fbpx
Wikipedia

Chicken Little (2005 film)

Chicken Little is a 2005 American computer-animated science fiction comedy film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and distributed by Buena Vista Pictures Distribution. The 46th animated film produced by the studio, it was directed by Mark Dindal from a screenplay by Steve Bencich, Ron J. Friedman, and Ron Anderson, based on a story by Dinal and Mark Kennedy, loosely inspired on the European folk tale "Henny Penny", known in the United States as "Chicken Little". In this version, the title character is ridiculed by his town for causing a panic, thinking that the sky was "falling". A year later he attempts to fix his reputation, followed by an unexpected truth regarding his past being revealed. The film is dedicated to Disney artist and writer Joe Grant, who died before the film's release. This also marked the final film appearance of Don Knotts during his lifetime, as his next and final film, Air Buddies (another Disney-produced film that was released just over a year later), would be released posthumously.

Chicken Little
Theatrical release poster
Directed byMark Dindal
Screenplay by
Story by
  • Mark Dindal
  • Mark Kennedy
Based on"Henny Penny"
Produced byRandy Fullmer
Starring
Edited byDan Molina
Music byJohn Debney
Production
companies
Distributed byBuena Vista Pictures Distribution
Release dates
  • October 30, 2005 (2005-10-30) (El Capitan Theatre)
  • November 4, 2005 (2005-11-04) (United States)
Running time
81 minutes[3]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$150 million[4]
Box office$314.4 million[4]

Chicken Little was animated in-house at Walt Disney Feature Animation's main headquarters in Burbank, California. It is Disney Animation's first fully computer-animated feature film, as Dinosaur (2000) was a combination of live-action and computer animation which in turn was provided by Disney's The Secret Lab.

Chicken Little was Disney's second adaptation of the fable after a propaganda cartoon made during World War II, serving as a loose remake to the cartoon.[5] The film is also the last Disney animated film produced under the name Walt Disney Feature Animation before the studio was renamed Walt Disney Animation Studios.[6] Chicken Little premiered at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles on October 30, 2005, and had its wide release on November 4, in Disney Digital 3-D (the first film to be released in this format) and 2D. It received mixed reviews from critics and grossed $314 million worldwide, making it the second-highest-grossing animated film of 2005 (behind Madagascar).[7]

Plot

In the town of Oakey Oaks, Ace "Chicken Little" Cluck 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 is going on. He explains that the sky is falling because 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 "Ace" Cluck, who was once a high school baseball star, 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 laughingstock of the town.

A year later, Chicken Little has become infamous in the town for being prone to ruin everything accidentally. His only friends are outcasts like himself: Abby Mallard (nicknamed "Ugly Duckling"), Runt (who is a gigantic pig), 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 only wants to make his dad proud of him. He joins his school's baseball team 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 sure that he will lose the game for them and urges him not to swing). Chicken Little hits the ball and makes it past first, second, and third bases but is met at home plate by the outfielders. He tries sliding onto the home plate but is touched by the ball. While it is presumed he lost the game, the umpire brushes away the dust to reveal Chicken Little's foot is barely touching home plate, thus declaring Chicken Little safe and the game won; Chicken Little is hailed as a hero for winning the pennant.

Later that night back at home, Chicken Little is hit on the head yet again by the same "piece of the sky" — only to find out that it is not a piece of the sky, but rather a panel that 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 piloted by two aliens in metallic armor. After Chicken Little, Abby and Runt rescue Fish, they discover that the aliens are heading to Earth. The two aliens find and attack the group, chasing them through a cornfield. They rush back to the school, where Chicken Little rings the bell to warn everyone, but the aliens escape, leaving an orange alien child behind. No one believes the story of the alien invasion and Chicken Little's reputation is thus ruined. The next morning, he and his friends discover the orange alien named Kirby, and a few minutes later, a whole fleet of alien ships descend 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, Chicken Little realizes he must return Kirby to his parents to save the planet. First, though, he must confront his father and regain his trust.

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 teleported them aboard the UFO. It turns out the aliens were touring Earth and came across the town for its acorns. It also reveals that the alien family's ship has a broken camo panel that "could fall and hit someone on the head." After everything is explained, the apologetic aliens return everything to normal, and everyone is grateful for Chicken Little's efforts to save the town.

Another year later, Chicken Little, Buck, his friends and the citizens of Oakey Oaks watch an in-universe movie depicting an extremely fanciful retelling of the events that transpired, portraying Chicken Little as an action hero named Ace.

Voice cast

  • Zach Braff as Ace "Chicken Little" Cluck, a young and diminutive rooster, who suffers from a reputation for being called crazy when he caused a panic when he thought that the sky was falling.
  • Joan Cusack as Abigail "Abby" Mallard (also known as the Ugly Duckling), a female duck (implied swan) with buckteeth. She is Chicken Little's best friend, and by the end, his girlfriend.
  • Dan Molina as Fish Out of Water, a goldfish who wears a scuba helmet filled with water and lives on the surface.
  • Steve Zahn as Runt of the Litter, a large pig who is much larger than the other children but is far smaller than the other members of his family.
  • Garry Marshall as Buck "Ace" Cluck, Chicken Little's widower father and a former high school baseball star.
    • Mark Mitchell would later voice the character in the Australian release.
  • Amy Sedaris as Foxy Loxy, a mean fox who is a baseball star and the "hometown hero". She is also a tomboy and one of the "popular kids" at school. In the original fable, as well as the 1943 short film, Foxy is a male fox.
  • Mark Walton as Goosey Loosey, a dimwitted goose and Foxy Loxy's best friend and henchwoman.
  • Don Knotts as Turkey Lurkey, a turkey and the mayor of Oakey Oaks, who is friendly and sensible but not very bright.
  • Sean Elmore, Matthew Josten, and Evan Dunn as Kirby
  • Fred Willard as Melvin
  • Catherine O'Hara as Tina
  • Mark Dindal as Morkubine Porcupine and the Coach
  • Patrick Stewart as Mr. Woolensworth
  • Wallace Shawn as Principal Fetchit
  • Patrick Warburton as Alien Cop
  • Adam West as Ace - Hollywood Chicken Little
  • Harry Shearer as Don Bowowser

Production

Writing

In September 2001, director Mark Dindal developed the idea for Chicken Little, with its title character envisioned as a paranoid female chicken with the voice of Holly Hunter that went to summer camp to reduce her anxiety, as well as repair her relationship with her father. At the summer camp, she would uncover a nefarious plot that her camp counselor, who was to be voiced by Penn Jillette, was planning against her hometown.[8] Dindal would later pitch his idea to Michael Eisner who suggested it would be better to change Chicken Little into a male because as Dindal recalled, "if you're a boy and you're short, you get picked on."[9] However, Dindal later clarified that the decision was made, in part, due to market research at the time stating, "I remember being told, 'Girls will go see a movie with a boy protagonist but boys won't see a movie with a girl protagonist,'... "That was the wisdom at the time, until Frozen comes out and makes $1 billion."[10]

In January 2003, when David Stainton became Disney's new president of Walt Disney Feature Animation, he decided the story needed a different approach. He 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.[11]

During the rewriting process, Dindal, along with three credited writers and nine others, threw out twenty-five scenes to improve the character development and add more emotional resonance with the parent-child relationship. Dindal stated that "It took us about 2½ years to pretty much get back to where we started... But in the course of that, the story got stronger, more emotional, and Amazing, too."[11][12]

Casting

When originally envisioned as a female character, Holly Hunter provided the voice for the title character for eight months, until it was decided for Chicken Little to be a male.[8] Michael J. Fox, Matthew Broderick and David Spade were originally considered for the role.[13] Against forty actors competing for the title role, Zach Braff auditioned where Dindal noted he "pitched his voice slightly to sound like a junior high kid. Right there, that was really unique — and then he had such great energy."[14]

