Director:
Mark Dindal
Writers:
Steve Bencich
Ron Friedman
(Robert L. Baird
Dan Gerson)
Cast:
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)
Relase date: March 21st
Walt Disney Pictures Presents
Running Time: Approximately 81 Minutes.
Rated: G
The Movie
So, a good while into the making of Chicken Little the creators (let’s call them Pixar-lite) show their wares to Michael Eisner. Eisner says to them that the main character should be a boy chicken, not a girl chicken. So, Holly Hunter is replaced by Zach Braff, and the script is seriously re-worked.
Now, I don’t know that this capricious decision from on high is responsible for any of the movie’s faults, but the flick certainly feels like a rush job. Many things fall pretty flat and nothing quite works as well as it should. There are a lot of talented people working on what is ultimately a mediocre film.
But I don’t believe that the flick’s problems are limited to this transgender swap. While some of the actors are genuinely funny, the script is fairly weak and unfunny. That is to say, Gary Marshall has great comedic timing; Chicken Little does not. The story never really clicks, the movie doesn’t ever find a rhythm or a tone. There are distressing plot-holes. Characters are introduced for a single gag, then dropped entirely from the film. The character design is oftentimes ugly. The school age characters all seem to speak and act like adults, and we’re never really given an idea of how old they are supposed to be.
It isn’t a terrible film, though. I really liked the character Fish Out of Water, a charismatic goldfish walking around in a diver’s helmet full of water. Adam West is also used perfectly in a cameo appearance. Fred Willard, Catherine O’Hara, and Patrick Warburton show up briefly towards the end of the film and those people cannot be unfunny.
But for everything right there are two things wrong.
Instead of focusing on story and character, Chicken Little seems content to crank out numbers from the soundtracks, make played-out references to Spice Girls and “I Will Survive,” use third-hand Flintstones’ site gags, and throw in some bodily function humor. And if you pay attention, it might seem like the film’s theme is, “your parents won’t trust you when you tell them the truth. You might be better off keeping your mouth shut and saving all the embarrassment.” That message isn’t terribly appropriate for a kid’s film. Do I even have to make a molesting uncle joke here?
All in all, Chicken Little is a fine movie to have on in the background, but not terribly important to watch.
Score: 5/10
The DVD
The Audio and The Visual:
Looks pretty, sounds good, whatever. It seems up to the DisnerDVD standard.
The Box
The cover is the title character in one of them Dr. Evil egg chairs. For some reason, Morkubine Porcupine (no, I didn’t make that up) makes the cover, but not the father nor the love interest. Weird.
Inside, I get my chapter list, a map of the DVD menu (always handy), an advertisement/coupon book deallee, and a Nexcare bandaid with one of the characters on it. I can’t wait until the next time my daughter cuts herself, so I get to use that!
Special Features
Deleted Scenes: We get three alternate openings. and a storyboard deleted scene. They are all watchable.
Hatching Chicken Little: A fairly standard making of documentary. It runs less than 20 minutes, and you can watch them separately in 2-5 minute nuggets. It is nothing terribly interesting, especially compared to the various and superior documentaries one can find on every Pixar DVD. But then again, everything about Chicken Little is shamed by pretty much anything Pixar has ever done.
“Where’s Fish?” Trivia Game: A kiddie style trivia/shell game. The object of the game appears to be “inexplicably getting back to the main menu after answering 2 questions.” At least that’s how my copy worked.
Special Features- Music Stuff
There is a “video” by something called the Cheetah Girls. If you like American Idol style numbers intercut with CGI characters doing the Watusi in front of a white background (and who doesn’t?), then this option is for you!
There is also a “video” for the Barenaked Ladies song featured in the movie. The song is played in it’s entirety during one sequence of the movie. So basically, this amounts to watching that sequence of the movie, occasionally interrupted by shots of BNL performing the song in a normal-looking studio.
In addition to that, we get 2 more options for that BNL song, which sounds suspiciously like “Falling for the First Time.” You can do it Karaoke style or Sing-Along style (the same thing as Karaoke, but with the original vocals still present). Of course, the “fun” of karaoke is somewhat mitigated by the option of only one song. Would it have cost that much more money to throw in any of the 2 dozen other songs pointlessly shoved into Chicken Little?
Etc,
The DVD gives parents “Disney Fastplay” which is the ultimate negligent parent tool! Just pop in the disc and it automatically plays some previews, the movie, some special features, and loops forever! You can keep little Billy shut in the other room for HOURS at a time!
We also get French and Spanish Language tracks. Whoo hoo! I think everything is funnier in Spanish, and now I get to test this hypothesis!
5/10
