BACKGROUND
After the disappointing releases of Treasure Planet in 2002, Brother Bear in 2003, and Home on the Range in 2004, Disney Animation decide to do away with their traditional, 2D hand-drawn animation style and launch headfirst into the world of computer-animation with their first fully computer-animated movie, Chicken Little, which was released in 2005.
Despite the technological advancement, and the fact that Disney’s competitors, such as Pixar and DreamWorks, had had huge success with this style for numerous years by this point, for Disney, it did not go well.
Not many people think much of Chicken Little, saying that it was not a good introduction to CG animation for Disney. I’ll admit that it does look strange, almost like you’re watching the half-finished computer simulation of a movie, and that it doesn’t feel very “Disney”, but I actually quite like Chicken Little. I think it’s a very funny film and I enjoy the music, so I can easily get past things not looking “quite right” and focus on the plot, which has a mixture of comedic, exciting, and emotional moments.
Chicken Little did not signal the start of a new successful wave of animated movies for the Disney Studios, as Meet the Robinsons (2007) and Bolt (2008), the next two movie releases in this same medium, would also fall a bit flat, especially in comparison to Pixar. But by 2010, with the release of Tangled, a film that did incredibly well, Disney seemed to show that they were fully at home with CG, with their following movies continuing to be notable.
But back to Chicken Little.
PLOT
Disney’s Chicken Little is loosely based on the original story of the same name, though “Henny Penny” is another name for it, especially in Europe. Where the first version of the story came from is unclear, however, the first person to record the story was a Danish scholar called Just Mathias Thiele, who began collecting Danish folktales, and published his first collection of tales in 1818. “Henny Penny” first appeared in his 1823 collection.
As Thiele’s version of the story was not translated into English until 1853, English speakers and readers would’ve been familiar with American illustrator John Green Chandler’s version instead, which he published as a pamphlet titled “The Remarkable Story of Chicken Little” in 1840. Chandler’s version became widely published and very popular, with the use of the term “chicken little” to describe a scaremonger becoming adopted colloquially in the 19th Century.
The basic plotline follows a small, anxious chicken, called Chicken Little, who believes that the sky is falling, after a “piece of the sky” hits the chicken on its head – it’s actually just an acorn. But Chicken Little is so scared that the world is ending, that it goes to tell all the other animals that he passes by, warning them of the imminent danger. Eventually, Chicken Little and a group of animals, all with rhyming names such as Goosey Loosey and Turkey Lurkey, come to Foxy Loxy, who invites all of them into its den as shelter. Instead of protecting them, Foxy Loxy kills and eats them all…In later versions of the story, this ending would be changed to them finding a king who reassures the animals that only rain falls from the sky, to avoid any chance of childhood trauma[1]!
Disney’s movie begins right at the point where Chicken Little is telling the people of Oakey Oaks that the sky is falling, causing chaos and mayhem across the whole town. Eventually, everyone calms down enough to hear Chicken Little’s story, where he takes them to the scene of the crime. He stands under the big oak tree, saying that a piece of the sky fell and hit him on the head, explaining that it was hexagonal shaped, like a “Stop” sign, but that it was blue and had cloud on it. Everyone is confused, as no such piece is found anywhere near them. Chicken Little’s father, Buck, comes over and says that it was just an acorn that would’ve hit him on the head. Chicken Little is embarrassed that his father doesn’t believe him and tries to explain again, except he’s so flustered that he is incoherent and looks ridiculous in front of the news crews and journalists who have surrounded him.
A year later, Chicken Little and Buck are still humiliated by the incident, with numerous items of merchandise having been made since it happened; they even pass a billboard for a movie detailing the whole event, titled “Crazy Little Chicken the Movie”, as well as bumper stickers, on the drive to the bus stop. Chicken Little vows to make his dad proud and make everyone forget what happened, but Buck is not convinced and tells him to keep his head down instead. Chicken Little is optimistic of the new day, despite various issues getting to school, such as missing the bus; getting stuck in gum on the street; losing his trousers; and having to use a shaken-up soda bottle to get into the school, eventually making it to school and constructing some shorts out of his math homework! But he ends up locked in his locker by a careless janitor and is late to class again.
