Chicken Little (2005 film)

For the 1943 short film, see Chicken Little (1943 film).
Chicken Little

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Mark Dindal
Produced by Randy Fullmer
Screenplay by
Story by
  • Mark Dindal
  • Mark Kennedy
Starring
Music by John Debney
Edited by Dan Molina
Production
company
Distributed by Buena Vista Pictures
Release dates
  • October 3, 2005 (Los Angeles premiere)
  • November 4, 2005 (United States)
Running time
 81 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $150 million[1]
Box office $314.4 million[1]

Chicken Little is a 2005 American 3D computer-animated comedy film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and loosely based on the fable of the same name. As the 46th animated feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, it was directed by Mark Dindal with screenplay by Steve Bencich, Ron J. Friedman, and Ron Anderson and story by Mark Kennedy and Dindal.

The film was animated in-house at Walt Disney Feature Animation's main headquarters in Burbank, California and released by Walt Disney Pictures on November 4, 2005 in Disney Digital 3-D (the first film to be released in this format) along with the standard 2-D version. It is Disney's first fully computer-animated film, as Pixar's films were distributed but not produced by Disney, and Dinosaur (2000) was a combination of live-action and computer animation. It is also Disney's second adaption of the fable of the same name, the first being a 1943 cartoon made during World War II. The film is also the last Disney animated film made before John Lasseter was named chief creative officer of Disney Animation.

Though it received mixed reviews upon release, the film was a box office success, grossing $314 million worldwide.

Plot

In the small town of Oakey Oaks, Chicken Little rings the school bell and warns everyone to run for their lives. This sends the whole town into a frenzied panic. Eventually, the Head of the Fire Department calms down enough to ask him what's going on, and he explains that a piece of the sky shaped like a stop sign had fallen on his head when he was sitting under the big oak tree in the town square; however, he is unable to find the piece. His father, Buck Cluck, assumes that this "piece of sky" was just an acorn that had fallen off the tree and had hit him on the head, making Chicken Little the laughing stock of the town.

A year later, Chicken Little has become infamous in the town for being crazy. His only friends are outcasts like himself: Abby Mallard (who has a crush on him), Runt of the Litter (who ironically is extremely large), and Fish Out of Water (who wears a helmet full of tap water).

Trying to help, Abby encourages Chicken Little to talk to his father, but he really only wants to make his dad proud of him. As a result, he joins his school's baseball team in an attempt to recover his reputation and his father's pride, but is made last until the ninth inning of the last game. Chicken Little is reluctantly called to bat by the coach (even though the coach is certain that he will lose the game for them). Little is able to hit the ball and make it past first, second, and third bases, but is met at home plate by the outfielders. He tries sliding onto home plate but is touched by the ball. While it's presumed he lost the game, the umpire brushes away the dust to reveal Chicken Little's foot barely touching home plate, thus declaring Little safe and the game won; Little is hailed as a hero for winning the pennant.

Later that night back at home, he is hit on the head by the same "piece of the sky" — only to find out that it is not a piece of the sky, but a device which blends into the background (which would thereby explain why Chicken Little was unable to find it last time). He calls his friends over to help figure out what it is.

When Fish pushes a button on the back of the hexagon, it flies into the sky, taking Fish with it. It turns out to be part of the camouflage of an invisible UFO. Chicken Little manages to ring the bell to warn everyone, but the aliens see the crowds coming and manage to escape, leaving an orange alien child behind. No one believes the story of the alien invasion, and Chicken Little is ridiculed yet again... until the next day. He and his friends discover the orange alien, and a few minutes later a whole fleet of alien ships descends on the town and start what appears to be an invasion. The invasion is actually a misunderstanding, as the two aliens are looking for their lost child and attack only out of concern. As the aliens rampage throughout Oakey Oaks, vaporizing everything in their path, Little realizes he must return the alien to his parents to save the planet. First, though, he must confront his father and regain his trust. Chicken Little then finally tells his father what Abby had wanted him to do in the first place. As Chicken Little is talking about what his father was doing and that was he emotionally let Chicken Little down by not being there for him and not listening to him enough. As he and his father reconcile, Chicken Little goes to Abby and tells her that he always found her attractive as he and Abby share a kiss.