In April 2002, Variety reported that Sean Hayes was to voice a character named the Ugly Duckling,[15] but the character was rewritten into a female.[16] Now conceived as Abby Mallard, Hunter, Jamie Lee Curtis, Sarah Jessica Parker, Jodie Foster, Geena Davis, and Madonna were considered, but Joan Cusack won the role for her natural comedy.[17] In December 2003, it was announced Braff and Cusack were cast, along with other cast members including Steve Zahn, Amy Sedaris, Don Knotts, Katie Finneran, and Garry Marshall.[18]

Marshall was asked to provide a voice for Kingdom of the Sun, which was re-conceived into The Emperor's New Groove and directed by Dindal, but was removed from the project for being "too New York".[12] When he was approached to provide the voice for Buck Cluck, Marshall claimed "I said I don't do voices. You want a chicken that talks like me, fine. So they hired me and they didn't fire me, and it was like a closure on animation."[19]

Australian comedian Mark Mitchell was hired to re-voice the character of Buck Cluck for the Australian release of the film, as a decision by Disney to get a local personality to publicize the film.[20]

Animation

To visualize this story, Disney selected 50 percent of its 2D animation staff to put them in a CGI animation team, and placed them through a rigorous eighteen-month training program with George Lucas' Industrial Light and Magic, which included an introductory to Alias's Maya that would serve as the main 3D animation software used on the project. This was due to Disney CEO Michael Eisner announcing that the studio would move to computer animation in response to a downturn caused by rising competition from Pixar and DreamWorks Animation computer animated features, as well as the unsatisfactory box office performances of The Emperor's New Groove, Atlantis: The Lost Empire, Treasure Planet (2002), and Home on the Range (2004). As some of the animators had worked on Dinosaur (2000), which used live-action backgrounds,[21] the animation team took inspiration for its staging, coloring, and theatrical lighting from Mary Blair's background designs featured in Alice in Wonderland (1951) and Peter Pan (1953).

For the aesthetics in the background designs, the background layout artists sparingly use digital matte paintings to render out the naturalistic elements, including the trees and the baseball diamond, but they were retouched using Adobe Photoshop as background cards featured in the film.[22] The lighting department would utilize the "Lumiere" software to enhance virtual lighting for the shading form and depth and geometric rendering for the characters' shadows,[23] as well as use real lighting to create cucaloris.[22]

For the characters' designs and animation style, Dindal sought to capture the "roundness" as seen in the Disney animated works from the 1940s to 1950s,[22] by which the characters' fluidity of motion was inspired from the Goofy cartoon How to Play Baseball (1942).[22] Under visual effects supervisor Steve Goldberg who spearheaded the department, the Maya software included the software program "Shelf Control" that provided an outline of characters that can be viewed on-screen and provided a direct link to the controls for specific autonomy, as well as new electronic tablet screens were produced that allowed for the artists to draw digital sketches of the characters to rough out their movements, which was then transferred to the 3D characters.[23]

All of the characters were constructed using geometric polygons.[22] For the title character, there were approximately fourteen to fifteen character designs before settling the design composed of an ovular egghead shape with oversized glasses. The final character was constructed of 5,600 polygons, 700 muscles, and more than 76,000 individual feathers, of which 55,000 are placed on his head.[19]

Following the casting of Braff, supervising animator Jason Ryan adapted Braff's facial features during recording sessions to better combine the dorkiness and adorability the filmmakers desired. "He's got this really appealing face and eye expressions," Ryan said, adding that he was amazed by Braff's natural vocal abilities.[14] Next, the animators would utilize the software program "Chicken Wire", where digital wire deformers were provided for the animators to manipulate the basic geometric shapes to get their desired facial features. Lastly, a software development team constructed XGen, a computer software program for grooming fur, feathers, and generating leaves.[23]

Release

The film was originally scheduled for release on July 1, 2005,[24] but on December 7, 2004, its release date was pushed back to November 4, 2005, the release date that was originally slated for Disney/Pixar's Cars.[25][26] The release date change was also the day before DreamWorks Animation changed the release date of Shrek the Third, from November 2006 to May 2007.[27] Cars was later released on June 9, 2006.

At the time of the release of Chicken Little, the co-production deal between Disney and Pixar was set to expire with the release of Cars in 2006. The 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.[28]

On October 30, 2005, the film premiered at the El Capitan Theatre, with the cast and filmmakers as attendees, which was followed with a ballroom bash at the Hollywood and Highland Center.[29][30][31] Along with its standard theatrical release, the film was the first Disney in-house release to be rendered in Disney Digital 3D, that was produced by Industrial Light & Magic, and exhibited via Dolby Digital Cinema servers at approximately 100 selected theaters in twenty five top markets.[32] To describe the process, Dindal remembers that it was a last minute decision, as it was suggested just 11 months before its release. For the 3D conversion, Dindal had a specific way he wanted the film to look: he wanted it to feel like a moving View-Master. As he puts it,

"When I was a kid, and I was really taken with something, my first thought was, Oh, I want to step into that… They felt like a window that you could step in. I remember showing those and saying, ‘Can you make it look like this? What is it about this that feels more 3D than most 3D films film like that?'"[10]

Marketing

The first trailer was released online in early 2004.[33] It was also attached to the DVD release of Brother Bear.[34] Accompanied with the theatrical release, Disney Consumer Products released a series of plush items, toys, activity sets, keepsakes, and apparel.[35]

Home media

Chicken Little was first released on DVD on March 21, 2006, in a single disc edition.[36] The DVD contained the film accompanied with deleted scenes, three alternate openings, a 6 part making-of featurette, an interactive game, a karaoke sing along, two music videos, and animation test footage of the female Chicken Little.[37][38] The DVD sold over 2.7 million DVD units during its first week accumulating $48 million in consumer spending. Overall, consumer spending on its initial home video release grossed $142.6 million.[39] The film was released for the first time on Blu-ray on March 20, 2007, and contained new features not included on the DVD. A 3D Blu-ray version was released on November 8, 2011.[40]

A VHS version was also released, but only as a Disney Movie Club exclusive, presented in a rare fullscreen aspect ratio.

Reception

Box office

In its opening weekend, Chicken Little grossed $40 million and debuted at #1, being the first Disney animated film to do so since Dinosaur.[41] 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.[42] The film grossed $135.4 million in North America, and $179 million in other countries, for a worldwide total of $314.4 million.[4]

This reversed the slump that the company had been facing since 2000, during which time it released several films that underperformed, most notably Fantasia 2000 (1999), Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001), Treasure Planet (2002), and Home on the Range (2004).

Critical response

Rotten Tomatoes, reports that 36% of 163 surveyed critics gave positive reviews; the average score is 5.4/10. The critical consensus states: "Disney expends more effort in the technical presentation than in crafting an original storyline."[7] Metacritic, gave the film an average score of 48 based on 32 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[43] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.[44]

James Berardinelli, writing his review for ReelViews, gave the film two-and-a-half stars out of four stating that "It is bogged down by many of the problems that have plagued Disney's recent traditional animated features: anonymous voice work, poor plot structure, and the mistaken belief that the Disney brand will elevate anything to a "must-see" level for viewers starved for family-friendly fare."[45] On the syndicated television program Ebert & Roeper, critics Richard Roeper and Roger Ebert gave the film "Two Thumbs Down" with the former saying "I don't care whether the film is 2-D, 3-D, CGI, or hand-drawn, it all goes back to the story."[46]

In his print review featured in the Chicago Sun-Times, Roger Ebert stated the problem was the story and wrote, "As a general rule, if a movie is not about baseball or space aliens, and you have to use them, anyway, you should have started with a better premise." Ebert concluded his review with, "The movie did make me smile. It didn't make me laugh, and it didn't involve my emotions, or the higher regions of my intellect, for that matter. It's a perfectly acceptable feature cartoon for kids up to a certain age, but it doesn't have the universal appeal of some of the best recent animation."[47]

Writing in The New York Times, film critic A.O. Scott 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."[48] Entertainment Weekly film reviewer Lisa Schwarzbaum, who graded the film a C, wrote that the "banality of the acorns dropped in this particular endeavor, another in a new breed of mass-market comedy that substitutes self-reference for original wit and pop songs for emotional content."[49]

