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45 reviews in total

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16 out of 20 people found the following review useful:
Could have been so much better!!, 1 April 2006

Author: sngbrd39 from US

First off, I have to say that I really like the idea of Rock-a-Doodle. The basic story of the rooster having to save his farm from eternal darkness and rain by crowing the sun up could have made for such a great movie. But I feel that, as it was, it wasn't nearly as good a movie as it could have been.

A huge part of my problem with this movie was the main character, Edmund. This kid/cat is so darn annoying. His speech impediment got very old very fast, and it just felt like he was trying way too hard to sound cute. Also, as another reviewer pointed out earlier, he belabored to death the fact that he was "too little" to do pretty much anything, which became irritating.

It was also bothersome that this movie couldn't decide whether it wanted to be a full-blown musical or not. The Chanticleer/King songs were fine, because they were part of the whole singing rooster story. But it seemed that the other random songs were pretty unnecessary. The owls' songs were bad enough, but did they really feel the need to have the bit with the bouncer toads' song?? These random musical numbers felt like they came out of some particularly bad Gilbert and Sullivan operetta. If they really wanted to make this movie a musical, they needed to have some real full-length songs instead of those short musical snippets given to the villains.

But by far, my biggest problem with this movie is that it's just not very good at storytelling. It was fine that Patou (Phil Harris in his last role!) narrated the story. However, at times, they relied too much on the narration to tell us things instead of showing us. This is especially true in the whole Goldie subplot. Patou told us that a) Goldie was a lot smarter and nicer than she seemed at first and b) that she was really falling for Chanticleer although she was only supposed to fake it. It really would have helped Goldie's character development if there had been scenes where she was gradually acting smarter and nicer. And the movie would instantly have been better, I believe, if there had been a scene showing the moment where Goldie knew that she was in love with Chanticleer for real instead of just having narration. As it was, it felt like Goldie was just tacked onto the movie so that Chanticleer could have a love interest.

There's a good movie somewhere in Rock-a-Doodle. And I won't deny that it was a special part of many people's childhoods. However, for the reasons above (as well as others I don't care to bore you with), it just didn't live up to that potential, and turned out to be just another mediocre-to-bad kids' movie.

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16 out of 21 people found the following review useful:
I love Chanticleer!, 11 October 2006
Author: Britishbun06 from United States

This movie is awesome! People can be so mean. "There was a plot-hole," "This movie was cheesy," "The animation sucked." How can you NOT love a Rooster posing as Elvis? I loved this movie when I was a little girl and I recently rediscovered it hiding in my garage. Now I'm 18 and I decided to watch it w/ my sister who's 6. She adored the movie and I'm proud to say I still do too. Even my 12 year old brother likes it. As far as plot holes. There aren't any, it's a KIDS' movie! I love the songs and find so many of the characters so lovable. I don't see anything wrong with the animation, I love the way Chanticleer and the Duke are drawn. And the pathetic, vocabulary confused, Hutch is so funny. The ending is a little weird, but so what? So back off haters! Rock-A-Doodle is a great, fun movie.

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10 out of 12 people found the following review useful:
my outlook, 7 July 2006

Author: The_Juggalo5588 from United States

if children's movies were meant to be judged the same way that adult movies are then we would have nothing that children could grasp with there imagination. this film had more or my friends, and cousins glued to the TV than any other children's movie i have seen and i have seen a lot of them. this film has imagination, it has color, it has a good story, it tells the tail of the King himself Elvis Arron Presley in a way. this film was one of my favorites that i ever saw as a child and no one will convince me that it wasn't a good film considering that this film helped me pass time on both good and bad days. it is at least deserving of some credit for the fun filled story contained in it. lighten up people children's films are not designed around being able to entertain people our age as would movies that we would normally comment on. at least i don't treat children's films that way. a good film for children of all ages.

