CS Weekly Archive > Weekend Read > 11/04/05

A Little Lame

By danny munso

Chicken Little

Steve Bencich & Ron J. Friedman
Additional story material by Robert L. Baird and Dan Gerson

A new chapter in Walt Disney Animation begins with a new twist on the familiar fable of Chicken Little. Unfortunately, for Disney fans and traditionalists, the studio that was once on the cutting edge of creativity has become run-of-the-mill and, dare I say, uncool. The idea is not bad: Chicken Little (voiced by Zach Braff) is disgraced when he claims the sky is falling, only to discover the sky wasn't actually falling -- rather, Earth is possibly being invaded by another planet. Unfortunately, the films ends up coming across as a cheap imitation, trying to duplicate DreamWorks' pop-culture-soaked jokes and ignoring Pixar's gift for storytelling. Chicken Little's main sin is that in its apparent attempt to captivate adult audiences like Finding Nemo and Shrek have, the script has abandoned the children altogether. No child will understand why a pig is singing "I Will Survive," and if they laugh at the Barbara Streisand jokes, they have bigger problems than this movie. Given its current string of box-office disappointments, it's sad to see the once mighty Disney struggling to keep up with newer competitors that have seemingly passed it by. Somewhere, Walt is frowning.

Chicken Little
Walt Disney Pictures
Rated G; 81 min.

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Danny Munso graduated from film school in 2004 and can currently be found on his computer working on one of his many half-written screenplays. Or, more likely, he's on the Internet checking the scores of his beloved Bay Area sports teams.

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