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".[50] Olly Richards of Empire Magazine gave the film a three out of five stars, saying, "Beyond a cheeky, twisty bit of genre-tinkering, there's more here for the under-tens than over-, but it's still charming, amusing and energetic enough to win you over."[51]

Angel Cohn of TV Guide gave the film three 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."[52] Peter Rainer, writing in The Christian Science Monitor, graded the film with a A- applauding that the "visuals are irrepressibly witty and so is the script, which morphs from the classic fable into a spoof on War of the Worlds. I prefer this version to Spielberg's."[53]

Plugged In wrote, "A postscript for parents: A single "mistake" defines Chicken Little, and he spends "the rest of his life" trying to live it down. As he puts it, "One moment destroyed my life." Later, another single moment—his home run—redefines him as a hero to his friends and his dad, who says, "I guess that puts the whole 'sky is falling' incident behind us once and for all." Insecure (and observant) young viewers may latch on to this kind of oversimplification and use it as license to magnify the significance of their own bumblings, whatever they might be."[54] Common Sense Media gave the film a three out of five stars, writing, "Cute, sometimes-frantic movie has peril, potential scares."[55]

Dindal would express regret over the final version of the film:

I think, Oh that [early] version ...Then I'm reconnected with what I'm thinking at the time. And you're thinking how that version would have turned out. If we had stuck with that instead of this. If we had pushed Eisner and said, It has to be a girl,' it could have been killed... With this, I wish I could see an alternate reality, what that would have been like.[10]

Accolades

At the 2005 Stinkers Bad Movie Awards, this film won the award for Worst Animated Film. At the 33rd Annie Awards, it received four nominations for Best Animated Feature, Best Animated Effects, Best Character Design, and Best Production Design, losing all to Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. At the 2006 Kids' Choice Awards, it was nominated for Favorite Animated Movie, but lost to Madagascar.

Award Date of Ceremony Category Recipients Results Ref.
Stinkers Bad Movie Awards 2006 Worst Picture Chicken Little Dishonourable Mention [56]
Worst Animated Film Won
Critics' Choice Awards January 9, 2006 Best Animated Feature Mark Dindal Nominated
Producers Guild of America Awards January 22, 2006 Producer of the Year Award in Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures Randy Fullmer Nominated [57]
Annie Awards February 4, 2006 Best Animated Feature Nominated [58]
Best Animated Effects - Feature Dale Mayeda Nominated
Best Character Design - Feature Joe Moshier Nominated
Best Production Design - Feature Ian Gooding, Dan Cooper, David Womersley, Mac George Nominated
Kids' Choice Awards April 1, 2006 Favorite Animated Movie Chicken Little Nominated

Soundtrack

Chicken Little
Soundtrack album by
Various artists
ReleasedNovember 1, 2005
Genre
Length39:05
LabelWalt Disney
ProducerJohn Debney
Walt Disney Animation Studios chronology
Home on the Range
(2004)
Chicken Little
(2005)
Meet the Robinsons
(2007)

The soundtrack album contains an original score composed and produced by John Debney, who had previously worked with Dindal on The Emperor's New Groove (2000), with music by a wide range of artists, some musical veterans, such as Patti LaBelle and Diana Ross, as well as others.[59] Uniquely for a Disney animated film, several of the songs are covers of classic popular songs, such as Elton John's "Don't Go Breaking My Heart", Carole King's "It's Too Late", and the Spice Girls' signature hit "Wannabe". However, the film does include one original song, "One Little Slip" by Barenaked Ladies. The soundtrack was released on November 1, 2005, by Walt Disney Records.[59]

Track listing
No.TitleArtistLength
1."Stir It Up"Joss Stone and Patti LaBelle3:42
2."One Little Slip"Barenaked Ladies2:53
3."Shake a Tail Feather"The Cheetah Girls3:05
4."All I Know"Five for Fighting3:25
5."Ain't No Mountain High Enough"Diana Ross3:28
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 Braff0:38
8."Wannabe"Joan Cusack and Steve Zahn0:50
9."Don't Go Breaking My Heart"The Chicken Little Cast1:53
10."The Sky is Falling" (score)John Debney2:49
11."The Big Game" (score)John Debney4:04
12."Dad Apologizes" (score)John Debney3:14
13."Chase to Cornfield" (score)John Debney2:00
14."Dodgeball" (score)John Debney1:15
15."Driving with Dad" (score)John Debney1:45
Total length:39:05

Video games

Chicken Little spawned two video games. The first, Chicken Little, is an action-adventure game released for Xbox on October 18, 2005, by Buena Vista Games. Two days later it was released for PlayStation 2, 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.[60]

The second video game, Disney's Chicken Little: Ace in Action, is a multi-platform video game, for the Wii, Nintendo DS, Microsoft Windows, 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.

Chicken Little himself appears as a summon in the video game Kingdom Hearts II.[61] His inclusion is somewhat noteworthy as Kingdom Hearts II debuted before the film in Japan, with the character's inclusion serving as a promotion for the then-upcoming movie.

Cancelled sequel

Disneytoon Studios originally planned to make a direct-to-video sequel to Chicken Little, tentatively titled Chicken Little 2: The Ugly Duckling Story.[62] Directed by Klay Hall, the story would have involved Chicken Little getting into a love triangle between Abby Mallard and a beautiful newcomer, Raffaela, a French sheep. Being at a great disadvantage, Abby would go to great lengths to give herself a makeover. According to Tod Carter, a story artist on the film, early screenings of the story reel were very well-received, prompting Disney to consider increasing the production budget to match the quality of the story.[63] Soon after 2006, when John Lasseter became Walt Disney Animation Studios' new chief creative officer, he cancelled all sequels that were in development at Disneytoon, including Chicken Little 2, Meet The Robinsons 2: First Date and a sequel to The Aristocats, and ordered the studio to shift its focus towards spin-off films and original productions.[62] According to Carter, this was a reaction to the sales figures for current projects and the overall market, adding: "The executives didn't feel that the original film had a wide enough market to draw upon to support the sequel."[63]