In “Mutton Class”, we meet Chicken Little’s friends: Abby Mallard, a duck; Runt, a pig who is the “runt of the litter”, despite being huge; and Fish, who is literally a fish out of water, with a scuba helmet on his head full of water so he can breathe! They are teased by popular kids, Foxy Loxy and Goosey Loosey. They then go to gym class, where they are playing dodgeball, popular kids vs. unpopular kids – nice. Chicken Little arrives just in time to help his friends get through the game, with him telling Abby about his plan to do something great to make everyone forget what happened, but Abby tells Chicken Little he needs to talk to his dad so they can both find closure. Chicken Little isn’t so sure. At one point, class is stopped, which allows Foxy and Goosey to bully Chicken Little, throwing him up against the wall, where he slides down on to the fire alarm, setting off the sprinklers, which causes not only his dad to be called to the principal’s office, but also for his paper shorts to disintegrate!
On their way home, Chicken Little tells his dad he’s going to join the baseball team, something that his dad had done during his school years and had done so well for the school that he was given the nickname “Ace”. But as Chicken Little is so small, Buck doesn’t think it’s such a good idea. Chicken Little does it anyway, and though he is constantly benched, his friends train him to be better. During the final championship game, due to multiple injuries in the team, Chicken Little gets the chance to bat. His coach tells him not to swing, so Foxy Loxy can come up to bat afterwards and save the day, but Chicken Little believes he can do it. The first two swings he misses, but surprisingly to everyone watching, including the outfield players who expected an “easy out”, his third swing hits! Chicken Little is so stunned that he forgets to run, before running the wrong way. He sorts himself out and starts running the bases, going for a home run. The outfield fumbles the ball multiple times, before getting it stuck on a bull’s horns, so they pick the bull up and run him to the final base. The two groups collide, spraying mud and dust everywhere, so it looks like Chicken Little was nowhere near the base. But the mud is brushed away and Chicken Little’s toe is just on – the team wins and Chicken Little is the hero!
This goes a long way to helping Chicken Little’s status in Oakey Oaks, and building a relationship with his dad, who has struggled since Chicken Little’s mother, Chloe, died. But as Chicken Little is getting ready for bed, something comes through his window and hits him – it’s a hexagonal bit of sky again! This time, he doesn’t let the piece get away from him, and gets his friends to come over to look at it. They all admit it’s real and strange. Fish gets on top of it, and presses some button, which makes it take off, with him on it. Chicken Little, Abby, and Runt follow the glow stick that Fish was holding all the way to the baseball field, where a spaceship lands. Two tentacled aliens come out of it. The friends go in to rescue Fish. They quickly run off the ship as they find a map of the galaxy, with planets seemingly “crossed off” as though they have been destroyed, with Earth next. The aliens return to the ship to find their alien child missing, and think the friends have taken it, so start to follow them. The friends run to the schoolhouse and ring the bell, alerting the town to another disaster. The aliens see that they will be spotted and get into their ship, taking off quickly. As the townspeople are so slow to follow Chicken Little to the site of the spaceship, they miss it, and he looks crazy again, even though Abby, Fish, and Runt stick up for him.
The next morning, Buck is dealing with calls and hate mail, apologising to everyone for his son’s mistake. Chicken Little is upset, and meets up with his friends, where Abby reiterates that him and his dad really need to talk more. Suddenly, a little three-eyed orange alien comes out of nowhere, freaking everyone out! Fish talks to it, where they learn he is called Kirby and that his parents left him and he’s lost. Then, the sky really does start to fall, as a whole galactic armada of aliens come to Oakey Oaks and invade the town, destroying buildings and vaporising the townsfolk. Chicken Little realises that this is a rescue mission for Kirby and tries to return him to his parents. At the same time, Buck comes to get Chicken Little so they can escape, admitting that he was right about the sky falling. Chicken Little tries to explain the situation but he won’t listen, and they end up sheltering in a cinema, where Chicken Little finally tells his dad how he’s never there for him and doesn’t trust him. Buck tells Chicken Little he’s sorry for making him feel that way and that he does love him, giving them that “closure moment” that Abby was so desperate for them to have. Chicken Little also tells Abby that he likes her and kisses her, as him and his dad set off to return Kirby. They climb up to the top of Town Hall and try to explain to the aliens what happened, but they believe Kirby was kidnapped, so the two are vaporised.
