Chicken Little (2005)

After ruining his reputation with the town, a courageous chicken must come to the rescue of his fellow citizens when aliens start an invasion.

Director:

Mark Dindal

Writers:

Mark Dindal (story), Mark Kennedy (story),

Stars:

Zach Braff, Garry Marshall, Don Knotts

3 wins & 14 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Zach Braff	...	Chicken Little (voice)
Garry Marshall	...	Buck Cluck (voice)
Don Knotts	...	Mayor Turkey Lurkey (voice)
Patrick Stewart	...	Mr. Woolensworth (voice)
Amy Sedaris	...	Foxy Loxy (voice)
Steve Zahn	...	Runt of the Litter (voice)
Joan Cusack	...	Abby Mallard (voice)
Wallace Shawn	...	Principal Fetchit (voice)
Harry Shearer	...	Dog Announcer (voice)
Fred Willard	...	Melvin - Alien Dad (voice)
Catherine O'Hara	...	Tina - Alien Mom (voice)
Patrick Warburton	...	Alien Cop (voice)
Adam West	...	Ace - Hollywood Chicken Little (voice)
Mark Walton	...	Goosey Loosey (voice)
Mark Dindal	...	Morkubine Porcupine / Coach (voice)

Storyline

After Chicken Little causes widespread panic--when he mistakes a falling acorn for a piece of the sky--the young chicken is determined to restore his reputation. But just as things are starting to go his way, a real piece of the sky lands on his head. Chicken Little and his band of misfit friends, Abby Mallard (aka Ugly Duckling), Runt of the Litter and Fish Out of Water, attempt to save the world without sending the town into a whole new panic.

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Plot Keywords:

chicken | panic | friend | fish | alien | 

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Taglines:

A hero will emerge

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Genres:

Animation | Adventure | Comedy | Family | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

G

Details

Official Sites:

Disney [dk] Disney [us]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 November 2005 (USA)

Also Known As:

Lille kylling

Box Office

Budget:

$150,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£3,173,867 (UK) (10 February 2006)

Gross:

$135,381,507 (USA) (7 April 2006)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Walt Disney Pictures, Walt Disney Feature Animation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

81 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Chicken Little was originally going to be a girl.

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Goofs

During the first alien scene, the aliens create a crop circle in the corn field. However, the corn field is unchanged in all other scenes.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Buck Cluck: [voice over] Now, where to begin?
[shaft of light and pixie dust]
Buck Cluck: How about "Once upon a time"?
[screen suddenly goes black]
Buck Cluck: How many times have you heard that to begin a story? Let's do something else.
[gasps]
Buck Cluck: I got it. I got it. Here we go. Here's how to open a movie.
[opening to The Lion King]
Buck Cluck: No, I don't think so. It sounds familiar, doesn't it to you?
[...]

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Crazy Credits

The characters sing and dance to a song as the credits start rolling. Then Chicken Little lays his head on the floor an watches as the full screen credits start rolling, and the characters are scrolled off frame.

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Connections

References Alien (1979)

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Soundtracks

"I Will Survive"
Written by Dino Fekaris and Freddie Perren (as Frederick Perren)

User Reviews

Average in every way

This was a film with a somewhat interesting premise, a somewhat interesting main character, and a somewhat interesting conclusion. This was not a Pixar film: it wasn't designed to appeal to adults. Rather, the writers focus on giving the kiddies a few laughs without leaving the parents comatose with boredom.

And when everything is taken into consideration, the writers succeed. Somewhat.

It's just not a very memorable film. Whreas most kids can watch films like "Shrek" repeatedly because of the sight gags, talented voice-over performances, and hidden jokes that they might not catch the first time around, "Chicken Little" is likely to be forgotten the moment the credits roll. That's not to say that Disney doesn't provide it's standard politically correct message. Of course the best player on the baseball team is a girl (Foxy Loxy). Of course a girl (Goosey Loosey) beats up and humiliates the boy (Chicken Little). Of course the character with the most redeeming social value is physically unattractive (Abby Mallard). And on, and on, and on. Disney also manages to continue its bizarre tradition of creating single father families ("Little Mermaid", "Aladdin", "Beauty and the Beast", "The Goofy Movie"): Chicken Little's mother has, of course, departed for the great unknown.

The relationship between Chicken Little and his father comes across as more annoying than heartwarming. The premise: A father realizes that it's probably not such a great idea to be embarrassed by his son; by the end of the movie, what his own child thinks of him actually takes precedent over the opinions of neighbors and perfect strangers! This message would undoubtedly come across as highly inspirational...if not for the fact that it's so blatantly obvious, hackneyed, and overplayed.

The voice-over's for the film were largely uninspiring, save for amusing performances by Don Knotts and Adam West. "Fish out of Water" was easily the most likable of the bunch (yes, I was suckered by the standard Disney cutesy animated character in their never ending attempt to sell more toys), and he didn't even have a speaking roll. No, "Chicken Little" is not the worst animated film I've ever seen...but memorable, it is not.