References

  1. ^ "Chicken Little". American Film Institute. from the original on October 29, 2021. Retrieved October 29, 2016.
  2. ^ "2005 Annual Report" (PDF). The Walt Disney Company. 2006. p. 21. (PDF) from the original on April 23, 2016. Retrieved October 30, 2016. In November 2005, Walt Disney Feature Animation (WDFA) marked a major milestone in its fabled history with the highly successful release of Chicken Little, the Studio's first fully computer-animated motion picture.
  3. ^ ""CHICKEN LITTLE" (U)". British Board of Film Classification. November 4, 2005. from the original on August 22, 2019. Retrieved November 14, 2016.
  4. ^ a b c "Chicken Little (2005)". Box Office Mojo. from the original on August 30, 2019. Retrieved October 22, 2009.
  5. ^ Willman, Chris (March 17, 2006). . Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on January 9, 2016. Retrieved July 9, 2015. This Chicken Little feature wasn't Disney's first stab at animating the enduring fable of animal alarmism. In 1943, the studio released a short,...
  6. ^ O'Hehir, Andrew (July 13, 2011). "Can "Winnie the Pooh" save Disney from Pixar?". Salon. from the original on November 22, 2015. Retrieved November 21, 2015. The last release under the aegis of Walt Disney Feature Animation was "Chicken Little" in 2005,...
  7. ^ a b "Chicken Little". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. from the original on May 31, 2022. Retrieved October 5, 2021.  
  8. ^ a b Hill, Jim (March 9, 2005). . Jim Hill Media. Archived from the original on July 8, 2015. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
  9. ^ Caro, Mark (October 20, 2005). "Can this chicken save Disney?". Chicago Tribune. p. 2. from the original on February 24, 2016. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
  10. ^ a b c Drew Taylor (November 9, 2020). "Disney's 'Chicken Little': Inside the Troubled History of the Studio's First CGI Feature". Collider. from the original on November 20, 2020. Retrieved December 27, 2020.
  11. ^ a b Holson, Laura (September 20, 2005). "Has the Sky Stopped Falling at Disney?". The New York Times. from the original on May 29, 2015. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
  12. ^ a b Lawson, Terry (November 8, 2005). . Sun-Sentinel. Archived from the original on February 16, 2016. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
  13. ^ Hischak, Thomas S. (September 15, 2011). Disney Voice Actors: A Biographical Dictionary. McFarland. ISBN 9780786486946.
  14. ^ a b Carroll, Larry (November 2, 2005). "Zach Braff Calls 'Chicken Little' 'Garden State' On A Farm". MTV News. Viacom International Media Networks. from the original on March 2, 2016. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
  15. ^ Schneider, Michael (April 28, 2002). "Storyline Jerry-rigs 'Martin & Lewis' pic". Variety. from the original on February 16, 2016. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
  16. ^ Daly, Steve; Lee, Alyssa (July 18, 2003). "'Toon Adventures". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
  17. ^ Hischak, Thomas (September 21, 2011). Disney Voice Actors: A Biographical Dictionary. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company. p. 53. ISBN 978-0-7864-6271-1. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
  18. ^ Ball, Ryan (December 11, 2003). "Stars Fall for Chicken Little". Animation. from the original on October 5, 2016. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
  19. ^ a b Randall, Laura (November 2, 2005). . Philly.com. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved February 9, 2016.
  20. ^ "Chicken Little". The Sydney Morning Herald. December 29, 2005. from the original on August 19, 2022. Retrieved April 2, 2022.
  21. ^ Henerson, Evan (November 4, 2005). . The Tuscaloosa News. Los Angeles Daily News. Archived from the original on April 17, 2016. Retrieved February 9, 2016.
  22. ^ a b c d e "The Sky's the Limit". Computer Graphics World. November 2005. from the original on September 29, 2015. Retrieved March 25, 2012.
  23. ^ a b c Desowitz, Bill (November 4, 2005). "'Chicken Little' & Beyond: Disney Rediscovers its Legacy Through 3D Animation". Animation World Network. from the original on July 7, 2014. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
  24. ^ Netherby, Jennifer (August 8, 2004). "In the pipeline". Variety. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
  25. ^ Verrier, Richard (January 16, 2005). "The plot is fiction, but the panic is real". Los Angeles Times. from the original on February 16, 2016. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
  26. ^ "Pixar-Disney delay Cars release". BBC News. December 8, 2004. from the original on February 6, 2019. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
  27. ^ "Delay for Shrek 3 movie release". BBC News. December 10, 2004. Archived from the original on September 27, 2019. Retrieved March 20, 2016.
  28. ^ Holson, Laura (October 31, 2005). "For Disney and Pixar, a Deal Is a Game of 'Chicken'". The New York Times. from the original on October 14, 2017. Retrieved February 9, 2016.
  29. ^ "Disney's Chicken Little Premiere". YouTube. from the original on November 18, 2022. Retrieved November 18, 2022.
  30. ^ Heck, William (October 31, 2005). "'Chicken Little' gang wings it". USA Today. from the original on February 20, 2016. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
  31. ^ Taylor, Paula (November 2, 2005). "Mouse plays 'Chicken'". Variety. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
  32. ^ Ball, Ryan (June 28, 2005). "Chicken Little to Christen Disney Digital 3D". Animation. from the original on February 15, 2016. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
  33. ^ Linder, Brian (April 15, 2004). "Chicken Little Teaser". IGN. from the original on March 12, 2022. Retrieved March 11, 2022.
  34. ^ "Brother Bear DVD Review - DVDizzy.com". from the original on September 26, 2022. Retrieved March 12, 2022.
  35. ^ "Disney Store Offers Widest Selection of Exclusive Chicken Little Merchandise; Disney Store is Chicken Little Headquarters This Holiday Season, with a Variety of Small and Large Plush Items, Toys, Activity Sets, Keepsakes, and Apparel" (Press release). Glendale, California. Business Wire. November 4, 2005. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
  36. ^ Walt Disney Home Entertainment (January 20, 2006). "Disney's #1 Animated Movie of 2005 Is Coming To DVD And Video!". DVDizzy.com. from the original on February 15, 2012. Retrieved November 7, 2012.
  37. ^ Ball, Ryan (March 21, 2006). "Chicken Little Falls on DVD". Animation. from the original on February 15, 2016. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
  38. ^ Desowitz, Bill (March 21, 2006). "Chicken Little Hatches on DVD". Animation World Network. from the original on February 21, 2016. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
  39. ^ "Chicken Little – Video Sales". The Numbers. from the original on February 22, 2016. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
  40. ^ Smith, Matthew (August 8, 2011). "Bolt, G-FORCE, Chicken Little and Meet the Robinsons 3D Blu-rays". Blu-ray.com. from the original on September 19, 2011. Retrieved October 12, 2011.
  41. ^ Gray, Brandon (November 7, 2005). "Welcome to the Cluck: Chicken Little, Jarhead Top Weekend". Box Office Mojo. from the original on July 28, 2009. Retrieved October 22, 2009.
  42. ^ Gray, Brandon (November 14, 2005). "Zathura, Derailed, 50 Cent Below Chicken Little in Pecking Order". Box Office Mojo. from the original on January 17, 2010. Retrieved October 22, 2009.
  43. ^ "Chicken Little (2005): Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. from the original on February 27, 2009. Retrieved October 22, 2009.
  44. ^ Gray, Brandon (November 7, 2005). "Welcome to the Cluck: 'Chicken Little,' 'Jarhead' Top Weekend". Box Office Mojo. from the original on November 23, 2016. Retrieved November 22, 2016.
  45. ^ Berardinelli, James. "Chicken Little (United States, 2005)". ReelViews. Archived from the original on September 27, 2019. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
  46. ^ Ebert, Roger (host); Roeper, Richard (host) (November 2005). "Chicken Little Review". Ebert & Roeper. Buena Vista Television.
  47. ^ Ebert, Roger (November 3, 2005). "Chicken Little Movie Review". rogerebert.com. from the original on February 16, 2016. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
  48. ^ Scott, A. O. (November 4, 2005). "A Chick Flick With Aliens Falling From the Sky". The New York Times. from the original on May 29, 2015. Retrieved October 22, 2009.
  49. ^ Schwarzbaum, Lisa (November 4, 2005). "Chicken Little Review". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
  50. ^ Burr, Ty (November 4, 2005). . Boston.com. The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on April 27, 2006. Retrieved October 22, 2009.
  51. ^ "Chicken Little Review | Movie - Empire". from the original on January 13, 2021. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
  52. ^ Cohn, Angel. . TV Guide. Archived from the original on January 4, 2011. Retrieved October 22, 2009.
  53. ^ Rainer, Peter (November 8, 2005). "Movie Guide". The Christian Science Monitor. from the original on November 6, 2005. Retrieved January 8, 2016.
  54. ^ "Chicken Little". from the original on January 15, 2021. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
  55. ^ "Chicken Little - Movie Review". March 20, 2006. from the original on August 17, 2022. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
  56. ^ . Archived from the original on February 21, 2006. Retrieved May 10, 2022.
  57. ^ Rushfield, Richard; Lynch, Rene (January 23, 2006). "'Brokeback Mountain' Wins Producers Guild Award". Los Angeles Times. from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved August 20, 2016.
  58. ^ . Archived from the original on January 2, 2013. Retrieved May 10, 2022.
  59. ^ a b Walt Disney Records (October 25, 2005). "Get Ready to Shake Your Tail Feather to the Sounds of Walt Disney Records' "Chicken Little Soundtrack"; Featuring Fresh (Not Frozen) Hits from Patti LaBelle and Joss Stone, The Cheetah Girls, Barenaked Ladies and Five for Fighting" (Press release). Business Wire. from the original on August 23, 2015. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
  60. ^ 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. from the original on January 3, 2014. Retrieved January 1, 2014.
  61. ^ "Square Enix and Disney's Buena Vista Games Unveil All-Star Voice Cast for Kingdom Hearts II" (Press release). Square Enix. March 28, 2006. Retrieved November 2, 2011 – via PR Newswire.
  62. ^ a b Hill, Jim (June 20, 2007). "Say "So Long!" to direct-to-video sequels: DisneyToon Studios tunes out Sharon Morrill". Jim Hill Media. from the original on August 21, 2010. Retrieved February 7, 2015.
  63. ^ a b Noyer, Jérémie (October 20, 2008). "DisneyToon Studios and The Sequels That Never Were, with Tod Carter". Animated Views. from the original on June 22, 2010. Retrieved March 12, 2017.

