Chicken Little(Blu-ray) (2005)

Editor's Note Disney's first venture into the realm of CGI animation (without Pixar) tells the tale of all-animal town Oakey Oaks's most infamous resident, Chicken Little (voiced by Zach Braff), who causes town-wide panic when he claims the sky is falling. A year later he's still shunned by everyone, including his dad (Gary Marshall), a single rooster with an incredibly wide tie. Determined to end his losing streak, the bespectacled Little joins the baseball team, even though he can barely lift the bat. Luckily his three equally outcast friends have faith in him: a pig with a yen for '70s disco (Steve Zahn); a Harpo Marx-esque goldfish in a diving helmet; and Abby, a buck-toothed female duckling (Joan Cusak). According to her sources in magazines such as Modern Mallard, Abby is sure Chicken Little merely needs "closure" with dad over the sky incident. But when the sky really does start falling due to a full-on alien invasion, and only Chicken Little knows why, dad still doesn't want to believe him. Kids are sure to understand Chick's frustration in this matter, and parents will dig the sly riffs on films like VERTIGO (1958), THE BLOB (1959), INDEPENDENCE DAY (1996), and WAR OF THE WORLDS (1953), as well as Disney's own back catalog. In place of the usual musical numbers, CHICKEN LITTLE includes montages set to Barenaked Ladies songs and reinterpreted pop favorites (the old Art Garfunkel gut-wrencher, "All I Know," is a standout), while celebrity voiceovers come from Harry Shearer, Wallace Shawn, Patrick Stewart, Adam West, and Don Knotts, with Amy Sedaris as the obnoxious "Foxy Loxy."

	Joan Cusack
	Fred Willard
	Don Knotts
	Zach Braff
	Catherine O'Hara
	Steve Zahn
	Ron J. Friedman - Screenwriter
	Steve Bencich - Screenwriter
	Randy Fulmer - Producer
	John Debney - Composer
	Garry Marshall - Director

USA Today
"Lusciously pigmented, child-friendly CHICKEN LITTLE is no HOWARD THE DUCK..." 11/23/2005 p.7D

Sight and Sound
"CHICKEN LITTLE turns out to be good-hearted fun....With snappy cartoon comedy, amusing characters and a pleasingly fresh approach." 03/01/2006 p.54

Total Film
3 stars out of 5 -- "Movie references abound....The real selling-point is the startling picture quality..." 07/01/2006 p.117