Everyone knows the story of Chicken Little, the paranoid hen who spreads mass hysteria when an acorn drops on her head and she mistakenly declares that the sky is falling.
What you didn't know is that he (yes, he) is also a geeky, misunderstood kid inventor who later hits the winning home run in a local baseball game to redeem himself. Of course, the town also soon finds out that Chicken Little (Zach Braff) was never wrong about the sky falling. So what refreshingly original, cleverly unique explanation does the film offer for this bizarre phenomenon? That's right: aliens.
"Chicken Little" is Disney's first solo CGI film (and, apparently, their first attempt at imitating bad sci-fi B-movies). All of the other wildly successful CGI movies that they've released - from 1995's "Toy Story" to 2003's "Finding Nemo" and 2004's "The Incredibles" - were actually made by Pixar, the brilliant animation firm whose contract with Disney ends after the release of "Cars" next year.
Michael Eisner, the former Disney CEO who declared hand-drawn animation dead by closing the last 2D studio last summer, believed that the post-Pixar Disney could ride its own fame down the 3D path. But as Danielle Feinberg, a lead Pixar lighting artist, told an audience of mostly Tufts computer science students in Halligan Hall several times on Oct. 27: "At Pixar, story is everything." Too bad Disney didn't take a page from its former partner's playbook.
Instead, Disney seems to be trying to steal what has worked in every successful CGI film released in the last five years without much additional thought. The reason we feel like we've seen "Chicken Little" before is because we have.
First there's the strained relationship between Chicken Little and his single father: extremely similar to that between Nemo and Marlin in "Finding Nemo," except parents won't identify as much with the unsupportive rooster father as they did with the overprotective Marlin. Then there's the wiggly abandoned alien baby who makes sickeningly cute noises and creates mischief just like the beloved toddler Boo in 2001's "Monster's Inc."
Chicken Little himself bears an extraordinary resemblance to the boy genius inventor Jimmy Neutron, whose successful 2001 movie from Paramount also centered on foiling an alien invasion. Even the easily excitable porcine supporting character (Steve Zahn) is a carbon copy of the David Schwimmer voiced giraffe in "Madagascar" (2005). At least the film doesn't forget the pop culture references that have become hallmarks of 3D animation. First introduced by DreamWorks and Pixar films in the '90s, Disney has picked up on the pop culture references, but in an unfortunately heavy-handed fashion.
Yes, a giant bowling ball rock is rolling after Ducky-Lucky and Goosey-Loosey just like the one chasing Indy in "Raiders of the Lost Ark" (1981) - a great allusion by itself - but then, thanks to the 3D animation, it appears to roll right through the screen of a movie theater, literally rubbing our noses in the reference.
If there's any area where "Chicken Little" succeeds, it's the soundtrack; every other scene featured a classic oldie either playing in the background or being sung karaoke-style by a character. With selections ranging from "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" to "We Are The Champions," not to mention "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" and "I Will Survive," the music doesn't win at originality but definitely ups the film's likeability.
Kids will have a good time at "Chicken Little" (when do they not?), as will some adults in touch with their inner child. Yet an hour after you exit the theater, you won't even remember what "Chicken Little" was