External links

chicken, little, 2005, film, chicken, little, 2005, american, computer, animated, science, fiction, comedy, film, produced, walt, disney, feature, animation, distributed, buena, vista, pictures, distribution, 46th, animated, film, produced, studio, directed, m. Chicken Little is a 2005 American computer animated science fiction comedy film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and distributed by Buena Vista Pictures Distribution The 46th animated film produced by the studio it was directed by Mark Dindal from a screenplay by Steve Bencich Ron J Friedman and Ron Anderson based on a story by Dinal and Mark Kennedy loosely inspired on the European folk tale Henny Penny known in the United States as Chicken Little In this version the title character is ridiculed by his town for causing a panic thinking that the sky was falling A year later he attempts to fix his reputation followed by an unexpected truth regarding his past being revealed The film is dedicated to Disney artist and writer Joe Grant who died before the film s release This also marked the final film appearance of Don Knotts during his lifetime as his next and final film Air Buddies another Disney produced film that was released just over a year later would be released posthumously Chicken LittleTheatrical release posterDirected byMark DindalScreenplay bySteve Bencich Ron J Friedman Ron AndersonStory byMark Dindal Mark KennedyBased on Henny Penny Produced byRandy FullmerStarringZach Braff Joan Cusack Dan Molina Steve Zahn Garry Marshall Amy Sedaris Mark Walton Don KnottsEdited byDan MolinaMusic byJohn DebneyProductioncompaniesWalt Disney Pictures 1 Walt Disney Feature Animation 2 Distributed byBuena Vista Pictures DistributionRelease datesOctober 30 2005 2005 10 30 El Capitan Theatre November 4 2005 2005 11 04 United States Running time81 minutes 3 CountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglishBudget 150 million 4 Box office 314 4 million 4 Chicken Little was animated in house at Walt Disney Feature Animation s main headquarters in Burbank California It is Disney Animation s first fully computer animated feature film as Dinosaur 2000 was a combination of live action and computer animation which in turn was provided by Disney s The Secret Lab Chicken Little was Disney s second adaptation of the fable after a propaganda cartoon made during World War II serving as a loose remake to the cartoon 5 The film is also the last Disney animated film produced under the name Walt Disney Feature Animation before the studio was renamed Walt Disney Animation Studios 6 Chicken Little premiered at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood Los Angeles on October 30 2005 and had its wide release on November 4 in Disney Digital 3 D the first film to be released in this format and 2D It received mixed reviews from critics and grossed 314 million worldwide making it the second highest grossing animated film of 2005 behind Madagascar 7 Contents 1 Plot 2 Voice cast 3 Production 3 1 Writing 3 2 Casting 3 3 Animation 4 Release 4 1 Marketing 4 2 Home media 5 Reception 5 1 Box office 5 2 Critical response 5 3 Accolades 6 Soundtrack 7 Video games 8 Cancelled sequel 9 References 10 External linksPlotIn the town of Oakey Oaks Ace Chicken Little Cluck 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 is going on He explains that the sky is falling because 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 Ace Cluck who was once a high school baseball star 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 laughingstock of the town A year later Chicken Little has become infamous in the town for being prone to ruin everything accidentally His only friends are outcasts like himself Abby Mallard nicknamed Ugly Duckling Runt who is a gigantic pig 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 only wants to make his dad proud of him He joins his school s baseball team 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 sure that he will lose the game for them and urges him not to swing Chicken Little hits the ball and makes it past first second and third bases but is met at home plate by the outfielders He tries sliding onto the home plate but is touched by the ball While it is presumed he lost the game the umpire brushes away the dust to reveal Chicken Little s foot is barely touching home plate thus declaring Chicken Little safe and the game won Chicken Little is hailed as a hero for winning the pennant Later that night back at home Chicken Little is hit on the head yet again by the same piece of the sky only to find out that it is not a piece of the sky but rather a panel that 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 piloted by two aliens in metallic armor After Chicken Little Abby and Runt rescue Fish they discover that the aliens are heading to Earth The two aliens find and attack the group chasing them through a cornfield They rush back to the school where Chicken Little rings the bell to warn everyone but the aliens escape leaving an orange alien child behind No one believes the story of the alien invasion and Chicken Little s reputation is thus ruined The next morning he and his friends discover the orange alien named Kirby and a few minutes later a whole fleet of alien ships descend 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 Chicken Little realizes he must return Kirby to his parents to save the planet First though he must confront his father and regain his trust 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 teleported them aboard the UFO It turns out the aliens were touring Earth and came across the town for its acorns It also reveals that the alien family s ship has a broken camo panel that could fall and hit someone on the head After everything is explained the apologetic aliens return everything to normal and everyone is grateful for Chicken Little s efforts to save the town Another year later Chicken Little Buck his friends and the citizens of Oakey Oaks watch an in universe movie depicting an extremely fanciful retelling of the events that transpired portraying Chicken Little as an action hero named Ace Voice castZach Braff as Ace Chicken Little Cluck a young and diminutive rooster who suffers from a reputation for being called crazy when he caused a panic when he thought that the sky was falling Joan Cusack as Abigail Abby Mallard also known as the Ugly Duckling a female duck implied swan with buckteeth She is Chicken Little s best friend and by the end his girlfriend Dan Molina as Fish Out of Water a goldfish who wears a scuba helmet filled with water and lives on the surface Steve Zahn as Runt of the Litter a large pig who is much larger than the other children but is far smaller than the other members of his family Garry Marshall as Buck Ace Cluck Chicken Little s widower father and a former high school baseball star Mark Mitchell would later voice the character in the Australian release Amy Sedaris as Foxy Loxy a mean fox who is a baseball star and the hometown hero She is also a tomboy and one of the popular kids at school In the original fable as well as the 1943 short film Foxy is a male fox Mark Walton as Goosey Loosey a dimwitted goose and Foxy Loxy s best friend and henchwoman Don Knotts as Turkey Lurkey a turkey and the mayor of Oakey Oaks who is friendly and sensible but not very bright Sean Elmore Matthew Josten and Evan Dunn as Kirby Fred Willard as Melvin Catherine O Hara as Tina Mark Dindal as Morkubine Porcupine and the Coach Patrick Stewart as Mr Woolensworth Wallace Shawn as Principal Fetchit Patrick Warburton as Alien Cop Adam West as Ace Hollywood Chicken Little Harry Shearer as Don BowowserProductionWriting In September 2001 director Mark Dindal developed the idea for Chicken Little with its title character envisioned as a paranoid female chicken with the voice of Holly Hunter that went to summer camp to reduce her anxiety as well as repair her relationship with her father At the summer camp she would uncover a nefarious plot that her camp counselor who was to be voiced by Penn Jillette was planning against her hometown 8 Dindal would later pitch his idea to Michael Eisner who suggested it would be better to change Chicken Little into a male because as Dindal recalled if you re a boy and you re short you get picked on 9 However Dindal later clarified that the decision was made in part due to market research at the time stating I remember being told Girls will go see a movie with a boy protagonist but boys won t see a movie with a girl protagonist That was the wisdom at the time until Frozen comes out and makes 1 billion 10 In January 2003 when David Stainton became Disney s new president of Walt Disney Feature Animation he decided the story needed a different approach He 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 11 During the rewriting process Dindal along with three credited writers and nine others threw out twenty five scenes to improve the character development and add more emotional resonance with the parent child relationship Dindal stated that It took us about 2 years to pretty much get back to where