In the invasion, Buck, now regaining his pride and trust in his son, defends him from the aliens until they get vaporized. It is then discovered that the aliens weren't vaporizing people, but the ray guns had teleported them aboard the UFO. Afterwards, the aliens return everything to normal (except Foxy Loxy, whose brain got scrambled, turning her into a Southern belle, and as a result, Runt falls for her), and everyone is grateful for Chicken Little's efforts to save the town.

Cast

Production

When the project started in 2001, it was originally meant as a movie about "a young girl who went to summer camp to build confidence so she wouldn't overreact". Other changes included Abby being a boy. When David Stainton became Disney's new president of Walt Disney Feature Animation in early 2003, he decided the story needed a different approach and told the director the script had to be revised, and during the next three months it was rewritten into a tale of a boy trying to save his town from space aliens.[2]

New software and hardware tools were introduced for the production of the film:[3]

At the time of the release of Chicken Little, the co-production deal between Disney and Pixar Animation Studios was set to expire with the release of Cars in 2006. The end result of the contentious negotiations between Disney and Pixar was viewed to depend heavily on how Chicken Little performed at the box office. If successful, the film would have given Disney leverage in its negotiations for a new contract to distribute Pixar's films. A failure would have allowed Pixar to argue that Disney could not produce CGI films without aid from Pixar. Discussions to renew the deal in 2005 were held off until both sides could access Chicken Little‍ '​s performance at the box office.

It is not known how the two sides regarded Chicken Little‍ '​s modest success. While it underperformed compared to Pixar's product, it was more successful than Disney's recent output and was much more profitable for the company, since they did not need to share the revenue. Regardless, both sides decided that they were better off with each other than separate. However, instead of negotiating a new contract, on January 24, 2006, Disney announced their intent to purchase Pixar in an all-stock transaction worth $7.4 billion. The purchase was completed on May 5, 2006.

Reception

Box office

In its opening weekend, Chicken Little debuted at #1, the first Disney animated film to do so since Dinosaur (2000), taking $40 million and tying with The Lion King (1994) as the largest opener for a Disney animated film.[4] It also managed to claim #1 again in its second week of release, earning $31.7 million, beating Sony's sci-fi family film, Zathura.[5] The film grossed $135,386,665 in North America, and $179,046,172 in other countries, for a worldwide total of $314,432,837.[1]

This reversed the slump that the company had been facing since 2000, during which time it released several flops, most notably Treasure Planet (2002) and Home on the Range (2004). However, these films received better critical reception.[6][7]

Critical reception

Chicken Little received generally unfavorable reviews from critics. Critical response aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 36% of critics gave positive reviews based on 159 reviews with an average score of 5.5/10. The critical consensus states "In its first non-Pixar CGI venture, Disney expends more effort in the technical presentation than in crafting an original storyline."[8] Another review aggretator, Metacritic gave the film an average score of 48 based on 32 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[9]

Richard Roeper of the then-Ebert & Roeper gave the film a "Thumbs Down" rating saying "I don't care whether the film is 2-D, 3-D, CGI, or hand-drawn, it all goes back to the story."[10] A.O. Scott of the New York Times stated the film is "a hectic, uninspired pastiche of catchphrases and clichés, with very little wit, inspiration or originality to bring its frantically moving images to genuine life."[11] However, Ty Burr of the Boston Globe gave the film a positive review saying the film was "shiny and peppy, with some solid laughs and dandy vocal performances".[12] Angel Cohn of TV Guide gave the film 3 stars alluding the film that would "delight younger children with its bright colors and constant chaos, while adults are likely to be charmed by the witty banter, subtle one-liners and a sweet father-son relationship."[13]