Inside the ship, a “Wizard of Oz-like” booming voice tells them to return Kirby – they do – and that they will be destroyed, with guns and pointy weapons surrounding them. Kirby tells his father that what the two said was true, with his wife also saying how it was a misunderstanding and to put the guns away and put them down, as well as turn off the “big voice”. Despite the big tentacled suits they wear, they are actually small, fluffy aliens! The aliens return everyone back to Oakey Oaks, and apologise for the confusion. It turns out they come to Oakey Oaks every year, “on the way to the in-laws”, to get the best acorns, with one of the ship’s panels constantly falling off, which explains what happened to Chicken Little a year ago. Buck and Chicken Little discuss what movie they’ll make of him now, with Chicken Little hoping they stay true to the story.
One year later, a new movie is released, but it is not at all true to the real events! Chicken Little is a big, muscly intergalactic hero; Abby is a model-like companion; Fish is a talking tech guy; and Runt is a cool navigator, with the whole thing becoming an intergalactic mission! But everyone at Oakey Oaks is happy, with Chicken Little and Abby now a couple, and Chicken Little and his dad getting on better than ever.
CHARACTERS & CAST
Initially, and throughout most of the movie, I suppose, Chicken Little is a social pariah in the town of Oakey Oaks. People think he’s crazy, so they move away from him in the street, whisper things about him, and generally avoid him whenever they see him; it’s quite upsetting to see. At school, he is bullied, partly for his small stature, and for his infamous “the sky is falling” incident. It’s not an easy life for Chicken Little, yet he tries his best to remain upbeat and positive, saying that “today is a new day” and instead of moping around that life isn’t fair, he comes up with the plan to join the baseball team and works hard at it to try and become the town’s hero instead of the resident oddball. Chicken Little is boosted by his three closest friends: Abby, Runt and Fish; they help keep him optimistic and protect him from other people’s mean comments. After the baseball game win, Chicken Little is proclaimed a winner by the townsfolk, yet when he tries to tell them about the aliens, even with three other witnesses to corroborate his story, he goes back to being the same weirdo they knew before. But again, this doesn’t stop Chicken Little, and even with his father’s disapproval and lack of support, he manages to show the town that he was right, and helps save them all.
Originally, Chicken Little was going to be a girl, and a very anxious one at that. In a deleted opening scene, she was going to be sat in bed, terrified of noises that were going on in the house, to find it was just her dad going downstairs[2]. But Chicken Little became a boy as it was decided that it was more difficult for boys to be small than girls. Chicken Little is meant to be around 12 or 13 years old, but just small for his age, so the animators gave him classic “cute” proportions, like a bigger head and large eyes. To match his age, not his size, Disney were looking for a slightly older voice, with a teenage ring to it, and they settled on actor Zach Braff. Braff made his voice higher-pitched to match the character, so didn’t use his regular voice, but the team loved how fast he could talk, and felt it suited the character of Chicken Little – there are certainly moments when he is rambling super-fast! Zach Braff is best known for his role as J.D. on the television series Scrubs (2001-2010), but more recently, Braff has moved into directing, having directed the 2023 movie A Good Person, starring Florence Pugh and Morgan Freeman.