we started But in the course of that the story got stronger more emotional and Amazing too 11 12 Casting When originally envisioned as a female character Holly Hunter provided the voice for the title character for eight months until it was decided for Chicken Little to be a male 8 Michael J Fox Matthew Broderick and David Spade were originally considered for the role 13 Against forty actors competing for the title role Zach Braff auditioned where Dindal noted he pitched his voice slightly to sound like a junior high kid Right there that was really unique and then he had such great energy 14 In April 2002 Variety reported that Sean Hayes was to voice a character named the Ugly Duckling 15 but the character was rewritten into a female 16 Now conceived as Abby Mallard Hunter Jamie Lee Curtis Sarah Jessica Parker Jodie Foster Geena Davis and Madonna were considered but Joan Cusack won the role for her natural comedy 17 In December 2003 it was announced Braff and Cusack were cast along with other cast members including Steve Zahn Amy Sedaris Don Knotts Katie Finneran and Garry Marshall 18 Marshall was asked to provide a voice for Kingdom of the Sun which was re conceived into The Emperor s New Groove and directed by Dindal but was removed from the project for being too New York 12 When he was approached to provide the voice for Buck Cluck Marshall claimed I said I don t do voices You want a chicken that talks like me fine So they hired me and they didn t fire me and it was like a closure on animation 19 Australian comedian Mark Mitchell was hired to re voice the character of Buck Cluck for the Australian release of the film as a decision by Disney to get a local personality to publicize the film 20 Animation To visualize this story Disney selected 50 percent of its 2D animation staff to put them in a CGI animation team and placed them through a rigorous eighteen month training program with George Lucas Industrial Light and Magic which included an introductory to Alias s Maya that would serve as the main 3D animation software used on the project This was due to Disney CEO Michael Eisner announcing that the studio would move to computer animation in response to a downturn caused by rising competition from Pixar and DreamWorks Animation computer animated features as well as the unsatisfactory box office performances of The Emperor s New Groove Atlantis The Lost Empire Treasure Planet 2002 and Home on the Range 2004 As some of the animators had worked on Dinosaur 2000 which used live action backgrounds 21 the animation team took inspiration for its staging coloring and theatrical lighting from Mary Blair s background designs featured in Alice in Wonderland 1951 and Peter Pan 1953 For the aesthetics in the background designs the background layout artists sparingly use digital matte paintings to render out the naturalistic elements including the trees and the baseball diamond but they were retouched using Adobe Photoshop as background cards featured in the film 22 The lighting department would utilize the Lumiere software to enhance virtual lighting for the shading form and depth and geometric rendering for the characters shadows 23 as well as use real lighting to create cucaloris 22 For the characters designs and animation style Dindal sought to capture the roundness as seen in the Disney animated works from the 1940s to 1950s 22 by which the characters fluidity of motion was inspired from the Goofy cartoon How to Play Baseball 1942 22 Under visual effects supervisor Steve Goldberg who spearheaded the department the Maya software included the software program Shelf Control that provided an outline of characters that can be viewed on screen and provided a direct link to the controls for specific autonomy as well as new electronic tablet screens were produced that allowed for the artists to draw digital sketches of the characters to rough out their movements which was then transferred to the 3D characters 23 All of the characters were constructed using geometric polygons 22 For the title character there were approximately fourteen to fifteen character designs before settling the design composed of an ovular egghead shape with oversized glasses The final character was constructed of 5 600 polygons 700 muscles and more than 76 000 individual feathers of which 55 000 are placed on his head 19 Following the casting of Braff supervising animator Jason Ryan adapted Braff s facial features during recording sessions to better combine the dorkiness and adorability the filmmakers desired He s got this really appealing face and eye expressions Ryan said adding that he was amazed by Braff s natural vocal abilities 14 Next the animators would utilize the software program Chicken Wire where digital wire deformers were provided for the animators to manipulate the basic geometric shapes to get their desired facial features Lastly a software development team constructed XGen a computer software program for grooming fur feathers and generating leaves 23 ReleaseThe film was originally scheduled for release on July 1 2005 24 but on December 7 2004 its release date was pushed back to November 4 2005 the release date that was originally slated for Disney Pixar s Cars 25 26 The release date change was also the day before DreamWorks Animation changed the release date of Shrek the Third from November 2006 to May 2007 27 Cars was later released on June 9 2006 At the time of the release of Chicken Little the co production deal between Disney and Pixar was set to expire with the release of Cars in 2006 The 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 28 On October 30 2005 the film premiered at the El Capitan Theatre with the cast and filmmakers as attendees which was followed with a ballroom bash at the Hollywood and Highland Center 29 30 31 Along with its standard theatrical release the film was the first Disney in house release to be rendered in Disney Digital 3D that was produced by Industrial Light amp Magic and exhibited via Dolby Digital Cinema servers at approximately 100 selected theaters in twenty five top markets 32 To describe the process Dindal remembers that it was a last minute decision as it was suggested just 11 months before its release For the 3D conversion Dindal had a specific way he wanted the film to look he wanted it to feel like a moving View Master As he puts it When I was a kid and I was really taken with something my first thought was Oh I want to step into that They felt like a window that you could step in I remember showing those and saying Can you make it look like this What is it about this that feels more 3D than most 3D films film like that 10 Marketing The first trailer was released online in early 2004 33 It was also attached to the DVD release of Brother Bear 34 Accompanied with the theatrical release Disney Consumer Products released a series of plush items toys activity sets keepsakes and apparel 35 Home media Chicken Little was first released on DVD on March 21 2006 in a single disc edition 36 The DVD contained the film accompanied with deleted scenes three alternate openings a 6 part making of featurette an interactive game a karaoke sing along two music videos and animation test footage of the female Chicken Little 37 38 The DVD sold over 2 7 million DVD units during its first week accumulating 48 million in consumer spending Overall consumer spending on its initial home video release grossed 142 6 million 39 The film was released for the first time on Blu ray on March 20 2007 and contained new features not included on the DVD A 3D Blu ray version was released on November 8 2011 40 A VHS version was also released but only as a Disney Movie Club exclusive presented in a rare fullscreen aspect ratio ReceptionBox office In its opening weekend Chicken Little grossed 40 million and debuted at 1 being the first Disney animated film to do so since Dinosaur 41 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 42 The film grossed 135 4 million in North America and 179 million in other countries for a worldwide total of 314 4 million 4 This reversed the slump that the company had been facing since 2000 during which time it released several films that underperformed most notably Fantasia 2000 1999 Atlantis The Lost Empire 2001 Treasure Planet 2002 and Home on the Range 2004 Critical response Rotten Tomatoes reports that 36 of 163 surveyed critics gave positive reviews the average score is 5 4 10 The critical consensus states Disney expends more effort in the technical presentation than in crafting an original storyline 7 Metacritic gave the film an average score of 48 based on 32 critics indicating mixed or average reviews 43 Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of A on an A to F scale 44 James Berardinelli writing his review for ReelViews gave the film two and a half stars out of four stating that It is bogged down by many of the problems that have plagued Disney s recent traditional animated features anonymous voice work poor plot structure and the mistaken belief that the Disney brand will elevate anything to a must see level for viewers starved for family friendly