Home media

Chicken Little was first released on DVD on March 21, 2006, only in a single-disc edition.[14] The first Blu-ray release of Chicken Little was on March 20, 2007, and contained new features that were not included in the 2006 DVD. A 3D Blu-ray version was released on November 8, 2011.[15]

Soundtrack

Chicken Little
Soundtrack album by Various artists
Released November 1, 2005
Genre Rock, Pop, R&B, film soundtrack
Length 39:05
Label Walt Disney
Producer John Debney
Walt Disney Animation Studios chronology

Home on the Range
(2004)		 Chicken Little
(2005)		 Meet the Robinsons
(2007)

The soundtrack album contains original score composed and produced by John Debney, with a music by a wide range of artists, some musical veterans, such as Patti LaBelle and Diana Ross, as well as others. Uniquely for a Disney animated film, several of the songs are covers of classic popular songs, such as Elton John and Kiki Dee's "Don't Go Breaking My Heart," Carole King's "It's Too Late," and the Spice Girls' signature hit "Wannabe." The soundtrack was released on November 1, 2005.

Track listing

No. TitleArtist Length
1. "Stir It Up"  Joss Stone and Patti LaBelle 3:42
2. "One Little Slip"  Barenaked Ladies 2:53
3. "Shake a Tail Feather"  The Cheetah Girls 3:05
4. "All I Know"  Five for Fighting 3:25
5. "Ain't No Mountain High Enough"  Diana Ross 3:28
6. "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)"  R.E.M. 4:04
7. "We Are the Champions"  Zach Braff 0:38
8. "Wannabe"  Joan Cusack 0:50
9. "Don't Go Breaking My Heart"  The Chicken Little Cast 1:53
10. "The Sky Is Falling" (score)John Debney 2:49
11. "The Big Game" (score)John Debney 4:04
12. "Dad Apologizes" (score)John Debney 3:14
13. "Chase to Cornfield" (score)John Debney 2:00
14. "Dodgeball" (score)John Debney 1:15
15. "Driving with Dad" (score)John Debney 1:45
Total length:
 39:05

Video games

Disney's Chicken Little: Ace in Action cover art

Chicken Little spawned two video games. The first, Chicken Little, which is the same name as the film, is an action-adventure video game released for Xbox on October 18, 2005 by Buena Vista Games. Two days later it was released for PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube and Game Boy Advance (October 20, 2005), and later Microsoft Windows (November 2, 2005). Chicken Little for Game Boy Advance was developed by A2M, while BVG's recently acquired development studio, Avalanche Software, developed the game for the consoles.[16]

The second video game, Disney's Chicken Little: Ace in Action, is a multi-platform video game, for the Wii, Nintendo DS, Xbox, Nintendo GameCube, and PlayStation 2 inspired by the "superhero movie within the movie" finale of the film. It features Ace, the superhero alter ego of Chicken Little, and the Hollywood versions of his misfit band of friends: Runt, Abby and Fish-Out-of-Water. The crew of the intergalactic Battle Barn faces off against Foxy Loxy and her evil Amazonian sidekick, Goosey Loosey, who have an evil plan to take over Earth. Battle evil alien robots through multiple levels across the solar system and combat your foes in one of three distinct game play modes: Ace on foot as a soldier, Runt as the driver of an armored tank, or Abby as the pilot of a spaceship. The original Chicken Little and his friends Abby, Runt, and Fish from the film are featured in cut scenes throughout the game.

