Rock-A-Doodle

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Rock-A-Doodle

Directed by	Don Bluth
Produced by	Gary Goldman John Quested Morris F. Sullivan
Written by	David N. Weiss
Starring	Glen Campbell
Music by	Robert Folk T.J. Kuenster
Editing by	Lisa Dorney Dan Molina Fiona Trayler
Distributed by	The Samuel Goldwyn Company HBO Video (1992 VHS and 2000 DVD) MGM Home Entertainment (2005 DVD)
Release date(s)	April 3, 1992 (USA)
Running time	77 min.
Country	UK/Ireland
Language	English
IMDb profile

Rock-a-Doodle is a 1991 animated re-telling of Edmond Rostand's Chantecler. This film was directed by Don Bluth, produced by Goldcrest Films for The Samuel Goldwyn Company, and originally released to US movie theatres in 1992.

1 Plot
2 Reaction
3 Voice actors and their characters
4 Trivia
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] Plot

The story concerns Chanticleer, a proud rooster whose singing wakes the sun every morning, or so the other farm animals believe. One morning, he is attacked by a rooster sent by the owls. Chanticleer wins the fight but forgets to crow, and the sun rises anyway without his singing. Believing him to be a fraud, the other animals ostracize and ridicule Chanticleer, and their insults deeply sadden him. Feeling that he can no longer live with his now belligerent former friends, Chanticleer leaves the farm and moves to a nearby city, where he finds success as an Elvis style night club singer. Meanwhile, the animals back on the farm realize that it was a mistake to mock and humiliate Chanticleer into leaving, because without his singing the sun no longer rises. This brings on the rain, which causes a flood and makes the animals prime targets for their enemies, the owls. Some of the animals, along with the farmers son Edmond who had been transformed into a kitten, then band together and head for the city to persuade Chanticleer to come back, hoping that his singing will bring back the sun, end the flood, and drive away the owls. The Grand Duke (Christopher Plummer), the film's villain and leader of the owls, sends his clumsy and dim-witted nephew Hunch, whose favorite word is "annihalation" or anything that rhymes, to stop Edmond and the other animals. However, Hunch and the owls fail and Hunch is then sent to the city with only sunglasses. Edmond, Patou the hound dog, Peepers the mouse and Snipes the bird discover Chanticleer is now the King, a rocking rooster and parody of Elvis at a night club. His manager, an overweight, golf-obssessed and greedy fox named Pinky, is a servant of the Duke, and Edmond and the other barnyard animals are trapped in the greedy fox's trailer. Goldie the Pheasant, another club-singer, falls in love with Chanticleer and tells him of Pinky's plan to keep the others away from him. Pinky overhears this and berates Chanticleer and Goldie. The roosters are forced to make a new film with Pinky. Chanticleer and Goldie manage to escape on a prop-motorcycle and rescue Edmond and Chanticleer's friends. Chanticleer is knocked unconscious and the other animals, including Goldie steal Pinky's car and head for the farm. Despite managing to temporarily evade Pinky, they are pursued by Hunch. Peepers is lost when the trailer attached is departed. Edmond has frightening flashbacks of many things, particularly Pinky the fox and the evil Grand Duke. Edmond, not being afraid anymore, steers the car and climbs a tower, which collapses. They are all rescued by Peepers, who has stolen Pinky's helicopter. Edmond, Chanticleer, Goldie, Peepers and Snipes escape Pinky only to crash on the farm due to the interference of Hunch. The other animals, whom were left to guard the farm, along with the animals who left to find Chanticleer, are ambushed by the owls. Goldie wakes Chanticleer, who then confronts the Duke. Chanticleer is pounded to the ground by the Duke, whom is able to use his mouth in the form of magic, which lead to Edmond's transformation into a cat. Edmond, chanting the rooster's name to crow, is strangled by the Duke's magic. The other animals are devasted. Patou goads the barnyard animals to chant the rooster's name. The Duke, angered by this, then morphs into a giant owl and causes chaos in the form of a twister. Chanticleer now has a choice, crow or let the owls destroy the farm. He regains his confidence and crows. The sun strikes the gigantic owl's twister and shrinks him into a baby owl. The Grand Duke is then chased away by a vengeful Hunch and the other owls flee. Edmond wakes in the real world, realizing it was a dream. The end of the film shows Edmond singing with Chanticleer and the gang.

[edit] Reaction

It wasn't well received by critics or, judging by its low box-office returns and contemporary name recognition, audiences (possibly due to the film's dark, worldly setting and frightening villain).

[edit] Voice actors and their characters

Sorrell Booke - Pinky
Glen Campbell - Chanticleer
Eddie Deezen - Snipes
Sandy Duncan - Peepers
Toby Scott Ganger - Edmond
Ellen Greene - Goldie
Phil Harris - Patou
Christian Hoff - Scott
Kathryn Holcomb - Edmond's Mother (Dorie)
Stan Ivar - Edmond's Father
Jason Marin - Mark
Christopher Plummer - Grand Duke
Charles Nelson Reilly - Hunch
Will Ryan - Stuey

Characters:

Chanticleer-The second of the two protagonists, Chanticleer is a rooster who lives on a fairytale farm with many other animals, whom are fond of him and love him. His enemy is a magic nocturnal creature called the Grand Duke, along with a gang of owls whom serve him. Chanticleer is attacked by a servant of the Duke, another rooster. Chanticleer beats the rooster only to realize the sun has risen without. His friends ostacize him, leading to the adventures of Edmond and the others.

Pinky-Pinky is an oversized fox whom favors golf. He is discovered to be a crony of the Grand Duke. He captures Edmond and the other farm animals. He is also Chanticleer's manager in the city. Chanticleer and a pheasent whom has fallen in love with the rooster escape with Edmond's friends, ruining Pinky's industry.

The Grand Duke-The Grand Duke a.k.a. the Duke is a magic owl that despises Chanticleer. He overhears Edmond's call for Chanticleer in the real world. Edmond falls asleep and enters the story-book. The Duke turns Edmond into a kitten, and magically animates his room. The Duke is a malevolent, omnipotent creature of the night.

[edit] Trivia

This was the first feature-length live-action/animated film since 1988's Who Framed Roger Rabbit, but unlike Roger Rabbit, Edmond is the only live-action character to share the screen with the animated characters; this was at the beginning, where The Grand Duke would have to answer Edmond before being turned into an animated cat, and at the end, where Chanticler was singing Sun Do Shine again like he did at the beginning.
The animators, with all of the other movies adding the two characters, Wylde Hyena (Caelann) and Zakari (Zac), were going to add the hyena and boxer as secondary characters to help Edmond and the others. Unfortunately, they decided to keep them as sneaking characters that hid in different roles of the movie.
Many years before production, several artists at Walt Disney Studios were interested in telling Chantecleer through animation, combining elements of the story of an anthropomorphic fox named Reynard. Though character designs by the late Marc Davis survive, the late Walt Disney personally rejected the pitch, and the film was never put into production or animation tests.