Chicken Little’s Hollywood “counterpart”, the big muscly hero, “Ace”, who is almost the complete opposite of Chicken Little, with the Hollywood movie of his story clearly having been subject to a lot of artistic and dramatic license, is voiced by actor Adam West, who performed many voice-over roles for animated series, such as in The Fairly OddParents (2001-17), The Simpsons (1989-present), and Kim Possible (2002-07). West also portrayed Batman in the series Batman (1966-1968) and the theatrical film (1966). He died in 2017.
Buck Cluck is Chicken Little’s father, who has been struggling to raise Chicken Little as a single father, since the death of his wife, Chloe. He wants to do what’s best for Chicken Little, but instead of being supportive, to avoid drama with the other Oakey Oaks residents, he plays down Chicken Little’s comments, being the first to tell everyone that the sky didn’t fall on Chicken Little, but just an acorn, embarrassing his son in the process. I think he’s trying to do what’s best for Chicken Little, by telling him that it’s ok to just keep your head down and not say anything controversial, but by doing that, he just makes his son think he doesn’t care about him, or believe anything he says. At times, Buck comes across as dismissive, and even a bit mean, only seemingly wanting to have anything to do with his son again after he wins the baseball game, a sport that Buck had a lot of success in when he was in high school, but being quick to shut down anything Chicken Little says about aliens. But by the end of the movie, they have reconciled, with Chicken Little telling his dad about how he feels, and Buck feeling guilty for making his son think he didn’t love him or care about him, and vowing to do whatever he can to support him – like carrying a lost alien child over to the “mothership” and risk being vaporised and destroyed by them!
Garry Marshall voices Buck, as they felt that Marshall was very good at getting across “angst”, which is perfect for Buck as he is overwhelmed most of the time! Marshall does a good job with this role. Marshall was a screenwriter, actor, and producer, but is perhaps most known for his directing work, having directed the likes of Pretty Woman (1990), Runaway Bride (1999), The Princess Diaries (2001), and its sequel The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (2004). Garry Marshall died in 2016.
Abby Mallard is Chicken Little’s best friend. She is going through those awkward pre-teen years, comparing herself to other people based on her looks, which isn’t helped by bullies calling her “ugly duckling”, though that does suggest to the audience that she will become a beautiful swan later in life. Abby is a very caring and loyal friend, to Chicken Little, as well as Runt and Fish, with them being a little group that don’t care that they aren’t popular. For much of the movie, Abby is concerned by Chicken Little’s difficult relationship with his father, and encourages Chicken Little to find “closure”, something that she keeps reading about in her teenage magazines! Abby later becomes Chicken Little’s girlfriend, as once Chicken Little and his father get “closure” on their problems, he seems to become quite bold and kisses Abby in that most romantic of settings: during an alien invasion. She doesn’t care though and is clearly thrilled. They make a cute couple.
Abby Mallard is voiced by actress Joan Cusack, who the Disney team felt brought a warmth and sincerity to Abby with her voice acting. Cusack is currently the voice of Jessie in the Toy Story franchise (1999-present), but is also known for her roles as Debbie in Addams Family Values (1993); as Ms Mullins in School of Rock (2003); and voiced the part of Mrs. Krum in the Netflix-released Klaus (2019). Jodie Foster, Helen Hunt, and Laura Dern were also considered for the role of Abby[3].
Runt of the Litter and Fish Out of Water are Chicken Little’s other two friends. Runt is actually a very large pig, and towers over everyone else at school, but he is still the “runt” of the litter as his family is even larger! Runt is very anxious a lot of the time, getting easily stressed out over things, like when they go into the alien spaceship and are then chased away by them. Runt is funny though, and likes to sing and perform, having a go at “Wannabe” by The Spice Girls alongside Abby at one of her sleepovers. Fish is a goldfish who has to wear a scuba helmet filled with water so that he can survive on land. Fish can actually walk around using his back fins. Though he does not speak, Abby, Chicken Little and Runt can understand what he’s saying. Fish is quite intelligent and brave, not fearing anything; he isn’t bothered that he ended up on a strange alien spaceship, for example. Fish was brought in and out of the story multiple times during development, but it was decided he would stay as a character to give an uplifting, fun balance to the group. Actor and comedian Steve Zahn voices Runt. Zahn had done voice acting work before, such as voicing Monty the cat in Stuart Little (1999) and Stuart Little 2 (2002). Steve Zahn has also acted in movies and television series, such as Marvin in Daddy Day Care (2003), Tucker in Dallas Buyers Club (2013), and Mark Mossbacher in Season 1 of The White Lotus (2021). Dan Molina, the film editor for Chicken Little, “voices” Fish.
