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.

---

Plot Keywords:

chicken | panic | friend | fish | alien | 

---

Taglines:

Chicken Little. Movie Big.

---

Genres:

Animation | Adventure | Comedy | Family | Sci-Fi

---

Certificate:

G

Details

Official Sites:

Disney [Denmark] Disney [United States]

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

There are 250,000 feathers on Chicken Little.

---

Goofs

When Chicken Little is running after the school bus, Foxy dumps out a bag of acorns to make him trip. When Chicken Little falls, the acorns are all around him. However, when he gets back up, the acorns are gone.

---

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?
[...]

---

Crazy Credits

The start of the end credits feature the characters singing "Don't Go Breaking My Heart".

---

Connections

References Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)

---

Soundtracks

"All I Know"
Written by Jimmy Webb
Produced by John Ondrasik
Performed by Five For Fighting
Recorded and Mixed by Frank Wolf
Five for Fighting appears courtesy of Aware/Columbia Records

User Reviews

The Sky fell all right, but The Story was already a shattered mess

There have been many, many movies that Disney has put out that I've had a high desire to see "succeed". All in all, most Disney animated movies that have made it to the big screen in the more modern cinema history of, say, from "Beauty and the Beast" all the way up to "Lilo & Stitch" and "Brother Bear", have done that. Perhaps some are only a financial success, like "Treasure Planet", but certainly they were popular enough with one group of moviegoers or another to have a good box office take.

Unfortunately, "Chicken Little" is not a success.

In pooling my thoughts to review this movie, I am so highly disappointed that good animation is its only high mark. In this pivotal point in the history of The Walt Disney Company, where its relationship with Pixar is still on the rocks while a new president is stepping up, I wanted this movie to be a smashing success. I wanted this to be the movie that starts another Golden Age revolution, where it is possible that Disney takes the top spot in producing awesome animated movies.

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 audience 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. Judging by the audience of my screening, made up of at least 40% little kids, only they found that funny.

With so many 3D animated movies coming out recently, like "Madagascar", "Robots" and "Valiant", all released this 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.

To boot, "Chicken Little" has a weak soundtrack, composed mainly of songs that were popular at one time or another...to the pre-teen-aged crowd. Instead of beautiful, original, fully-composed songs like "A Whole New World" in "Aladdin" (or anything close to it), we are treated to Spice Girls' "If You Wanna Be My Lover" (complete, by the way, with karaoke subtitles). Unoriginal and highly annoying.

Having sufficiently railed on the movie, it is my belief that the corporate suits in charge of financing Feature Animation have more blame for the steady decline in their movies than anybody working under them. It seems they think they know what makes a successful movie, over-riding many decisions of the animators and storytellers--those who are still at Feature Animation--who have proved they can make great movies. I believe said pencil pushers are what made last year's "Home on the Range" fail, critically and financially.

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.

"Chicken Little" gets 4 of 10 stars