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12 out of 16 people found the following review useful:
Rock A Doodle, 29 December 2004

Author: kittiecat02 from United States

Rock A Doodle is a fun loving story about the sun not coming up. Chanticlear, the Rooster (a knock of Elvis) is in charge of crowing for the sun to come up, however one day he was disturbed and didn't crow. Since the Sun came up without him all his farm friends called him a fake. Having no where else to go he went to the city to find work, leaving the farm to the owls. Meanwhile in the real world, a flood is brewing and a little boy named Edmand tries to call Chanticlear, but got the Duke Owl. He turns the young boy into a cat and joins up with a dog, bird and mouse to go find Chanticlear and beat the darkness and find the sun. This is a great tale, especially for little kids. It teaches them about friendship and to never give up hope.

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8 out of 10 people found the following review useful:
Immense film!!, 27 April 2006

Author: Angus Harrison from United Kingdom

Sorry if people disagree with me here but I think Rock a Doodle is absolutely immense! I watched it as a small kid and recently found it only to discover how awesome it truly is. I would have to say though that the films best feature is the evil Grand Duke. He is quite possibly the best villain in cartoon history. Seriously, this film has become kinda obscure but you should definitely check it out! It has energy, warmth, great songs and once more the animation is so unique that it sticks in your head for ages. The ideas are original and the script is funny and emotional. The creators of this movie really found the right ingredients to create the perfect family cartoon. This film is an absolutely legendary piece!!!

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8 out of 11 people found the following review useful:
Great Movie, 17 September 2005

Author: Archeologist from United States

This has got to be my favorite Don Bluth film. It's completely original and still holds up to this day. While American Tail is probably his best film, this movie is so bizarre and wonderful it has to be seen. It starts live action then turns animated. In the live-action prologue, a little boy named Edmond learns that the crowing of Chanticleer the rooster did not make the sun rise, as everyone thought. But when a flood threatens his family's farm, Edmond sets off to get Chanticleer to make the sun rise and save the day. Just imagine alice in wonderland with rock songs, a kitten, lasagna, and a rooster who channels Elvis. Rock-a-doooooo!

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4 out of 4 people found the following review useful:
Gets bashed WAY too much, way too unfairly!!, 30 June 2009

Author: chiibiprincess from United States

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Ha.......beware of the long rant of a hugely biased Bluth fan...

Fine, warned ya, didn't I? ^_-

First of all, I don't really see why people hate this movie so much. I don't see what's so bloody confusing about it....unless people are really that simpled-minded that they can't understand a plot as simple as "a live-action boy joins the animated world in order to bring back a hero who can save them from darkness and destruction." That's it. ........yeah, what exactly is so hard to understand about that?

And.....they're criticizing the animation? LOL These same people who love American Tail and the Land Before Time are actually criticizing a film WITH THE EXACT SAME TYPE OF ANIMATION!? Seriously, use your common sense, people!! No, rather, use your EYES! It's the SAME!! Okay, fine, the live-action parts MIXED with the animation does look cheap. But it's old!! And of course it doesn't look as good as it did with Roger Rabbit! That movie was one of the most expensive movies ever made in all of film HISTORY!! Bluth didn't have that kind of budget, okay?! Besides, it lasts for all of twenty seconds, so suck it up and fast-forward if you hate looking at it so much, geeze!!

Don't believe all the bad reviews you have read on here. The animation is not horrible, the characters are not annoying OR ugly, the songs are not bad, and the voice actors are CERTAINLY not untalented! Believe you me, being a fan of animated classics from the time I was barely able to talk to now, (in my 20s) adults can appreciate this movie JUST AS MUCH if not more, than a child can. I have sat through BAD voice-acting, (early dubbed anime, anyone!?) horrible songs, terrible characters, awful, FLAT animation, the whole lot....and Rock-a-Doodle shines like a gem next to these.

Another reviewer on here just asked, "Why watch this when you can be in a world with Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, and Pinnochio?

