| Chicken Little - Movie
The story begins on the day when "everything took a turn for the
worse". Chicken Little's declaration that the sky was falling
caused a chain reaction of chaotic events in the little town
inhabited by animals. After it was decided that it was "gibberish
of an insane person", and Chicken Little's father apologizes for
his son's "embarrassing" behavior, the poor little guy is picked
on incessantly. "Picked on" was, in fact, a huge understatement.
There were books, papers, commemorative plates, and web sites
dedicated to Chicken Little's "faux pas".
 Chicken
Little's father, who was once a baseball star (Buck "Ace" Cluck),
is painfully embarrassed of his own son. He tells him to "lay
low". In their rejection of Chicken Little, the town is
exaggeratedly abusive. The gym teacher at his school, for example,
divides the class into "popular versus unpopular" teams for
dodgeball.
Chicken Little has a few buddies. Although they're definitely
not as unpopular as he is, they are certainly in the "outcast"
crowd: Runt of the Litter is a huge, cowardly, karaoke-loving
pig; Abby is the Ugly Duckling, a bookish duck who cares a lot
for Chicken Little; and Fish Out of Water, a naively optimistic
fish who speaks gibberish simply because his head is immersed in
a bowl of water.
Chicken Little is determined to prove himself to his father,
and feels that all he needs is a chance to do something heroic in
order to make up for the whole "sky is falling" incident. He gets
that opportunity, and has a fun but brief reconciliation with his
father before once again he witnesses a "piece of the sky"
falling, meets with aliens, and feels the need to ring the town's
bell to warn its residents. This time around, he's not only
crying out that the sky is falling, but that aliens are invading
Earth as well.
The father's sense of inadequacy is apparent, especially as we
learn that his wife is presumably deceased, and he admits that
she would have known how to handle the whole situation.
The movie pokes fun at itself frequently. Cute little touches
include characters deciding how to open the movie, and the final
scene, in which a glorified Hollywood movie is made of the whole
story a year after it took place. The mayor of this town is a
turkey in more ways than just literally, and Runt, the over-sized
pig, curses his "genetically tiny legs".
Themes & Language: Some parents will find a few
themes questionable. For example, Chicken Little's father makes a
big turnaround from discouraging and disbelieving his son to
believing in him unfailingly, even as he is taking some
out-of-this world safety risks. There's not much moderation here.
Character Development: Chicken Little's buddies are
hilarious, well-developed characters who are "outcasts". Kids
loved Fish Out of Water most.
|
| Reviewed: November 2005
Chicken Little - Games Chicken Little for the
XBox features plenty of clips from the movie, three challenge
levels, and a whole variety of games within the adventure.
Like the movie, it pokes fun at itself and at merchandising.
For example, mechanical Chicken Little Toys, who repeat "the
sky is falling" over and over again, are enemies. The game is
holding the interest of our 9 year old testers. Also available
for the PS2, Gamecube, GBA, and the PC. For more
information, user reviews, or to buy: XB Disney's Chicken Little |
