Chicken Little

A Great Way to Adapt an Old Standard

In my short 28 years on this planet (though it feels sometimes like a bloody eternity), I have gone from full-on Disney-phile to thorough Disney-hater (the Eisner years did that), to leery Disney watcher. During the Eisner years, the cartoon entertainment coming out of the once infallible studio became to adult-centric, to Broadway styled and totally lost touch with goals and morals of entertaining children. Having Demi Moore almost curse in an animated hunchback was frankly a bit much for me.

What brought me back to Disney was the incorporation of Pixar, that great branch of Disney doing the CGI animation and the only part of Disney that seemed at all in tune with what making children's entertainment was all about.

And then, of late, they left Disney. I don't blame them and will continue to follow their work wherever they go.

Disney, however, decided not to be left behind and has taken what they learned from Pixar and continued on, starting with Chicken Little, to make their own CGI cartoons, thank you very much.

I went to see the movie only because my little angel sister wanted to go see it... and I was kinda curious myself.

I gotta say, Chicken Little was good. Fun, different, and for a group of people adapting a classic kids' tale, pretty brazen. Making Chicken Little into a War of the Worlds-esque sci-fi battle movie would never have occurred to me. And they do a darn good job of it.

The jokes are funny, the characters are truly lovable, particularly Abby Mallard and Fish-out-of-Water (my favorite). Chicken Little himself is an enjoyable character you don't mind routing for and his Dad is not at all your typical blocking character.

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

The movie abounds in movie references, most notably Aliens, War of the Worlds, Star Wars, and my favorite a great King Kong reference done by Fish and Runt of the Liter, complete with the most famous ending line in cinemam "Twas Beauty that killed the Beast."

My little sister, while only 9 and not catching most of the movie references, still loved the movie and laughed quite a bit, as did I. It's no Pixar, no Monsters Inc., no Finding Nemo, and certainly no Incredibles, but it sure is good Disney kids entertainment, and not the kind that will kill the adults.