As for the other characters in Chicken Little, there are many more, so I will only mention a few. Actress and comedian Amy Sedaris voices the school’s main bully, Foxy Loxy. Foxy thinks she’s the star of the show, and that anyone who isn’t popular is just a loser. She is the main antagonist to Chicken Little, along with her sidekick Goosey Loosey. Yet at the end of movie, her brain waves become “scrambled” after the aliens put her back in Oakey Oaks after being vaporised. This turns Foxy into an all-singing, all-dancing, sweet girly girl, the complete opposite to her mean, tomboy persona. Sedaris has had a mixture of voice and in-person acting roles, but most recently for Disney, she appeared as Peli Motto in The Book of Boba Fett (2022) and The Mandalorian (2019-2023).
Don Knotts voices the friendly, but easily distracted and not very smart, Mayor Turkey Lurkey in the movie. He was most known for his role as Deputy Sheriff Barney Fife on The Andy Griffith Show back in the 1960s, and had numerous acting roles in the 1970s and 80s.
Some other interesting voice actors who performed in Chicken Little are: Catherine O’Hara, of Home Alone (1990) and Schitt’s Creek (2015-20) fame, voices Tina, the mother of little lost alien Kirby; and Fred Willard, who died in 2020, but acted as Ed Harken in the Anchorman films (2004-13) and as Amy’s father in Everybody Loves Raymond from 2003 to 2005, is Melvin, the father of Kirby, and husband to Tina.
Patrick Stewart has a surprise appearance voicing Mr. Woolensworth, the Mutton teacher at school, and Wallace Shawn, the voice of Rex in the Toy Story franchise (1995-present) voices Principal Fetchit.
MUSIC
The soundtrack on Chicken Little is a bit different to other Disney animated movies, as the majority of the songs are actually popular songs, although some are covers, such as Runt and Foxy Loxy singing Elton John’s “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” during the End Credits, “We Are the Champions” by Queen being sung by Chicken Little after his baseball game, and “Wannabe” by The Spice Girls being performed by Abby and Runt. Other songs that were included in the movie’s soundtrack are R.E.M’s “It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)” being played during the alien invasion, which I think works very well and I particularly like this inclusion; Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive”, being used as motivation for Runt driving during the invasion; Diana Ross’s “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough”, being used at the end of the Hollywood movie – and therefore, the end of the actual movie; and “All I Know” by Five for Fighting, which is an emotionally sad song to mirror Chicken Little’s mood after a difficult car ride home from school with his father, when he doesn’t want Chicken Little to join the baseball team. Another song, only used in the End Credits, is “Shake a Tail Feather”, performed by The Cheetah Girls, who were popular on the Disney Channel at the time of the movie’s release.
For the movie, Patti LaBelle’s song “Stir It Up” was re-recorded with Joss Stone. Patti LaBelle was happy to work with Disney on a song for one of their movies. I really like this song, and I think it’s energetic and boosts the mood when Chicken Little has been benched on his baseball team, but tries hard to train himself up to be better.
The only original song written for Chicken Little is the anthem of the movie, “One Little Slip” by the Barenaked Ladies. This song is used during Chicken Little’s difficult journey to school after missing the bus, with this in-progress sequence being shown to the band to inspire them to write the song. It is uplifting and hopeful, showing Chicken Little’s attitude to life – that he’s just going to keep going, and get everyone to forget about what happened previously. It’s a very good song, I like it a lot, but it is a shame that it is the only original song written for the movie.
