TheMovieStory

Chicken Little (2005) is a computer-generated imagery (CGI) animated film and the forty-fifth animated feature made and produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures and Buena Vista Distribution on November 4, 2005. It was written by Mark Dindal and Mark Kennedy with the screenplay by Steve Bencich, Ron J. Friedman, and Ron Anderson and directed by Mark Dindal. The film was animated in-house at WDFA’s main headquarters in Burbank, California. 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 all-CGI picture as Pixar’s films were distributed but not produced by Disney, and Dinosaur was a combination of live-action and computer animation.This was Disney’s first animated film not to be released on VHS.It made its world television premiere on Disney Channel on February 8, 2008, part of “Phineas and Ferb-ruary”

Plot

The film is inspired on the fable Chicken Little, otherwise known as The Sky is Falling. In the small suburban town of Oakey Oaks, Chicken Little 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, 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 famous 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, who is called “Ugly Duckling” (who has a crush on Chicken Little); Runt of the Litter, who is extremely large despite being the smallest in his family; and Fish out of Water, who wears a helmet full of water and does not speak. All have been mocked and teased by neighborhood bully Foxy Loxy and her friend Goosey Loosey.

During a dodgeball game (the coach pits the popular vs. the unpopular), Abby tells Little to talk to his dad, when Little wants his dad to be proud. While Little, Abby and Fish are dodging, Runt is getting hit by every ball thrown at him. To help Chicken, Abby hands Little magazines about talking to your parents, but he hands them to Fish, who immediately starts ripping pages out of each one, making a miniature building and airplanes. Fish then proceeds to pull a King Kong impersonation. Foxy and Goosey bully Little and Friends soon after.

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 when Chicken Little, 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, scores an inside-the-park home run after two strikes.

But that night back at home, while celebrating his victory by singing “We Are The Champions” by Queen in his own style, and his father’s praise, he is hit on the head - by what appears to be a chunk of the sky shaped like a stop sign - only (after narrowly avoiding telling his father about it) to find out that it is not a piece of the sky, but something else. It 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). Meanwhile his friends are singing karaoke to the Spice Girls‘ “Wannabe“, until Little calls them over to help figure out what it is.

When Fish pushes a button on the back of the octagon, 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.

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, vapourising 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. Abby interrupts them and requests that they hurry up. Little and Cluck are seen leaving the theater, but before leaving, Chicken Little admits his romantic feelings for Abby and kisses her.

In the invasion, Buck Cluck, now regaining his pride and trust in Little, defends Little from the aliens, even going as far as deflecting an incoming vaporiser 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 vaporising 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. The actor portraying Little is a handsome, muscular rooster while Abby is an attractive looking goose. Runt is a brutish hog with horns who dies a heroic death while fighting the aliens and the actor who plays Fish looks exactly the same in the same but is able to converse in English. 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 proper English, 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. 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 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 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 the character that triggers an alien invasion and at the end is reunited with his son. Voiced by Fred Willard.
• Morkupine Porcupine: One of the cool kids. He only says “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.

Crew

Box office

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 did quite well in the 79 theaters (84 screens) that showed the film.

The DVD was released on March 21, 2006 and was without a VHS.

