Jump to content

Chicken Little (2005 film)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 97.122.208.46 (talk) at 01:50, 1 May 2009. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Chicken Little
Promotional Poster for Chicken Little
Directed byMark Dindal
Written bySteve Bencich
Ron J. Friedman
Produced byRandy Fullmer
StarringZach Braff
Garry Marshall
Joan Cusack
Steve Zahn
Don Knotts
Patrick Stewart
Music byJohn Debney
Distributed byWalt Disney Pictures
Release dates
United States, Canada:
November 4, 2005
Running time
81 minutes
LanguageEnglish
Budget$60,000,000
Box office$314,432,687

Chicken Little is a 2005 CGI family film, and the 46th animated feature produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation. It is the first full CGI film distributed by Disney that was not created by Pixar. It was written by Mark Dindal and Mark Kennedy with the screenplay by Steve Bencich, Ron J. Friedman, and Ron Anderson, and was directed by Mark Dindal. The film was animated in-house at WDFA's main headquarters in Burbank, California, and released by Walt Disney Pictures and Buena Vista Distribution on November 4, 2005. It inspired two video games, one directly based on the movie, the other, Chicken Little: Ace in Action, based on the inaccurate "movie-within-the-movie" depicting Little as a buff action hero.

This was Disney's first fully computer animated film, as Pixar's films were distributed but not produced by Disney, and Dinosaur was a combination of live-action and computer animation. The film was also Disney's first animated film to receive a DVD-only release, as most Hollywood studios had phased out the VHS format in 2006.

It premiered on the U.S. version of the Disney Channel on February 8, 2008, as part of "Phineas and Ferb-ruary."

Plot

The film is inspired by the fable The Sky is Falling (also known as Chicken Licken, Henny Penny (By Samual Crompton), or Chicken Little). In the small suburban town of Oakey Oaks, Chicken Little (Zach Braff) rings the school bell and cries for everyone to "run for your lives!" This sends the whole town into a frenzied panic that causes so much havoc that it destroys a small part of the town; eventually they calm down enough to ask him what's wrong, and Chicken Little 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. He's unable to find the piece now. His father, Buck Cluck (Garry Marshall), ashamedly assumes that this "piece of sky" was just an acorn that had fallen off the tree and had hit him on the head. Chicken Little becomes the laughing stock of the town.

A year later, Little has become infamous in the town for being crazy, which has led to people avoiding him because of his supposed insanity, his only friends are outcasts like himself: Abby Mallard (Joan Cusack), who is called "Ugly Duckling" (who has a crush on Chicken Little); Runt of the Litter (Steve Zahn), who is extremely large despite being the smallest in the family; and Fish out of Water (Dan Molina), who wears a helmet full of water and does not speak, except in gurgles. All have been mocked and teased by neighborhood bully Foxy Loxy (Amy Sedaris) and her friend Goosey Loosey (Mark Walton).

While on the way to High School, he misses to bus and tries to get to school by sticking a lolipos to a car. He manages to go to school, but loses his pants in the process.He replaces his pants with an origami pants made from his math homework

During a dodgeball game, Abby tells Little to talk to his dad, when Little wants his dad to be proud of him. To help Little, Abby hands Little magazines about talking to your parents. Soon after, Abby is hit with a dodgeball thrown by Foxy Loxy. Little, fed up with being bullied, tries to stand up to Foxy. Goosey Loosey grabs Little, and flings him into a window. Little accidentally pulls the fire alarm while sliding down the window. The sprinkler system goes off and his paper pants fall off. He gets in trouble with the principal, and his father is more ashamed than ever.

Chicken Little joins his school's Little League baseball team in an attempt to recover his reputation and his father's pride, but is unfairly made last, while Foxy Loxy impresses spectators and the newspapers with her pitches and "miracle catches"—until the ninth inning of the last game. Chicken Little is reluctantly called to bat by the coach, who tells him not to swing as he's certain that if Chicken Little tries to swing, he'll lose the game for them. Little scores an inside-the-park home run, and is hailed as a hero.

But that night back at home, while celebrating his victory by singing "We Are The Champions" in his own style, and his father's praise, he is hit on the head—by what appears to be a hexagon shaped chunk of the sky—only to find out that it is not a piece of the sky, but something else. It is a device which has chameleonic characteristics—it's not invisible, but it 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 back up into the sky, taking Fish with it. It turns out to be part of the camouflage of an invisible alien spacecraft. They chase the flying ship until it lands; they go inside, encounter a small orange alien, find Fish, and are about to escape when two aliens in robotic suits spot them. A chase ensues that goes outside the ship and into town (the orange alien still following in secret). Little manages to ring the bell to warn everyone, but the aliens see the crowds coming and manage to escape, leaving the orange one behind. No one believes the story of an alien invasion; Little is ridiculed all over again, and everything seems to be going down the tubes for him, 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 staged to "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)".