The score for Chicken Little was composed by John Debney, who had previously worked on Hocus Pocus (1993), The Emperor’s New Groove (2000), The Princess Diaries (2001) and Snow Dogs (2003) for Disney, but has composed scores for many other movies, including more recently, Marry Me (2022) and Hocus Pocus 2 (2022). The score mixes emotional scenes with the action and science-fiction elements that feature within the plot[4]. I do not remember any specific parts of the score that I like within Chicken Little, unfortunately, but I love “One Little Slip”, “Stir It Up” and “It’s the End of the World as We Know It” – they are my favourite songs in the whole soundtrack, though the Chicken Little soundtrack does not compare to those of many other Disney movies, due to its lack of originality; it’s just not as memorable.
PRODUCTION
This was not the first time that the Disney Studios had adapted the story of “Chicken Little”, as there was a short film released, also titled Chicken Little, in 1943, during World War II, which is more similar to the original folktale than the movie is.
It follows a barnyard community, where Foxy Loxy wants to make everyone do what he says, even though Cocky Locky is the leader around the barnyard. Foxy Loxy decides that Chicken Little, a stupid little chicken, will be the best person to influence. Foxy Loxy throws a bit of fence on Chicken Little’s head, so that he will tell everyone the sky is falling. Cocky Locky quickly debunks it, however, Foxy Loxy then spreads gossip that Cocky Locky has gone crazy, with the message making its way around to everyone. Chicken Little, encouraged by Foxy Loxy, proclaims himself as the new leader and gets everyone to follow him to “the cave” as shelter, which is actually Foxy Loxy’s den. Once they enter the den, all the animals are soon eaten – despite the Narrator telling the audience that’s not how it ended in his book. Foxy Loxy simply says “Don’t believe every thing you read, brother!”.
Legendary Disney animators such as Ward Kimball, Milt Kahl, Ollie Johnston and John Lounsbery worked on the short, with radio actor Frank Graham providing all the characters’ voices, as well as that of the Narrator. This short was clearly meant as an allegory of the war and about the powers of propaganda. In the initial release, Foxy Loxy was even shown to be reading a copy of “Mein Kampf”, Hitler’s manifesto. In later releases, the book’s title was simply changed to “Psychology”[5].
Disney’s 2005 movie of Chicken Little began development in the early 2000s. Director Mark Dindal had just finished working on The Emperor’s New Groove (2000), a challenging movie, with many story changes and difficult relations, when he came up with the concept for Chicken Little, though Dindal’s original idea was very different to the movie that Disney released.
The first idea was that Chicken Little, originally a girl, which is in line with Chandler’s version of the story of “Chicken Little”, would have joined a summer camp, in the hopes of impressing her father, who she had a difficult relationship with. Whilst at the camp, Chicken Little would discover that the camp counsellors were literally wolves in sheep’s clothing, who were trying to fatten up the camp-goers with plans to eat them. Chicken Little would have managed to save the day and win everyone’s approval. However, when this concept was brought to then-Disney CEO Michael Eisner, he stepped in and said that Chicken Little should be a boy, not a girl, as market research had stated that boys were less likely to watch a movie about a girl, whereas girls would watch movies about boys. This does not seem to be a point that bothers Disney any more, given some of their most popular releases of recent times, like Frozen (2013), Tangled (2010), Encanto (2021), have been “about girls”. But Chicken Little being a small boy was also seen to be more interesting to the story than a small girl, as boys have a harder time being short than girls.
In 2003, David Stainton took over from Thomas Schumacher as president of Walt Disney Feature Animation. Stainton hated the early version of Chicken Little, calling it a “trainwreck” and told the team to completely re-work the story. It was also at this point that it was decided that the movie would be shifting from traditional 2D animation to computer-animation, despite their little experience in the medium. Relations between Disney and Pixar were difficult at this time, with their working collaboration due to end in 2006, so it was thought that by making Chicken Little in CG, Disney could prove that they no longer needed Pixar’s involvement and could make computer-animated movies without them[6].
