CNS Movie Review: Chicken Little

Chicken Little

By David DiCerto
Catholic News Service

NEW YORK (CNS) -- The poster of Disney's "Chicken Little" jokingly announces, "The end is near." If the movie is any indication of things to come, that just might be true for Disney's storied reign as the gold standard of animated entertainment.

The studio recently abandoned its traditional hand-drawn operations to compete with the digital dominance of Pixar ("Toy Story," "Monsters Inc.," "Finding Nemo" and "The Incredibles") and DreamWorks ("Shrek"), so "Chicken Little" marks its first fully computer-animated feature film.

Sadly for the mouse house, this "Chicken" is a bit of a turkey.

Based on the classic children's story, the movie centers on a confidence-challenged chick (voiced by Zach Braff) who sounds the apocalyptic alarm by reporting that the sky is falling, sending his panicked neighbors into a tizzy. It all turns out to be a humiliating mistake, but not before half the town is ruined, along with his reputation.

To salvage some dignity and win the approval of his disappointed dad, Buck Cluck (voiced by Garry Marshall), Chicken Little joins his school's baseball team and lifts his squad to an upset victory over their archrivals, exorcising the bad taste of his recent embarrassment.

But no sooner has he redeemed himself than a piece of sky really does conk him on the head, heralding what appears to be an alien invasion. But will anyone believe him this time?

Much zaniness ensues, as Chicken Little -- aided by buddies Runt of the Litter (Steve Zahn), Abby Mallard, aka Ugly Duckling (Joan Cusack), and Fish Out of Water (Dan Molina) -- races to save face and his hometown.

Rounding out the cast are Patrick Stewart as Mr. Woolensworth, Don Knotts as Mayor Turkey Lurkey and Amy Sedaris as Foxy Loxy.

Disney is new to the computer-generated image game and the film shows it, falling short of the bar set by Pixar. Vibrant through unremarkable, the animation displays "Little" of the warmth and charm of Disney films of old.

And while the 'toons may be more 3-D than in Walt's day, the story and characterizations are disappointingly two-dimensional and lack much personality.

Stringing together a series of mildly amusing sequences and zippy sight gags, the film drags on for most of its first hour with the "War of the Worlds"-flavored plot elements arriving much too late.

Following current trends, director Mark Dindal wrenches in numerous pop-culture references, further diluting any hoped-for timeless appeal.

The movie's unmemorable songs, including "One Little Slip" and "Shake a Tail Feather," will hardly leave you shaking yours.

Still, with its father-son story line, "Chicken Little"-- like many Disney films before it -- celebrates the love shared between a parent and child, while imparting a family-friendly message about believing in oneself.

The film is dedicated to the late Joe Grant, a longtime Disney animator and story man who worked on classics old and new, like "Dumbo," "Pinocchio," "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" and "The Lion King."

And while recommendable as wholesome entertainment, compared to those masterpieces "Chicken Little" pales, providing strong indication that, while the sky might not be falling at Disney, the quality of its storytelling has.

The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is A-I -- general patronage. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is G -- general audiences.

- - -

DiCerto is on the staff of the Office for Film & Broadcasting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

END

Copyright (c) 2005 Catholic News Service/USCCB. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed.
CNS · 3211 Fourth St NE · Washington DC 20017 · 202.541.3250

FIND A MOVIE

   Looking for a
   movie review?
   Click "Movie List"
   button above

   OR

   Enter a keyword
   from the movie
   title in the box
   below and click
   the "Search"
   button.

Classifications
and
ratings?