Trivia

• The role of Turkey Lurkey in this film is Don Knotts’s second to last movie role before he died in 2006, before the DVD version of this film was released. Air Buddies was his last movie.
• The fifth feature Disney film ever to consist of no humans (or at least, visible humans) whatsoever, and the first to do so since 1994’s The Lion King.
• In the Italian version, Mayor Turkey Lurkey is voiced by Walter Veltroni, a famous political leader and currently Mayor of the city of Rome. In the German version, he was voiced by Munich’s mayor Christian Ude, in Austria by former mayor of Vienna Helmut Zilk.^{[citation needed]}
• In the Latin American version (except Argentina and Brazil) , singer Kalimba Marichal is the voice of Chicken Little. He has done dubbing many times before.
• Originally, Chicken Little was supposed to be a girl, voiced by Holly Hunter (voice of Elastigirl from The Incredibles), but the character was switched to a boy, voiced by Zach Braff.^{[citation needed]}
• Fish Out of Water’s dialogue was recorded from editor Dan Molina blowing through a hose into a 5 gallon water barrel.^{[citation needed]}
• In the beginning when Buck trying to decide on an opening, the storybook opening was actually an alternate opening.^{[citation needed]}
• As major studios continue to phase out VHS, this was the first film in the Disney animated features canon and the first computer-animated Disney film to only be released on DVD.
• In the trailer for this movie, Chicken Little was dancing to a sped up version of O-Zone’s hit song “Dragostea din tei,” in what is possibly a parody of the Numa Numa dance.
• Chicken Little makes an appearance in the popular PlayStation 2 game, Kingdom Hearts II, in the form of a summon (armed with baseballs) that the player can call upon for aid during battle.
• Also Chicken Little, Abby Mallard, Fish Out of Water, Runt of the Litter, Kirby, and Foxy Loxy appear in Disneyland’s Sleeping Beauty Castle Mystery Tour.
• The scene where Runt of the Litter tries to put in the dollar for a soda may be a reference to the 1995 Super Bowl commercial where a guy tries to get a Pepsi machine to accept his dollar. When it finally accepts it, the dollar goes back out.
• In the opening scenes of the movie, the movie parodies a scene from Indiana Jones Raiders of the Lost Ark as the town’s ball-shaped water tower (named Oakley Oaks) crashes through a theater screen just as it is showing the boulder scene closeup from that movie.
• When the water tower ball rolls through town it smashes three cars. Their horn noises as they are smashed play the five notes of “m-o-u-s-e” from the Mickey Mouse Club theme song.
• The Acorn as seen on the exterior of Buck Cluck’s laptop is a parody of the Apple Inc. logo.
• When Chicken Little kissed Abby Mallard, she “popped” her left foot; a possible reference to Princess Diaries, although it might also be borrowed from a scene in 1952’s The Quiet Man.
• In various scenes, Morkubine Porcupine only says three rhyming words in total: “Yo”, “No” and “Whoa”. The character was voiced by Mark Dindal, the film’s director.
• References to other scifi movies:
  • The alien’s tripod resembles that of War of the Worlds.
  • The aliens create a crop circle, a reference to Signs.
  • The DVD cover shows Chicken Little wearing sunglasses and sitting in a broken egg shell. This is an obvious reference to Men in Black.
  • The spaceship interior imitates the spaceship corridor in The Day the Earth Stood Still.
  • Runt’s rambling about Fish being host to the aliens’ “face-hugging embryo babies” is a nod to the movie Alien.
• Towards the end of the movie, the alien’s father mentions the numbers ‘90210′, a reference to the show of the same name.
• There are two actors named Patrick in this movie.
• Recurring hexagon theme:
  • The piece of the sky that falls on Chicken Little is said to be “shaped like a stop sign”, but it’s really a hexagon.
  • There is chicken wire over the windows in Chicken Little’s house, another hex pattern.
  • Another hexagon pattern runs along the upstairs staircase in Chicken Little’s house.
  • The quilt on Chicken Little’s bed when he is celebrating after the big game with his dad is made up of hexagons.
  • When the spaceships decloak and separate to “invade” Earth, all of them form an interlocking pattern of hexagons.
  • The floor pattern in the spaceship where they are trying to rescue Fish Out Of Water is made up of hexagons.

  Voice Cast

• Zach Braff …. Chicken Little
• Garry Marshall …. Buck “Ace” Cluck
• Joan Cusack …. Abby Mallard
• Steve Zahn …. Master Runt Of The Litter
• Don Knotts …. Mayor Turkey Lurkey
• Dan Molina …. Fish Out Of Water
• Harry Shearer …. Dog Announcer
• Wallace Shawn …. Principal Fetchit
• Patrick Stewart …. Mr. Woolensworth
• Sean Elmore …. Kirby - Alien Kid
• Evan Dunn …. Kirby - Alien Kid (voice)
• Matthew Michael Josten …. Kirby - Alien Kid (as Matthew Josten)
• Amy Sedaris …. Foxy Loxy (aka: Diana Fiana)
• Mark Walton …. Goosey Loosey
• Adam West …. Ace - Hollywood Chicken Little
• Mark Dindal …. Morkupine Porcupine/Coach
• Joe Whyte …. Rodriguez/Acorn Mascot/Umpire
• Fred Willard …. Melvin - Alien Dad
• Catherine O’Hara …. Tina - Alien Mom
• Patrick Warburton …. Alien Cop
• Dara McGarry …. Hollywood Abby
• Will Finn …. Hollywood Fish
• Mark Kennedy …. Hollywood Runt
• Kelly Hoover …. Mama Runt
• Additional Voices by 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, 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.