken Little,” released in 2005. The basic story is Chicken Little, voiced by Zach Braff, has become a subject of jokes for the animal citizens of Oaky Oak after making a commotion with his bizarre claim that the sky is falling. However, this tiny chicken’s bantam’s fear eventually proves to be true.

The initial thought that whether Disney would be able to succeed commercially in changing to computer animation without Pixar being dominated with enormous relief, with “Chicken Little” easily grossing way past $100 million in America. The question regarding having succeeded artistically doesn’t have a really definite answer.

According to Empire’s review, “Disney has, of course, already dabbled in CGI with 2000’s Dinosaur, which was every bit as visually awesome and ploddingly brainless as its subjects.” However, “Chicken Little” represents the first time it challenges the same type of style as its on-off standoff. It’s not even close to having any of the imagination or brilliance that even Pixar’s early work, but then again, it’s not really trying to.

Nowhere in this spirited little movie will you find a shot designed to amaze you at the things they can do with computer animation these days. You could hate it for lack of ambition, for not trying to fight Pixar on their level. However, your children, who are the targeted audience for this type of movie, won’t be thinking about that, so it’s better to enjoy it for that Saturday-morning entertainment that it succeeds on.

The story’s main weakness is improved by the huge amount of off-the-wall twists it does to fit into its small running time (if you haven’t seen the spoiler-filled trailer, at one point you’ll be scratching your head wondering what is happening – quite a success for a Disney kids’ movie), finishing in a well-done action sequence. The solid dialogue is prepared by terrific background visual jokes and the assembled voice cast is nice.

Braff, Joan Cusack and Steve Zahn are all great for voiceover roles and also having Catherine O’Hara, Fred Willard and Patrick Warburton to the minor roles speaks of the basic value. They may not have the best script to work off of, but they do just fine with what they are given.

Empire also mentioned, “Pixar has set the standard for cartoons that offer as much, or more, to adults as children, and anything that doesn’t swell with wry wit seems to be now rejected as a failure. Judged by those criteria, Chicken Little disappoints. Judged as the children’s film it is, it punches winningly above its bantam-weight.”

In the end, beyond a juvenile, twist part of generic-playing, there’s more here for Elementary School kids, but it’s still charming, funny and energetic enough to have you enjoy the film. Give it a chance is what I say. I know this film wasn’t very well received when it came out, but I still think you should give it a chance.

Look out tomorrow for more “Disney Month.”