Rock-A-Doodle (1991)

In order to defeat the Grand Duke of Owls, a young boy transformed into a cat teams up with a group of barnyard animals to find a rooster who can raise the sun.

Directors:

Don Bluth, Gary Goldman (co-director)

Writers:

Don Bluth (story), John Pomeroy (story)

Stars:

Glen Campbell, Christopher Plummer, Phil Harris

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Phil Harris	...	Narrator / Patou (voice)
Glen Campbell	...	Chanticleer / The King (voice)
Eddie Deezen	...	Snipes (voice)
Kathryn Holcomb	...	Dory - Mother
Toby Scott Ganger	...	Edmond
Stan Ivar	...	Frank - Dad
Christian Hoff	...	Scott - Edmond's Brother
Jason Marin	...	Mark - Edmond's Brother
Christopher Plummer	...	Grand Duke (voice)
Sandy Duncan	...	Peepers (voice)
Will Ryan	...	Stuey (voice)
Charles Nelson Reilly	...	Hunch - Duke's Nephew (voice) (as Charles Nelson-Reilly)
Ellen Greene	...	Goldie (voice)
Sorrell Booke	...	Pinky - The Manager (voice)
Dee Wallace	...	Dory - Mother

Storyline

Edmund is a boy whose favorite story of Chanticleer, a rooster whose singing makes the sun rise every morning until the Grand Duke of Owls, whose kind despises the bright sun, makes him look like a fraud. With Chanticleer driven from his farm, the owls put it under a spell of perpetual darkness and rain. As Edmund's own farm floods, he calls to Chanticleer, only to summon the Duke himself who transforms him into a kitten to devour him. Rescued by Chanticleer's former friends Patou the hound, Snipes the magpie and Peepers the mouse, they go on an adventure to the city where the rooster had gone and became a great singing rock star!

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Plot Keywords:

cat | flirting | loss of money | giraffe | groupie | 

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Taglines:

The rousing, rollicking adventure of the world's first rockin' rooster!

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Genres:

Animation | Adventure | Comedy | Family | Music

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Certificate:

G

Details

Country:

Ireland UK USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 April 1992 (USA)

Also Known As:

Rock-A-Doodle 3D

Filming Locations:

Ardmore Studios, Herbert Road, Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland

Box Office

Budget:

$18,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$11,657,385

Company Credits

Production Co:

Goldcrest Films International,Sullivan Bluth Studios

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Pinky (The Fox), the sinister and greedy manager of Chanticleer (The King) is based on the late Elvis Presley's band manager Colonel Tom Parker.

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Goofs

The Grand Duke and the rest of his clan hate the sun and any particular light source, yet he bakes a pie near a bright, crackling fire.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Narrator: Once upon a time, back before I knew how to tie my shoes, the sun came up. Now, I know an everyday sunrise may not seem like such a big deal to some folks. But, imagine for a moment: if instead of rising up like this one morning where you lived, she took a look around and decided to go back to sleep. It happened once to us. Let me tell you all about it.

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Connections

Referenced in Hewy's Animated Movie Reviews: All Dogs Go to Heaven (2009)

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Soundtracks

Sink or Swim
Sung by Ellen Greene
Written by T.J. Kuenster
Arranged and Produced by T.J. Kuenster
Executive Music Producer: Shopan Entesari

User Reviews

Strange, nonsensical, and not very good

Plot of "Rock-a-Doodle": A rooster named Chanticleer crows every morning to make the sun come up, only one day the sun rises without him and he leaves the farm in disgrace (this part is based on an obscure play by Edmund Forster). Only it turns out he really WAS responsible for the sunrise and it begins raining nonstop. This causes an evil owl to move to the farm because he wants to live in permanent darkness. A real-life boy, who lives with his real-life family amongst the cartoon animals, knows Chanticleer can bring the sun back and sets out to find him. Only the owl turns out to have magical powers and transforms the real-life boy into a cartoon cat. The cartoon cat then sets out with the other animals into the big city (which is populated by cartoon animals even though the farm has a human family) to find Chanticleer, who has turned into an Elvis parody and is being seduced by a sexy chicken. Meanwhile, back at the farm, the owl has inexplicably grown to the size of a skyscraper and is planning to eat the other animals. Or something. Also, there are evil frogs.

If you can read through all that and tie those events together to make any sort of vague sense, be my guest. This is the most nonsensical movie in the history of animation. I watched it countless times as a kid and I don't think I ever knew what was going on, and I just realized I still don't. I don't remember ever liking it, either.

However, I was strangely fascinated by the crazy little owl (nephew to the evil magic owl) played by Charles Nelson Reilly, and thought he was the funniest damn thing I had ever seen. I can't explain it, but even now the thought of a tiny owl running around with weapons made out of can-openers and shouting "ANNIHILATION" is hilarious to me. I was so fascinated that I actually did research on Charles Nelson Reilly, so for many years I was the only kid in elementary school with an extensive knowledge of Charles Nelson Reilly trivia and could tell you all his appearances on game shows and stuff. This is the sad effect this movie had on my life, and I deeply regret it.

Besides that, it is sort of notable for Glen Campbell's role as Chanticleer/The King and for containing Phil Harris's last role, but anyone over the age of 8 will probably find it extremely tedious and annoying. It has nothing on the classic Disney cartoons.