The invasion is actually a misunderstanding, as two aliens (who are red and yellow making their child orange) are looking for their lost child (whose name is Kirby) and attack only out of concern. It's not an invasion, it's a rescue mission. As the aliens rampage throughout Oakey Oaks, vaporizing people and objects (among them Foxy Loxy and the mayor) seemingly at random, Little realizes he must return Kirby to his parents to save the planet. At first he tries to do it covertly but once the aliens attack, he's forced to confront his father and regain his trust first. They share a caring moment in a movie theater until Abby interrupts them and requests that they hurry up. Little and Cluck are seen leaving the theater, but before leaving, Chicken Little straightforwardly admits his romantic feelings for Abby and kisses her.

In the invasion, Buck Cluck, now regaining his pride and trust in Little, defends him from the aliens, even going as far as deflecting an incoming vaporizer ray with a garbage can lid, throwing the lid at the creatures, and punching them away at the top of town hall. Abby, Runt and Fish also aid Chicken Little in his quest to return Kirby to his parents. It is then discovered that the aliens weren't vaporizing people, the ray guns teleported them aboard a spaceship. Afterwards, the aliens return everything to normal (though Foxy Loxy's mind was slightly scrambled after she was restored, making her more girly and kind), and Hollywood makes a heavily dramatized film about Chicken Little. At the end of the movie, Little and Abby are seen secretly holding hands in their popcorn bucket, and everyone cheers for Chicken Little's efforts to save the town.

Characters

  • Chicken Little: A young rooster who suffers under a reputation for being crazy since he caused a panic saying the sky was falling. He makes up for his small size by being extremely creative, for example, using a roller blind to get into his high locker. Little is constantly trying to impress his Dad. Voiced by Zach Braff.
  • Abby Mallard (aka the Ugly Duckling): A female duck (implied swan) with buckteeth, and wearing a purple shirt and some hairbands. A slight speech impediment and a long, asymmetrical face earned her an unfortunate nickname from the less polite children. She is accustomed to being teased for her appearance, and takes a generally optimistic approach to life. She is Chicken Little's best friend and harbors a secret crush on him. Voiced by Joan Cusack.
  • Fish Out of Water: A goldfish who wears a scuba helmet filled with water and lives on the surface. He is unable to speak properly, instead making gurgling sounds and acting out what he feels. He isn't very shy around others and he will perform brave stunts without fear. The character is similar to Kenny McCormick from South Park, with his muffled voice and orange color. He is, however, somewhat easily distracted. Voiced by Dan Molina.
  • Runt of the Litter: A pig, Runt is much larger than the other children, but is far smaller than the other massive members of his family. Runt is easily frightened and prone to panic, but keeps himself calm through 70's music: Stayin' Alive by the Bee Gees, Barbra Streisand, It's Too Late by Carole King, and I Will Survive by Gloria Gaynor. Voiced by Steve Zahn.
  • Foxy Loxy: A vixen who is a baseball star and the "home town hero", she is a tomboy and one of the "popular kids" at school. She bullies Little throughout the movie for causing the panic at the beginning of the film. Her mind is altered during the alien attack, turning her into a much nicer Southern belle, and she is later seen in a romantic relationship with Runt. Voiced by Amy Sedaris.
  • Goosey Loosey: A goose, and Foxy Loxy's best friend. Usually helps Foxy Loxy do her bullying. She speaks in quacks, honks and squawks. She usually teases Chicken Little, but becomes his friend when he wins the baseball game. Voiced by Mark Walton.
  • Buck "Ace" Cluck: Chicken Little's widowed father, a former high school baseball star who has a hard time coming to terms with what it means being a good parent. Most of the time he tries instead to apologize for his son's behavior and encourage him to keep a low profile. Voiced by Garry Marshall.
  • Turkey Lurkey: The city mayor. Sensible but not very intelligent. Voiced by the late Don Knotts.
  • Kirby: A lost alien child whose parents, out of concern, trigger an alien invasion (which turned out to be a search party). In the end, he is returned to his family. Voiced by Sean Elmore, Matthew Michael Joston, and Evan Dunn.
  • Melvin: Kirby's father and Tina's husband. He is the character that triggers an alien invasion and at the end is reunited with his son. Voiced by Fred Willard.
  • Tina: Kirby's mother and Melvin's wife. She and Melvin land on Earth once a year on the way to her parents, but when Kirby went missing, Melvin triggered an invasion to retrieve their son. She is never named on-screen. Voiced by Catherine O'Hara.
  • Morkupine Porcupine: One of the cool kids. His only lines in the film are "Yo." "No." and "Whoa." He also always wears sunglasses. Voiced by Mark Dindal.
  • Mr. Woolensworth: A sheep teacher to the class. Voiced by Patrick Stewart.
  • Chloe: Buck "Ace" Cluck's wife and Chicken Little's mother. She is deceased, but a family photo showing her is briefly seen.