Chicken Little also appears as a summon gem in the video game, Kingdom Hearts II.[17]

Reception

Disney's Chicken Little
Aggregate scores
AggregatorScore
GameRankings(PC) 73.40%[18]
(GBA) 71.67%[19]
(GC) 68.45%[20]
(Xbox) 68.44%[21]
(PS2) 65.35%[22]
Metacritic(PC) 71/100[23]
(GBA) 71/100[24]
(Xbox) 68/100[25]
(GC) 67/100[26]
(PS2) 60/100[27]
Review scores
PublicationScore
Game Informer7/10[28]
GameSpy[29]
GameZone(GBA) 7.5/10[30]
(PS2) 6/10[31]
IGN(GBA) 7.8/10[32]
7/10[33]
(PS2) 6.9/10[34]
Nintendo Power6/10[35]
Official PlayStation Magazine (US)[36]
Official Xbox Magazine7.5/10[37]
PALGN4/10[38]
PC Gamer (US)74%[39]
X-Play[40]
The Times[41]

The first Chicken Little game was met with average to mixed reception upon release. GameRankings and Metacritic gave it a score of 73.40% and 71 out of 100 for the PC version;[18][23] 71.67% and 71 out of 100 for the Game Boy Advance version;[19][24] 68.45% and 67 out of 100 for the GameCube version;[20][26] 68.44% and 68 out of 100 for the Xbox version;[21][25] and 65.35% and 60 out of 100 for the PlayStation 2 version.[22][27]

Disney's Chicken Little: Ace in Action
Aggregate scores
AggregatorScore
GameRankings(PS2) 71.40%[42]
(Wii) 70.77%[43]
(DS) 67.67%[44]
Metacritic(Wii) 72/100[45]
(PS2) 69/100[46]
(DS) 66/100[47]
Review scores
PublicationScore
Eurogamer7/10[48]
Game Informer7.25/10[49]
GameZone(PS2) 7.2/10[50]
(Wii) 7/10[51]
(DS) 6.9/10[52]
IGN(Wii) 7.6/10[53]
(PS2) 7.5/10[54]
(DS) 7/10[55]
Nintendo Power(Wii) 7/10[56]
(DS) 6.5/10[57]
Official PlayStation Magazine (US)7.5/10[58]
PALGN7/10[59][60]
VideoGamer.com6/10[61]
X-Play[62]

Ace in Action was also met with average to mixed reception upon release. GameRankings and Metacritic gave it a score of 71.40% and 69 out of 100 for the PS2 version;[42][46] 70.77% and 72 out of 100 for the Wii version;[43][45] and 67.67% and 66 out of 100 for the DS version.[44][47]