My answer is simply this:

"Because it's DIFFERENT and I'm freaking sick of those fairy tales that everybody's seen a thousand versions of before they have even reached the age of TEN, damn it all!". The problem is, everyone's treating this as a Disney film when it's not. It's Bluth. Bluth is not Disney. He never WILL be. And I don't want him to be, either! See, this is why I adore Don Bluth so much and consider him to be the finest animator and director in America. Don Bluth's films are SO different, SO sophisticated, SO unique, SO non-cliché, and above all, SO magical. Yes, "magical" is really the best way to describe a Bluth film...and ever single one he's directed delivers the magic...so much that just from watching a couple seconds of random animation, you can immediately recognize that Bluth had something to do with it.

I will say that Disney can take you on a journey through storybooks...even through history, perhaps...but you still feel like you're just watching something.....artificial? It's meant to entertain, be bright, happy, make you laugh and dance then cry..then laugh some more...and then it's over.

But what Bluth does.....it's something much more valuable...much more surreal: he takes you on a journey through DREAMS. Yes, watching a Bluth film is very much like being in a dream. It's beautiful...yet bizarre...bright...yet dark...calming...yet terrifying.... Rock-A-Doodle is exceptionally GOOD at being a film that feels like a dream. Its awesome random, wonderful strangeness is right up there with "The Secret of NIMH" and my eternally top-favorite, "All Dogs Go To Heaven". And I can tell you right now: every single scene feels more memorable than an entire Disney movie. When I watched this movie just last week to relive my childhood, I found out that I appreciated it even MORE and that it was much more enjoyable to watch than the Disney movies that were created around the same time!!

I can understand that some people don't like this just because it's too...WEIRD for them...which I agree. It IS weird. But see, I love weird. I love bizarre. I love strange. I love being treated as an adult and actually having to use my brain.....during a KID'S film.

If you're tired of that same-old-same-old protective Disney bubble that doesn't really let you think outside the box and want something really interesting and out of the ordinary, PLEASE give this movie a look. You won't regret it. If you're a Bluth fan, THIS IS A MUST-SEE.

My rating for each aspect of Rock-A-Doodle:

Animation: 10 It's Don-freaking-BLUTH Characters: 8 All main ones are likable, unique, and fun. The Duke is a GREAT villain especially!

Sound: 10 It's a musical of course! Not all the songs are given attention like in most musicals though. Some are very short to give you a short laugh or two and some just serve as background music while main points about the characters are being pointed out to you. This is refreshing for those who get tired of song after song in animated movies.

Story: 7 There's a plot hole or two, seemingly but based on what's revealed at the end, that's entirely excusable!! (and all the critics totally ignored this!!)

Voice-actors: 10! Nothing to complain about here! Ganger's (Edmond) childish voice is adorable, Duncan (Peepers) and Deezen (Snipes) are priceless, Reily's (Hunch) hysterical, Campbell as Chanticleer just plain rocks and Chris Plummer should have gotten an award as The Duke because he's outstanding.

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6 out of 9 people found the following review useful:
Excellent family film, 26 April 2005

Author: PrincessV from Canada

I bought this film almost ten years ago and each of my children (14, 12 and 5 years old) has enjoyed multiple viewings of it. I include myself as a fan. The story is about a rooster who loses his ability to crow, partly because of the villainous owl, the Grand Duke, and his dastardly plans. The characters are interesting and well developed. The plot has plenty of suspense and villains for young children (and their parents); romance, heroes worth cheering, and a clear story line. The songs are catchy, the singing excellent, and appropriate for the story. Basing the main character, Chanticleer, on Elvis is quite appropriate and adds a bit of humor for adults. This film is equal in quality to Don Bluth's Thumbelina.

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5 out of 8 people found the following review useful:
Rock-a-Snoozle, 20 February 2005

Author: Megan_Koumori

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Why do I review (or even watch) Don Bluth films? They're so depressing. I haven't been happy with the man since The Land Before Time (Though I briefly smiled for Anastasia. If only it weren't for that darn Pooka...).

Our story begins in a book on a farm. Right away, The Farm is identified as the perfect place to be, although there's no farmer, no crops, and I don't recall seeing a barn. Everyone on this little farm has a job. Of course, Chantacleer's job (to bring up the sun) is the only job identified; everyone else just lays around or joins in when he randomly belts out a tune.