fare 45 On the syndicated television program Ebert amp Roeper critics Richard Roeper and Roger Ebert gave the film Two Thumbs Down with the former saying I don t care whether the film is 2 D 3 D CGI or hand drawn it all goes back to the story 46 In his print review featured in the Chicago Sun Times Roger Ebert stated the problem was the story and wrote As a general rule if a movie is not about baseball or space aliens and you have to use them anyway you should have started with a better premise Ebert concluded his review with The movie did make me smile It didn t make me laugh and it didn t involve my emotions or the higher regions of my intellect for that matter It s a perfectly acceptable feature cartoon for kids up to a certain age but it doesn t have the universal appeal of some of the best recent animation 47 Writing in The New York Times film critic A O Scott stated the film is a hectic uninspired pastiche of catchphrases and cliches with very little wit inspiration or originality to bring its frantically moving images to genuine life 48 Entertainment Weekly film reviewer Lisa Schwarzbaum who graded the film a C wrote that the banality of the acorns dropped in this particular endeavor another in a new breed of mass market comedy that substitutes self reference for original wit and pop songs for emotional content 49 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 50 Olly Richards of Empire Magazine gave the film a three out of five stars saying Beyond a cheeky twisty bit of genre tinkering there s more here for the under tens than over but it s still charming amusing and energetic enough to win you over 51 Angel Cohn of TV Guide gave the film three 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 52 Peter Rainer writing in The Christian Science Monitor graded the film with a A applauding that the visuals are irrepressibly witty and so is the script which morphs from the classic fable into a spoof on War of the Worlds I prefer this version to Spielberg s 53 Plugged In wrote A postscript for parents A single mistake defines Chicken Little and he spends the rest of his life trying to live it down As he puts it One moment destroyed my life Later another single moment his home run redefines him as a hero to his friends and his dad who says I guess that puts the whole sky is falling incident behind us once and for all Insecure and observant young viewers may latch on to this kind of oversimplification and use it as license to magnify the significance of their own bumblings whatever they might be 54 Common Sense Media gave the film a three out of five stars writing Cute sometimes frantic movie has peril potential scares 55 Dindal would express regret over the final version of the film I think Oh that early version Then I m reconnected with what I m thinking at the time And you re thinking how that version would have turned out If we had stuck with that instead of this If we had pushed Eisner and said It has to be a girl it could have been killed With this I wish I could see an alternate reality what that would have been like 10 Accolades At the 2005 Stinkers Bad Movie Awards this film won the award for Worst Animated Film At the 33rd Annie Awards it received four nominations for Best Animated Feature Best Animated Effects Best Character Design and Best Production Design losing all to Wallace amp Gromit The Curse of the Were Rabbit At the 2006 Kids Choice Awards it was nominated for Favorite Animated Movie but lost to Madagascar Award Date of Ceremony Category Recipients Results Ref Stinkers Bad Movie Awards 2006 Worst Picture Chicken Little Dishonourable Mention 56 Worst Animated Film WonCritics Choice Awards January 9 2006 Best Animated Feature Mark Dindal NominatedProducers Guild of America Awards January 22 2006 Producer of the Year Award in Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures Randy Fullmer Nominated 57 Annie Awards February 4 2006 Best Animated Feature Nominated 58 Best Animated Effects Feature Dale Mayeda NominatedBest Character Design Feature Joe Moshier NominatedBest Production Design Feature Ian Gooding Dan Cooper David Womersley Mac George NominatedKids Choice Awards April 1 2006 Favorite Animated Movie Chicken Little NominatedSoundtrackChicken LittleSoundtrack album by Various artistsReleasedNovember 1 2005GenrePoppop rockR amp Bfilm scoresoft rockLength39 05LabelWalt DisneyProducerJohn DebneyWalt Disney Animation Studios chronologyHome on the Range 2004 Chicken Little 2005 Meet the Robinsons 2007 The soundtrack album contains an original score composed and produced by John Debney who had previously worked with Dindal on The Emperor s New Groove 2000 with music by a wide range of artists some musical veterans such as Patti LaBelle and Diana Ross as well as others 59 Uniquely for a Disney animated film several of the songs are covers of classic popular songs such as Elton John s Don t Go Breaking My Heart Carole King s It s Too Late and the Spice Girls signature hit Wannabe However the film does include one original song One Little Slip by Barenaked Ladies The soundtrack was released on November 1 2005 by Walt Disney Records 59 Track listingNo TitleArtistLength1 Stir It Up Joss Stone and Patti LaBelle3 422 One Little Slip Barenaked Ladies2 533 Shake a Tail Feather The Cheetah Girls3 054 All I Know Five for Fighting3 255 Ain t No Mountain High Enough Diana Ross3 286 It s the End of the World as We Know It And I Feel Fine R E M 4 047 We Are the Champions Zach Braff0 388 Wannabe Joan Cusack and Steve Zahn0 509 Don t Go Breaking My Heart The Chicken Little Cast1 5310 The Sky is Falling score John Debney2 4911 The Big Game score John Debney4 0412 Dad Apologizes score John Debney3 1413 Chase to Cornfield score John Debney2 0014 Dodgeball score John Debney1 1515 Driving with Dad score John Debney1 45Total length 39 05Video gamesChicken Little spawned two video games The first Chicken Little is an action adventure game released for Xbox on October 18 2005 by Buena Vista Games Two days later it was released for PlayStation 2 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 60 The second video game Disney s Chicken Little Ace in Action is a multi platform video game for the Wii Nintendo DS Microsoft Windows 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 Chicken Little himself appears as a summon in the video game Kingdom Hearts II 61 His inclusion is somewhat noteworthy as Kingdom Hearts II debuted before the film in Japan with the character s inclusion serving as a promotion for the then upcoming movie Cancelled sequelDisneytoon Studios originally planned to make a direct to video sequel toChicken Little tentatively titled Chicken Little 2 The Ugly Duckling Story 62 Directed by Klay Hall the story would have involved Chicken Little getting into a love triangle between Abby Mallard and a beautiful newcomer Raffaela a French sheep Being at a great disadvantage Abby would go to great lengths to give herself a makeover According to Tod Carter a story artist on the film early screenings of the story reel were very well received prompting Disney to consider increasing the production budget to match the quality of the story 63 Soon after 2006 when John Lasseter became Walt Disney Animation Studios new chief creative officer he cancelled all sequels that were in development at Disneytoon including Chicken Little 2 Meet The Robinsons 2 First Date and a sequel to The Aristocats and ordered the studio to shift its focus towards spin off films and original productions 62 According to Carter this was a reaction to the sales figures for current projects and the overall market adding The executives didn t feel that the original film had a wide enough market to draw upon to support the sequel 63 References Chicken Little American Film Institute Archived from the original on October 29 2021 Retrieved October 29 2016 2005 Annual Report PDF The Walt Disney Company 2006 p 21 Archived PDF from the original on April 23 2016 Retrieved October 30 2016 In November 2005 Walt Disney Feature Animation WDFA marked a major milestone in its fabled history with the highly successful release of Chicken Little the Studio s first fully computer animated motion picture CHICKEN LITTLE U British Board of Film Classification November 4 2005 Archived from the original on August 22 2019 Retrieved November 14 2016 a b c Chicken Little 2005 Box Office Mojo Archived from the original on August 30 2019 Retrieved October 22 2009 Willman Chris March 17 2006 Chicken Little Entertainment Weekly Archived from the original on January 9 2016 Retrieved July 9 2015 This Chicken Little feature wasn t Disney s first stab at animating the enduring fable of animal alarmism In 1943 the studio released a short O Hehir Andrew July 13 2011 Can Winnie the Pooh save Disney from Pixar Salon Archived from the original on November 22 2015 Retrieved November 21 2015 The last release under the aegis of Walt Disney Feature Animation was Chicken Little in 2005 a b Chicken Little Rotten Tomatoes Fandango Archived from the original on May 31 2022 Retrieved October 5 2021 a b Hill Jim March 9 2005 Don t like the