Chicken Little (DVD)

We all know the story. Chicken Little got hit on the head by an acorn, got the whole town into a panic by proclaiming "The sky is falling," and then suffered humiliation for his mistake. Clearly, the little guy is in need of some redemption - and, thanks to the folks at Disney - he finally has it. He really did get hit on the head by a piece of the sky - actually, a cloaking panel from an alien spaceship. Redemption doesn't come quickly, however. A full year after the original embarrassing incident (which never faded into the background, thanks to billboards, a book, and a forthcoming movie about the whole fiasco), it happens to Chicken Little again. Even with friends to verify the event, no one believes him yet again, not even his father. It's a terrible thing for a child to tell the truth and have one of his parents not believe him. The trauma of that feeling, even more than the continuing public embarrassment, has haunted Chicken Little ever since the original incident. Buck Cluck loves his son, and he tries to be a good single father to him, but he's really not there for Chicken Little in the bad times. That gulf between an otherwise loving father and son is really the emotional crux of this story, carrying with it a meaningful message to both children and parents alike.
Michael Eisner did at least one good thing during his time at Disney - he saw the original image of Chicken Little as a female and changed the minds of the filmmakers on that score. From that point on, it was smooth sailing - due largely to some wonderful casting for the voice actors. I think Zach Braff is great as the voice of the little hero, but Joan Cusack and Steve Zahn are pretty much perfect as the voices of Abby "Ugly Duckling" Mallard and Runt of the Litter, respectively. With all of their comedic antics, these two characters (along with the amazing Fish Out of Water), really make this a movie that kids are sure to love. Garry Marshall brings Chicken Little's dad to life, while a whole cadre of talented stars, including Patrick Stewart, Amy Sedaris, and Don Knotts, make even the minor characters delightful. The only little issue I might have with this film is the music, and I only say that because a good bit of it goes back two or three decades. When Runt starts doing Bee Gees and Gloria Gaynor songs to keep up his courage, few kids are going to recognize the music - maybe the filmmakers just threw this stuff in as a little extra for adult viewers.

As usual, Disney proves quite generous with the extra features on the DVD. You get the obligatory behind-the-scenes look at the making of the film, three alternate openings and a deleted scene, the music video of Shake Your Tail Feathers by The Cheetah Girls (featuring Chicken Little, Ugly Duckling, and Runt getting down with their bad selves), a music video (not to mention karaoke and sing-a-long versions) of One Little Slip by the Barenaked Ladies, a trivia-related game of "Where's Fish?" and sneak peeks at gobs of upcoming Disney releases. The alternate openings are interesting, reflecting the fact that the filmmakers were unsure at first how to introduce the film to the audience, and one of them is quite special indeed, as it features the late Don Knotts narrating the classic tale of the unfortunate little chicken.

I'll never be too old to enjoy a good animated film, and the sort of 3D animation that brings Chicken Little's world to life is still quite an amazing thing to see.

The kid's fined this enjoyable but not as much. I fear that there aren't many good storytellers left at Disney Feature Animation, and there didn't seem to by any present for the making of "Chicken Little". The story itself, chronicling the tales of the title character proving to his community that he is not a failure, was a good enough premise. Though it wasn't executed well at all. Instead of solid, premise-building scenes where it's main characters interact well with others (and get the viewers laughing along the way), we get a sappy, melodramatic mini-soap with voice actors who don't have a good script...followed immediately by, more times than I'd care to recall, potty humor gags.

This 3D animated movie also presented itself with "Madagascar", "Robots" and "Valiant", that same year. Many companies are trying to prove their movie-making chops to us movie-goers. They can make a very beautiful looking movie, with wonderfully rendered characters that can move so fluidly and realistic...but the very vital element of sharing a good story is missing in action. It's my belief that a great story without great animation will be a much better movie than one that looks great, but has a weak story. Though, both elements are what made Pixar's "The Incredibles" an Oscar-contending, $265 million hit. Computer animation is, indeed, not the shoe-in, cure-all solution to a great movie.

All in all, I believe "Chicken Little" is a failure that I define as hot having a good story to match its sweet computer animation. In Disney's quest to prove that they are still the "Best of the Best," movies like this will prove to the world that they are merely the best of the rest. And we all know that it's not the Disney we grew up on and cherished.

For almost a year now the sights and sounds of Dreamworks Madagascar has been ringing round the circuit, and yes Madagascar despite being quite short is terribly funny and has a surreal storyline, but with loveable characters. Well welcome to Chicke Little, Disney have but the Disney back into their films with this future classic. Using their own computer generation (not PIXAR)they have put together a truly hilarious and watchable film, packed with loveable characters and reel after reel of comedy turns and inuendos to keep everyone on the sofa laughing and crying. The film is 78 minutes long, but it is enough, the kids will howl all the way through and ends just before they get into the bored phase. An amazing and comical film with classic Disney consequence, truly stunning, welcome back Disney...

Not knowing the story of chicken little, I wasn't sure what I was getting when I brought from ebay. I wasn't disappointed though as this is a great, fun story. Chicken is an outcast who is presumed mad, though his faithfull outcast friends stand by him. They all witness an alien invasion, but noone, not even chicken's dad, will believe them.
The animation is great and the characters really warm the heart. The story is strong and even the youngest child can relate to chicken's situatuion (the being ignored, not the aliens).
The extras on the dvd are good, and I would reccommend this to any family who have not yet seen this lovely film.

I decided to buy this for my three year old son because I thought he might like it. It's a great story for young kids and the animation is superb it's just a really light feel good kids film. And as I thought my little boy loves it. The DVD I bought was still wrapped as decribed and is a fantastic, genuine copy. I am really pleased that I bought the item as it was cheaper than buying it in the shops.