Cancelled sequel

DisneyToon Studios originally planned to make a sequel to Chicken Little, tentatively titled Chicken Little 2: The Ugly Duckling Story.[63] Soon after 2006, when John Lasseter became Walt Disney Animation Studios' new chief creative officer, he called all sequels and future sequels that DisneyToon had planned cancelled, along with a sequel to Meet the Robinsons and The Aristocats.[63]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Chicken Little (2005)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved October 22, 2009.
  2. ↑ Has the Sky Stopped Falling at Disney?
  3. ↑ "The Sky's the Limit". Computer Graphics World. November 2005. Retrieved March 25, 2012.
  4. ↑ Gray, Brandon (November 7, 2005). "Welcome to the Cluck: Chicken Little, Jarhead Top Weekend". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved October 22, 2009.
  5. ↑ Gray, Brandon (November 14, 2005). "Zathura, Derailed, 50 Cent Below Chicken Little in Pecking Order". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved October 22, 2009.
  6. ↑ "Home on the Range Movie Reviews, Pictures". Rotten Tomatoes. IGN Entertainment. Retrieved July 19, 2010.
  7. ↑ "Treasure Planet Movie Reviews, Pictures". Rotten Tomatoes. IGN Entertainment. Retrieved July 19, 2010.
  8. ↑ "Chicken Little Movie Reviews, Pictures". Rotten Tomatoes. Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved July 19, 2010.
  9. ↑ "Chicken Little (2005): Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved October 22, 2009.
  10. ↑ "Chicken Little - Ebert & Roeper". BV Entertainment.com. Retrieved October 22, 2009.
  11. ↑ Scott, A. O.. "Chicken Little". The New York Times. Retrieved October 22, 2009.
  12. ↑ Burr, Ty (April 11, 2005). "Disney's digital animation can't bump Pixar in the pecking order". boston.com (Bosten Globe). Retrieved October 22, 2009.
  13. ↑ "Chicken Little: Review". TV Guide. Retrieved October 22, 2009.
  14. ↑ Walt Disney Home Entertainment’ (January 20, 2006). "Disney’s #1 Animated Movie of 2005 Is Coming To DVD!". DVDizzy.com. Retrieved November 7, 2012.
  15. ↑ Smith, Matthew (August 8, 2011). "Bolt, G-FORCE, Chicken Little and Meet the Robinsons 3D Blu-rays". Blu-ray.com. Retrieved October 12, 2011.
  16. ↑ Buena Vista Games (October 18, 2005). "One Little Chicken, One Big Video Game Adventure!; Disney's Chicken Little Video Games Inspired by Walt Disney Feature Animation's First Fully Computer Animated Motion Picture Hatches on Store Shelves". Business Wire. Retrieved January 1, 2014.
  17. ↑ "Square Enix and Disney's Buena Vista Games Unveil All-Star Voice Cast for Kingdom Hearts II". Square Enix via PR Newswire. March 28, 2006. Retrieved November 2, 2011.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 "Disney's Chicken Little for PC". GameRankings. Retrieved July 27, 2014.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 "Disney's Chicken Little for Game Boy Advance". GameRankings. Retrieved July 27, 2014.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 "Disney's Chicken Little for GameCube". GameRankings. Retrieved July 27, 2014.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 "Disney's Chicken Little for Xbox". GameRankings. Retrieved July 27, 2014.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 "Disney's Chicken Little for PlayStation 2". GameRankings. Retrieved July 27, 2014.
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 "Disney's Chicken Little for PC Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved July 27, 2014.
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 "Disney's Chicken Little for Game Boy Advance Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved July 27, 2014.
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 "Disney's Chicken Little for Xbox Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved July 27, 2014.
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 "Disney's Chicken Little for GameCube Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved July 27, 2014.
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 "Disney's Chicken Little for PlayStation 2 Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved July 27, 2014.
  28. ↑ Mason, Lisa (November 2005). "Chicken Little". Game Informer (151): 149.
  29. ↑ Chapman, David (October 28, 2005). "GameSpy: Chicken Little". GameSpy. Retrieved July 28, 2014.
  30. ↑ Hollingshead, Anise (October 26, 2005). "Chicken Little - GBA - Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on January 22, 2009. Retrieved July 28, 2014.