way your cartoon is turning out Hit rewind amp recast Jim Hill Media Archived from the original on July 8 2015 Retrieved February 8 2016 Caro Mark October 20 2005 Can this chicken save Disney Chicago Tribune p 2 Archived from the original on February 24 2016 Retrieved February 8 2016 a b c Drew Taylor November 9 2020 Disney s Chicken Little Inside the Troubled History of the Studio s First CGI Feature Collider Archived from the original on November 20 2020 Retrieved December 27 2020 a b Holson Laura September 20 2005 Has the Sky Stopped Falling at Disney The New York Times Archived from the original on May 29 2015 Retrieved February 8 2016 a b Lawson Terry November 8 2005 Original Recipe Sun Sentinel Archived from the original on February 16 2016 Retrieved February 8 2016 Hischak Thomas S September 15 2011 Disney Voice Actors A Biographical Dictionary McFarland ISBN 9780786486946 a b Carroll Larry November 2 2005 Zach Braff Calls Chicken Little Garden State On A Farm MTV News Viacom International Media Networks Archived from the original on March 2 2016 Retrieved February 8 2016 Schneider Michael April 28 2002 Storyline Jerry rigs Martin amp Lewis pic Variety Archived from the original on February 16 2016 Retrieved February 8 2016 Daly Steve Lee Alyssa July 18 2003 Toon Adventures Entertainment Weekly Retrieved February 8 2016 Hischak Thomas September 21 2011 Disney Voice Actors A Biographical Dictionary Jefferson North Carolina McFarland amp Company p 53 ISBN 978 0 7864 6271 1 Retrieved February 8 2016 Ball Ryan December 11 2003 Stars Fall for Chicken Little Animation Archived from the original on October 5 2016 Retrieved February 8 2016 a b Randall Laura November 2 2005 Chicken Little a big deal 3D animated film is a milestone for Garry Marshall amp Disney Philly com Archived from the original on March 4 2016 Retrieved February 9 2016 Chicken Little The Sydney Morning Herald December 29 2005 Archived from the original on August 19 2022 Retrieved April 2 2022 Henerson Evan November 4 2005 From pencils to pixels The Tuscaloosa News Los Angeles Daily News Archived from the original on April 17 2016 Retrieved February 9 2016 a b c d e The Sky s the Limit Computer Graphics World November 2005 Archived from the original on September 29 2015 Retrieved March 25 2012 a b c Desowitz Bill November 4 2005 Chicken Little amp Beyond Disney Rediscovers its Legacy Through 3D Animation Animation World Network Archived from the original on July 7 2014 Retrieved February 8 2016 Netherby Jennifer August 8 2004 In the pipeline Variety Retrieved February 8 2016 Verrier Richard January 16 2005 The plot is fiction but the panic is real Los Angeles Times Archived from the original on February 16 2016 Retrieved February 8 2016 Pixar Disney delay Cars release BBC News December 8 2004 Archived from the original on February 6 2019 Retrieved February 8 2016 Delay for Shrek 3 movie release BBC News December 10 2004 Archived from the original on September 27 2019 Retrieved March 20 2016 Holson Laura October 31 2005 For Disney and Pixar a Deal Is a Game of Chicken The New York Times Archived from the original on October 14 2017 Retrieved February 9 2016 Disney s Chicken Little Premiere YouTube Archived from the original on November 18 2022 Retrieved November 18 2022 Heck William October 31 2005 Chicken Little gang wings it USA Today Archived from the original on February 20 2016 Retrieved February 8 2016 Taylor Paula November 2 2005 Mouse plays Chicken Variety Retrieved February 8 2016 Ball Ryan June 28 2005 Chicken Little to Christen Disney Digital 3D Animation Archived from the original on February 15 2016 Retrieved February 8 2016 Linder Brian April 15 2004 Chicken Little Teaser IGN Archived from the original on March 12 2022 Retrieved March 11 2022 Brother Bear DVD Review DVDizzy com Archived from the original on September 26 2022 Retrieved March 12 2022 Disney Store Offers Widest Selection of Exclusive Chicken Little Merchandise Disney Store is Chicken Little Headquarters This Holiday Season with a Variety of Small and Large Plush Items Toys Activity Sets Keepsakes and Apparel Press release Glendale California Business Wire November 4 2005 Retrieved February 8 2016 Walt Disney Home Entertainment January 20 2006 Disney s 1 Animated Movie of 2005 Is Coming To DVD And Video DVDizzy com Archived from the original on February 15 2012 Retrieved November 7 2012 Ball Ryan March 21 2006 Chicken Little Falls on DVD Animation Archived from the original on February 15 2016 Retrieved February 8 2016 Desowitz Bill March 21 2006 Chicken Little Hatches on DVD Animation World Network Archived from the original on February 21 2016 Retrieved February 8 2016 Chicken Little Video Sales The Numbers Archived from the original on February 22 2016 Retrieved February 8 2016 Smith Matthew August 8 2011 Bolt G FORCE Chicken Little and Meet the Robinsons 3D Blu rays Blu ray com Archived from the original on September 19 2011 Retrieved October 12 2011 Gray Brandon November 7 2005 Welcome to the Cluck Chicken Little Jarhead Top Weekend Box Office Mojo Archived from the original on July 28 2009 Retrieved October 22 2009 Gray Brandon November 14 2005 Zathura Derailed 50 Cent Below Chicken Little in Pecking Order Box Office Mojo Archived from the original on January 17 2010 Retrieved October 22 2009 Chicken Little 2005 Reviews Metacritic CBS Interactive Archived from the original on February 27 2009 Retrieved October 22 2009 Gray Brandon November 7 2005 Welcome to the Cluck Chicken Little Jarhead Top Weekend Box Office Mojo Archived from the original on November 23 2016 Retrieved November 22 2016 Berardinelli James Chicken Little United States 2005 ReelViews Archived from the original on September 27 2019 Retrieved February 8 2016 Ebert Roger host Roeper Richard host November 2005 Chicken Little Review Ebert amp Roeper Buena Vista Television Ebert Roger November 3 2005 Chicken Little Movie Review rogerebert com Archived from the original on February 16 2016 Retrieved February 8 2016 Scott A O November 4 2005 A Chick Flick With Aliens Falling From the Sky The New York Times Archived from the original on May 29 2015 Retrieved October 22 2009 Schwarzbaum Lisa November 4 2005 Chicken Little Review Entertainment Weekly Retrieved February 8 2016 Burr Ty November 4 2005 Disney s digital animation can t bump Pixar in the pecking order Boston com The Boston Globe Archived from the original on April 27 2006 Retrieved October 22 2009 Chicken Little Review Movie Empire Archived from the original on January 13 2021 Retrieved January 13 2021 Cohn Angel Chicken Little Review TV Guide Archived from the original on January 4 2011 Retrieved October 22 2009 Rainer Peter November 8 2005 Movie Guide The Christian Science Monitor Archived from the original on November 6 2005 Retrieved January 8 2016 Chicken Little Archived from the original on January 15 2021 Retrieved January 13 2021 Chicken Little Movie Review March 20 2006 Archived from the original on August 17 2022 Retrieved January 13 2021 Stinkers Bad Movie Awards 2005 Winners Archived from the original on February 21 2006 Retrieved May 10 2022 Rushfield Richard Lynch Rene January 23 2006 Brokeback Mountain Wins Producers Guild Award Los Angeles Times Archived from the original on March 5 2016 Retrieved August 20 2016 Annie Awards 33rd Annie Awards Archived from the original on January 2 2013 Retrieved May 10 2022 a b Walt Disney Records October 25 2005 Get Ready to Shake Your Tail Feather to the Sounds of Walt Disney Records Chicken Little Soundtrack Featuring Fresh Not Frozen Hits from Patti LaBelle and Joss Stone The Cheetah Girls Barenaked Ladies and Five for Fighting Press release Business Wire Archived from the original on August 23 2015 Retrieved August 23 2015 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 Archived from the original on January 3 2014 Retrieved January 1 2014 Square Enix and Disney s Buena Vista Games Unveil All Star Voice Cast for Kingdom Hearts II Press release Square Enix March 28 2006 Retrieved November 2 2011 via PR Newswire a b Hill Jim June 20 2007 Say So Long to direct to video sequels DisneyToon Studios tunes out Sharon Morrill Jim Hill Media Archived from the original on August 21 2010 Retrieved February 7 2015 a b Noyer Jeremie October 20 2008 DisneyToon Studios and The Sequels That Never Were with Tod Carter Animated Views Archived from the original on June 22 2010 Retrieved March 12 2017 External links Wikiquote has quotations related to Chicken Little 2005 film Disney portal Film portal United States portal Comedy portal Cartoon portalOfficial website Chicken Little production notes at The Walt Disney Company Nordic Chicken Little at IMDb Chicken Little at the TCM Movie Database Chicken Little at The Big Cartoon DataBase Chicken Little at AllMovie Chicken Little at Box Office Mojo Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Chicken Little 2005 film amp oldid 1164909244, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

article

, read, download, free, free download, mp3, video, mp4, 3gp, jpg, jpeg, gif, png, picture, music, song, movie, book, game, games.