During production on the movie, there was some debate over how to begin the movie, especially as it was uncertain how many people already knew the tale of “Chicken Little”. As a way to provide some background to the movie the viewer was about to watch, the team decided that they could do a storybook opening, as a nod to the original Disney 2D animated fairytale opening sequences, and as a way to quickly tell the audience about Chicken Little and the sky falling on his head. This was just one alternate opening that was cut[7]. The actual opening is a parody on other famous Disney opening scenes, where it begins with a beam of light, magic sparkles and the clichéd “Once Upon A Time”, before showing a clip of The Lion King’s (1994) opening sequence, and then seeming to go for a traditional storybook opening. But Buck, Chicken Little’s father, who is “narrating”, hates that idea, and decides we should go straight to the day “things took a turn for the worse”, taking us right into the action. I love this version of the opening; I think it’s really clever and funny.
Not everyone at Disney Animation had any experience of using 3D animation at this time, so much training was needed to get everyone up to speed on the new style. They did find, though, that there were opportunities to draw on screens at some points, making it more similar to what the animators had been used to. They found that with the computer-generated character models, because they were like digital puppets, with lots of movements and joints, the animators could control each area and make their movements more subtle and detailed than is generally possible in 2D animation. The team said that Walt Disney loved new technology and he would’ve embraced this new medium[8].
To add further complication to the process, eleven months before Chicken Little’s release date, it was decided that the movie would be released in some theatres in 3D, technology that hadn’t even existed when the film first went into production, and something that had not had enough time to yet prove its popularity with audiences, with some 3D releases around this time having received mixed reviews.
RECEPTION
Chicken Little premiered in 3D at 84 theatres around the United States. The release of The Polar Express in Christmas 2004 showed that audiences would go to see films in 3D, so Disney thought they should try it, though it was a bit of a leap of faith. Disney deployed 84 state-of-the-art REAL D projection screens for these screenings, and even assigned an engineer to each 3D screen for the opening weekend of Chicken Little[9].
To promote Chicken Little’s release, two inflatables of a giant Chicken Little head appeared at both Disney’s MGM Studios (now Disney’s Hollywood Studios) at Walt Disney World Resort and at Disney’s California Adventure in Disneyland. At California Adventure, the head was visible from the Esplanade, whereas at Disney’s MGM Studios, it appeared over the building that then housed Playhouse Disney – Live on Stage! The building now hosts Disney Junior – Live on Stage! These inflatables may have drawn park-goers’ attention, but they were branded “creepy”, with some saying that it was disturbing how they could be seen from some distance within the parks[10].
Chicken Little was released on 4th November 2005 in the United States, making $300 million worldwide, however, it was torn apart by critics, with many disliking the storyline, and finding the movie unamusing, though believing that it would still be appropriate for entertaining very young children, but lacking the universal appeal of some of Disney’s previous animated movies.
LEGACY
Chicken Little did spawn two different video games, with one being based on the storyline of the movie, and the second one being inspired by the superhero movie and the characters within it, such as the action hero “Ace”. But, due to the lack of popularity around the movie, Chicken Little and its characters have not been particularly prevalent at the Disney Parks, though Abby Mallard and Chicken Little both appeared as character meet-and-greets as part of promotional activities for the movie in and around 2005/2006. At Disney’s MGM Studios, their meet-and-greet location was within the Magic of Disney Animation attraction. They also both starred in the Disney Stars and Motor Cars parade at that time[11].
Apart from promotional activities, Abby and Chicken Little have not been seen regularly at the parks, these being the only two characters from the Chicken Little movie who appear as walkaround characters at the Disney Parks. I did not find evidence of them ever appearing at the parks in Asia, however, they were available to meet at Disneyland, Walt Disney World, and at Disneyland Paris. The most frequent sightings I could find were at Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World, where both Chicken Little and Abby Mallard greeted guests in July 2013 for “Long Lost Friends Week”, and then again in early 2019 for “Mickey and Minnie’s Surprise Celebration”. Chicken Little was the Disneyland Honorary Grand Marshal of the Day in 2005 during Disneyland’s 50th Anniversary, and was seen at a Halloween event at Disneyland Paris in 2007, however, Chicken Little, and Abby, may have been spotted more recently than that at those parks. It is likely at some point the two will show up randomly at some special event!