  31. ↑ Bedigian, Louis (October 12, 2005). "Chicken Little - PS2 - Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on December 30, 2008. Retrieved July 28, 2014.
  32. ↑ Bozon, Mark (January 12, 2006). "Chicken Little Review (GBA)". IGN. Retrieved July 27, 2014.
  33. ↑ Castro, Juan (November 4, 2005). "Disney's Chicken Little (GCN, Xbox)". IGN. Archived from the original on June 13, 2007. Retrieved July 27, 2014.
  34. ↑ Castro, Juan (November 4, 2005). "Disney's Chicken Little (PS2)". IGN. Retrieved July 27, 2014.
  35. ↑ "Disney's Chicken Little (GC)". Nintendo Power 199: 114. December 2005.
  36. ↑ "Disney's Chicken Little". Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine: 100. January 2006.
  37. ↑ "Disney's Chicken Little". Official Xbox Magazine. December 2005.
  38. ↑ Jastrzab, Jeremy (December 16, 2005). "Chicken Little Review - PlayStation 2 Review". PALGN. Archived from the original on January 17, 2008. Retrieved July 28, 2014.
  39. ↑ "Disney's Chicken Little". PC Gamer: 102. March 2006.
  40. ↑ Marriott, Scott Alan (December 5, 2005). "Disney's Chicken Little Review (Xbox)". X-Play. Archived from the original on December 24, 2005. Retrieved July 28, 2014.
  41. ↑ Kendall, Nigel (February 4, 2006). "Chicken Little". The Times. Archived from the original on September 29, 2006. Retrieved July 27, 2014.(subscription required)
  42. ↑ 42.0 42.1 "Disney's Chicken Little: Ace in Action for PlayStation 2". GameRankings. Retrieved July 28, 2014.
  43. ↑ 43.0 43.1 "Disney's Chicken Little: Ace in Action for Wii". GameRankings. Retrieved July 28, 2014.
  44. ↑ 44.0 44.1 "Disney's Chicken Little: Ace in Action for DS". GameRankings. Retrieved July 28, 2014.
  45. ↑ 45.0 45.1 "Disney's Chicken Little: Ace in Action for Wii Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved July 28, 2014.
  46. ↑ 46.0 46.1 "Disney's Chicken Little: Ace in Action for PlayStation 2 Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved July 28, 2014.
  47. ↑ 47.0 47.1 "Disney's Chicken Little: Ace in Action for DS Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved July 28, 2014.
  48. ↑ Whitehead, Dan (December 5, 2006). "Chicken Little: Ace in Action (PS2)". Eurogamer. Retrieved July 28, 2014.
  49. ↑ Miller, Matt (January 2007). "Chicken Little: Ace in Action (Wii)". Game Informer (165): 104. Archived from the original on September 25, 2008. Retrieved July 28, 2014.
  50. ↑ Platt, Dylan (December 8, 2006). "Disney's Chicken Little: Ace in Action Review - PlayStation 2". GameZone. Archived from the original on December 30, 2008. Retrieved July 28, 2014.
  51. ↑ Bedigian, Louis (January 2, 2007). "Disney's Chicken Little: Ace in Action - WII - Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on February 2, 2009. Retrieved July 28, 2014.
  52. ↑ Bedigian, Louis (November 27, 2006). "Disney's Chicken Little: Ace in Action Review - Nintendo DS". GameZone. Archived from the original on May 14, 2008. Retrieved July 28, 2014.
  53. ↑ Bozon, Mark (December 18, 2006). "Chicken Little: Ace in Action Review (Wii)". IGN. Retrieved July 28, 2014.
  54. ↑ Bozon, Mark (December 20, 2006). "Chicken Little: Ace in Action Review (PS2)". IGN. Retrieved July 28, 2014.
  55. ↑ Adams, Chris (November 22, 2006). "Chicken Little: Ace in Action Review (NDS)". IGN. Retrieved July 28, 2014.
  56. ↑ "Disney's Chicken Little: Ace in Action (Wii)". Nintendo Power 213: 94. February 2007.
  57. ↑ "Disney's Chicken Little: Ace in Action (DS)". Nintendo Power 211: 110. December 2006.
  58. ↑ "Disney's Chicken Little: Ace in Action". Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine: 89. January 2007.
  59. ↑ Larsen, Phil (February 7, 2007). "Disney's Chicken Little: Ace in Action Review - PlayStation 2 Review". PALGN. Archived from the original on September 8, 2007. Retrieved July 28, 2014.
  60. ↑ Van Leuveren, Luke (October 14, 2007). "Disney's Chicken Little: Ace in Action Review - Kids Review (Wii)". PALGN. Archived from the original on January 17, 2008. Retrieved July 28, 2014.
  61. ↑ Orry, Tom (January 30, 2007). "Disney's Chicken Little: Ace in Action Review for DS". VideoGamer.com. Retrieved July 28, 2014.
  62. ↑ Bemis, Greg (March 1, 2007). "Chicken Little: Ace in Action (DS)". X-Play. Archived from the original on March 4, 2007. Retrieved July 28, 2014.
  63. ↑ 63.0 63.1 Hill, Jim (June 20, 2007). "Say "So Long !" to direct-to-video sequels : DisneyToon Studios tunes out Sharon Morrill". Jim Hill Media. Retrieved February 7, 2015.

External links