You can imagine how obnoxious this can be after awhile, what with all this random singing on the farm with no farmer. So obnoxious, the Grand Duke of Owls has decided to kill them. Normally, this would be bad, but after five minutes, it's pretty obvious that they'd probably be better off dead. So he gets Chantacleer kicked off the farm, causing the sun to down, and darkness to fall. Meanwhile, this Duke planning to eat all these 'cute' creatures. For this, he's bad guy? Sounds pretty noble to me.

Meanwhile, in the real world, it's raining. This is somehow connected to Chantacleer leaving in the story, but only Edmond, son of the missing farmer, knows this. Everyone else figures it's just a random flash flood (Oh how foolish. Don't all monsoons have to do with barnyard fowl?). So he goes to the window and starts to scream for Chantacleer at the top of his lungs. Who's the villain now, huh? Anyhow, he hits his head, gets turned into a cat, goes on an adventure in the city, finds the rooster (but not the farmer), and wakes up muttering, "You were there, and you were there, and you were there..."

There are several problems with what I refer to as the Beginning-of-the-End for Bluth. But I beefed an awful lot in my Thumbelina review, so I'll start off with the good: Some of the voices, particularly Eddie Deezen (Who later immortalized Mandark) and Phil Harris (Who deserved a better last bow than this.) are quite good. Unfortuantly, they're undermined by Edmond (More on this later.). Rock-a-Doodle does the thing Thumbelina never did: Make me laugh, and that's why it gets a two instead of a one. One scene. The kitchen with Hans and the Duke, where Uncle Dukie utters the line, "If I kill my nephew, will it be murder or charity?" The pint sized pipsqueak and her prince never even came close.

Now the bad. Edmond is completely unappealing. His speech impediment is merely distracting as first, but by the "We'll all dwown." speech, he's annoying as red ants up the butt. At times, you can't even understand him (I have mixed feelings on that.). Hiring a kid with a speech problem, just for the 'cute factor' is always a bad idea (Do you see Mara Wilson and her lisp on the cover of People? Dakota Fanning, on the other hand, talks clear as a bell, can actually act, and is worth ten times her weight in gold.), unless it makes sense to the script (such as in 'Paulie' where Paulie the Parrot helped the little girl with her stutter.).

Hans the nephew, 'The funny character', isn't. The movie practically forces him on us, and when it becomes obvious he's not working with the script, we are actually reminded that he's supposed to be funny ("He was more a hoot than he was dangerous." or something along those lines.). Never, never, NEVER tell who your funny character is. Let the audience find out for themselves. Or better yet, don't have a specific 'funny' man, but let everyone be humorous on their own in different ways (Such as Monsters Inc.).

I guess the worse part is, we don't care. If I don't care about at least one main character, or a character's motivations, or even what's going to happen to that character, then the movie's failed. Rock-a-doodle failed. I'm not sure it ever had a chance. And maybe that's why the farmer ran away.

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1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
The beginning of mediocrity, 28 February 2011

Author: Crownunlimitplus from United States

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Well, there's little surprising in this film, as this is where Don Bluth started to lose his touch, as well as his creativity. The film is perfectly acceptable for kids, and that's who should view this shining embodiment of mediocrity. Adults will not enjoy this film if it's their first time, as there are some plot holes that are easy enough to miss when you're ages 6-12, but that do stand out to the experienced moviegoer. The most prominent of these plot holes is used as a convenient cop-out by writers who were obviously fatigued and were looking for easy way to not only explain the nonsensical parts of the movie (there are a number of them), but also attach a happy ending to the movie (a staple of Don Bluth films). The solution they come up with is that the events of most of the movie were just a dream, but because of the power of little Edmond's belief in Chanticleer, their worlds merge in a great cosmic polymerization. This allows them to attach a typical happy ending, with the difference between Edmond and the other characters emphasized through the use of a cheesy blue-screen effect. All-in-all, this is an average film, nowhere nearly as good as "The Secret of NIMH", but far better than say, "A Troll in Central Park".

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