The only award that Chicken Little won during the 2006 Award Season was Worst Animated Film at the “Stinkers Bad Movie Awards”, though it was nominated at the Kids’ Choice Awards, Critics’ Choice Awards, and Annie Awards for Best Animated Feature. Chicken Little lost to DreamWorks’ Madagascar (2005) at the Kids’ Choice Awards, and to Aardman’s Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005) at the other two. This must have been disappointing to those who worked on Chicken Little, as the movie was in development during some very turbulent times at the Walt Disney Company. Chicken Little may have been reviewed by CEO Michael Eisner at the start of production, but by the time of its theatrical release, there was a new CEO: Bob Iger.
Potentially because of the little success received by Chicken Little, Iger made sure to keep the working relationship with Pixar Studios going. On 24th January 2006, Disney announced their intention to purchase Pixar, which was completed on 5th May 2006[12]. A direct-to-video sequel for Chicken Little, which would have potentially focused on Abby and how she felt about her physical appearance, was soon cancelled by John Lasseter after the deal went through, as Lasseter became the Chief Creative Officer at both studios[13].
FINAL THOUGHTS
Unfortunately, Chicken Little is either disregarded or completely forgotten by Disney fans, because of its disappointing reviews. I still say that I like it. I don’t think it looks spectacular, but as Disney’s first attempt at making a fully computer animated movie, it wasn’t terrible. I think it’s funny, and has its touching moments too. I like the music, and though I don’t love the characters, I did find that I at least liked them. It seems incredibly unfair that so many people love to hate Chicken Little, because so much hard work and effort went into the movie, during a particularly difficult time at the Disney Studios.
Though Chicken Little is not a perfect example of a computer-animated movie, it was one step closer to creating the brilliant movies that Disney Animation make today.
REFERENCES
[1] Credit: Mari Ness, ‘The Sky Is Falling! Maybe! “Henny Penny” or “Chicken Little”’, Tor.com, 5th May 2016.
[2] Credit: Disney, “Deleted Scenes”, from Chicken Little (2005), DVD (2006).
[3] Credit: Jim Korkis, Everything I Know I Learned from Disney Animated Feature Films (2015), ‘Chicken Little (2005)’, pp. 136-138.
[4] Credit: Disney, “Hatching Chicken Little”, from Chicken Little (2005), DVD (2006).
[5] Credit: Devon Baxter, ‘Disney’s “Chicken Little” Cartoon from 1943’, CartoonResearch.com, 22nd June 2016.
[6] Credit: Jared Bruett, ‘Disney’s Chicken Little Was in the Wrong Place at the Wrong Time’, GameRant.com, 10th November 2020.
[7] Credit: Disney, “Deleted Scenes”, from Chicken Little (2005), DVD (2006).
[8] Credit: Disney, “Hatching Chicken Little”, from Chicken Little (2005), DVD (2006).
[9] Credit: Buck Wolf, ‘’Chicken Little’ Wings It in 3-D’, ABC News (online), 7th November 2005.
[10] Credit: Author Unknown, ‘Chicken Little Blow Up Disney’s MGM Studios’, ThemeParksandEntertainment.com, 20th June 2020.
[11] Credit: Author Unknown, ‘Chicken Little stars arrive at the Studios’, WDWMagic.com, 18th June 2005.
[12] Credit: Jim Korkis, Everything I Know I Learned from Disney Animated Feature Films (2015), ‘Chicken Little (2005)’, pp. 136-138.
[13] Credit: Drew Taylor, ‘Disney’s ‘Chicken Little’: Inside the Troubled History of the Studio’s First CGI Feature’, Collider.com, 9th November 2020.
The Disney Purist 