Chicken Little

[droosan]

Loved the aliens while I was watching, though some story points didn't make sense (they were crossing off planets they had been looking for their kid on when he was on the spaceship the whole time??)

The aliens weren't searching for their kid when they first landed; they were searching for acorns .. the planets which were 'crossed-off' didn't have any acorns. (We learn this only at the end, when the mother alien says "we searched all over the galaxy for the best acorns, but we can only find them right here.")

While the parents were out gathering acorns, Kirby left his little stasis-beam/crib and wandered off after Chicken Little and his friends. When the parents returned to their saucer and discovered the 'crib' was empty, they noticed Chicken Little & co trying to leave, became 'angry', and gave chase.

I especially liked the 'expressions' the alien suits could make by lighting-up various 'eyebrow' patterns ..

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Though, one story point that was brought up -- and which seemed fairly important, but was never followed-up on -- was the aliens' aversion to the 'BONG-BONG' sound of the School Bell, which was visibly unpleasant to Kirby and his parents (it was enough to scare them off and send for help). I'd expected CL to realize this somehow during the alien fleet invasion, and to use this knowledge to halt them in their tracks .. but it never came to pass.

[Sullivan]

Though, one story point that was brought up -- and which seemed fairly important, but was never followed-up on -- was the aliens' aversion to the 'BONG-BONG' sound of the School Bell, which was visibly unpleasant to Kirby and his parents (it was enough to scare them off and send for help). I'd expected CL to realize this somehow during the alien fleet invasion, and to use this knowledge to halt them in their tracks .. but it never came to pass.

Yes it does.

When Runt, fish Chicken Little and Buck are in the firetruck, and their way is blocked by a group of aliens, Fish starts ringing the firetruck bell, which causes them all to short-circuit and shoot sparks. The firetruck then plows through them.


All of these things are hard to catch while you're watching it. But my friend, after seeing the film only once, picked up on that bell gag and loved the payoff to have Fish do it.

He said that it was great to have it set up, and then see it pay off, but not for the end, which would be cheap. You THINK that's how CL will save the day, but it isn't, and that's why he liked it.

Myself, I DID those shots, and I almost miss them, they're such quick cuts. And really I'm always focused on Runt, since I think his whole "I will Survive" gag there is hilarious.

Funniest moment in the movie: The light from above that hits Runt on the music note that starts "I will Survive." It makes me bust up every single time.

[Sullivan]

Was it me, or was Zach's voice too old for ChickLit?

I've heard a few people say that. But Chicken Little is supposed to be fourteen or fifteen. Once I tell them that, they say "Oh, I thought he was supposed to be seven or eight, he's so small."

I don't think people get that he's a pipsqueak. That's his problem. Chicken Little. Anyway, maybe his age could be clearer.

But I love Zach's vocal characteristics for CL. One of the great things is the naturalistic dialogue. It's almost like Creature Comforts in the lip synch in places. Characters start and stop sentences and rephrase things mid-sentence. There's lip smacks, characters talking over each other live and other vocal imperfections that animation usually removes in the editing process. A very organic performance from Zach and Garry, and it really shows in those slow scenes. Great, subtle acting from the animation, too.

I wish more animation focused so much on acting. The organic nature is really endearing.

[Ben]

I think ChickLit's age is confused.

Yes, he is obviously a teenager - he's in high school - but then you have these talks with his Dad that come off like he's supposed to be younger, and the baseball game that screams of little league.

Then again, you have the voice that sounds slightly too old, and the marketing that has the title character in a full blown suit, looking late 20s/early 30s at least!

Not too hot on the character, but the movie was fun enough.

[Meg]

I'm confused as to *why* he's not younger. What's wrong with having him be like, ten? Won't he be as 'cool'?

[ShyViolet]

I guess if he was a little kid they wouldn't have been able to do jokes that were as "hip" or something and have all that deep father-son talk.

I really thought he was supposed to be a little boy. That's why I found his voice somewhat confusing.

Oh well.

I mean, go back to the begining of the first Cars thread http://animated-news.com/forum/viewtopi ... 43&start=0 (more than a year ago) and check out Mr. Squarepants' avatar which is an early Chicken image.
He very much looks like a little boy there.

Thought Fish was fun, while the Pig character was as annoying and had as much "executive enforced" humor as I'd gathered from the trailer.

I liked Runt.

[Sullivan]

I'm confused as to *why* he's not younger. What's wrong with having him be like, ten? Won't he be as 'cool'?

I think the idea really was that he has a problem with his size. If he was a younger kid, he would be the same size as all the other kids.

He's supposed to be a pipsqueak, unable to do the thinks that other kids his age can do, and lending into the relationship of contrasts with his great big dad. His dad wants him to take the easy way out. But Chicken Little thinks that he can compete with the best of them, despite his size. Chicken Little's strength is that he's got a whole lot of ways he can make up for his small size. He's developed an ability to cope with his size, which the opening title sequence shows. This comes into play a number of times in the film.

CL is a kid full of frustrations, and the film is supposed to chronicle his journey toward being able to come to terms with them.

Maybe they didn't do a good enough job expressing that. But his size is his problem. Make him a little kid, and you take away that problem. You also destroy the ability to have a thorny relationship with Buck, because a younger kid is less able to evaluate the emotions of themselves seperate from their parents.

Plus, if he's a little kid, there's no way his dad lets him outside alone after dark. So there's no way he goes to the spaceship.


The whole movie is built up based on these things. Change his age, and you have to change the whole movie.

Which may be good, and it may be bad. You may be able to construct a movie you like better!

But there are reasons for this stuff.

[Sullivan]

Runt is great, but kind of obvious sometimes.

I think the great outweighs the obvious. And the animation is fantastic on Runt, so that combined with the voice carries me.

[Macaluso]

I always assumed EVERY child character in that movie was in elementary school. Zach Braff never detured me from thinking otherwise either. If anyone has ever seen the cartoon "Home Movies", Brandon has a completely adult voice, but you never think of him as anything other than a kid in elementary school.

I'd also like to say, Zach Braff was pefect for that role. As someone who is a fan of Scrubs, I found his nerdish voice for the part awesome.

[JustinWilliams]

The new Chicken Little site has quite a bit of interest as well as confirmation of the DVD Extras listings

[Dacey]

I just thought of this as one of those movies where all of the kids talk with adult voices. It didn't really confuse me or anything like that.

[Dacey]

That's a nice website.

Interesting how they have room for Morkupine Porcupine on the cover art, but not Abby Mallard. That's just stupid.

[PatrickvD]

worst. cover. art. ever.

the whole men in black spoof has nothing to do with anything, it's fun for a poster but not for the dvd cover. And yeah, the porcupine character is barely even in the film. Abby Mallard should have been on there.

[Meg]

I never liked the MIB spoof in the first place! Eugh.

[Macaluso]

I loved the MIB spoof, and I love the cover, but it bothers me that the ugly duckling isn't on the cover.