Cast

Additional Voices included Brad Abrell, Tom Amundsen, Steve Bencich, Greg Berg, Julianne Buescher, David Cowgill, Terri Douglas, Chris Edgerly, Amanda Fein, Caitlin Fein, Patrick Fraley, Eddie Frierson, Jackie Gonneau, Archie Hahn, Jason Harris, Brittney Lee Harvey, Brian Herskowitz, Amanda Kaplan, Nathan Kress, Anne Lockhart, Connor Matheus, Mona Marshall, Scott Menville, Rene Mujica, Jonathan Nichols, Paul Pape, Aaron Spann, and Pepper Sweeney.

In the Australian version of the film, Buck Cluck is voiced by an Australian, Mark Mitchell, who used an American accent.[citation needed] Although seen in Australian cinemas, Mitchell's voice work is not featured on the Region 4 DVD release. Charlene Choi provided the voice of Abby Mallard in the Cantonese version of the film.[citation needed]

Crew

Crew Position
Directed by Mark Dindal
Produced by Randy Fullmer
Original Story by Mark Dindal
Mark Kennedy
Screenplay by Steve Bencich
Ron J. Friedman
Ron Anderson
Original Score by John Debney
Associate Producer Peter Del Vecho
Production Designer
Designer		 David Womersley
Mac George
Art Driector
Co-Art Director		 Ian Gooding
Dan Cooper
Film Editor Dan Molina
Visual Effects Supervisor Steve Goldberg
Computer Graphics Supervisor Kevin Geiger
Kyle Odermatt
Technical Supervisor Eric Powers
Story Supervisor
Animation Supervisor
Layout Supervisor
Effects Supervisor		 Mark Kennedy
Eamonn Butler
Terry Moews
Dale Mayeda
Supervising Animator Jason Ryan (Chicken Little)
Nik Ranieri (Buck Cluck)
Dick Zondag (Mayor Turkey Lurkey & Aliens)
Mark Anthony Austin (Foxy Loxy & Goosey Loosey)
Doug Bennett (Runt of the Litter & Fish out of Water)
Tony Smeed (Abby Mallard)
Character Design Mark Dindal
Joe Mosier
Tom Ellery
Don Hall
Jeffrey R. Ranjo
Production Manager Paul Lanum

Production

New software and hardware tools were introduced for the production of the movie:[citation needed]

  • "Chicken Wire", a geometric wire frame model of the characters that the animators can stretch and squeeze as they please.
  • "Shelf Control", which makes it possible to see the whole model on the screen while having a direct access to any chosen area of the character.
  • New electronic tablet screens that allow the artists to draw digital sketches of the characters to rough out their movements, which is then transferred to the 3D characters.

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 movie 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 CG films without aid from Pixar. Discussions to renew the deal in 2005 were held off until both sides could assess 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 USD. (Note that Pixar had roughly $1 Billion in cash, making the effective cost closer to $6.4 Billion.) The purchase was completed on May 5, 2006.

Soundtrack

Main article: Chicken Little (soundtrack)

Reception

The movie has a "rotten" 37% at Rotten Tomatoes. Overall, critical reception to the film was mediocre at best, with critics such as A.O. Scott, Richard Roeper, and many others panning the movie's narrative weakness.[citation needed]

In its opening weekend, Chicken Little debuted at number one, the first Disney animated film to do so since Tarzan (1999), taking $40 million and tying with The Lion King (1994) as the largest opener for a Disney animated film (not including Pixar's films). It also managed to claim the number one spot again in its second week of release, earning $31.7 million, beating Columbia Pictures' sci-fi/family flop, Zathura. A drop of only 20 percent on the second week brought its two week total to $80.4 million. In the end Chicken Little grossed $135,386,665 in North America alone. This reversed a 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), the former credited for destroying Disney's animation department, despite much higher critical reviews than Chicken Little.[citation needed]

The movie was also released in Disney Digital 3D format along with the 2D version. Unlike many recent 3D movies which only show selected segments in 3D, the entire length of Chicken Little, including the credits, is presented in 3D. The 3D version did quite well in the 79 theaters (84 screens) that showed the film.[citation needed]

References

See also

External links

Preceded by Box office number-one films of 2005 (USA)
November 6 - November 13 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Box office number-one films of 2006 (UK)
February 12 - February 19 		Succeeded by
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chicken_Little_(2005_film)&oldid=287167301"