Reviewer's Bias*
Loves: Animation, Zach Braff, Fish Out of Water
Likes: Good CGI Animation
Dislikes: Most of Disney's movies
Hates: Weak storytelling

The Movie
Most people know the old "Chicken Little" story, in which a little chicken mistakenly interprets an acorn falling on his head as the sky falling down, and panics his friends with his worry. This animated adaptation of the story could be considered a post-modern take, as the sky really is falling this time, and it's the result of any alien invasion. Of course, still no one believes Chicken Little (Zack Braff, Garden State), so he, with the help of his pals, including the adorable Fish Out Of Water, must save the Earth in a climactic action sequence.

In order to stretch this rather simple plot into a feature-length film, the creators slid a story about a single father (Garry Marshall) and his difficulties in relating with his son underneath the main action of Chicken Little's quest to stop the aliens and redeem his good name. This addition, supported by a oft-seen and derivative geek-trying-and-succeeding-at-sports sequence, probably doubles the length of the film, and truthfully could have been eliminated without affecting the rest of the film. But can you have a Disney film without family issues?

To its core, this movie is standard Disney, right down to the musical scenes that attempt to generate false emotion and do little to advance the storyline. While the competitive influence of Pixar is obvious in slightly reining in the Disney feel, it hasn't helped make the studio better storytellers, as they continue to focus on family-friendly style (or marketing potential) over substance (see the ridiculously Poochie-like Morkubine Porcupine for an example.) As a result, their traditional attempts to take a old story and animate it simply don't work here. There's just not enough material for a full film.

While Chicken Little may come up short on story (and film for that matter at just 74 minutes), the movie is packed with acting talent, starting with Braff as the titular hero. Able to express plenty of emotion through his voice, he was a solid choice to play the lead. He's supported by a group of very recognizable and capable voices, including the always enjoyable Garry Marshall, Joan Cusack, Steve Zahn, Amy Sedaris, Patrick Stewart, Don Knotts, Harry Shearer, Fred Willard, Catherine O'Hara...it really is incredible that the filmmakers were able to pull together such a great cast. If only they had given them something better to do.

The success of Pixar's movies has come mainly from the fact that they appeal equally to adults and children. Chicken Little doesn't hold much appeal for either group. The action scenes are well-visualized, but without any true emotional connection, while the comedy is either shooting for kids' sensibilities or simply lame (though admittedly, I laughed out loud twice), but without the cute factor the usual babysitter videos have. What's worse is the respect shown for the traditions of animation, which indicates a real knowledge of the genre that unfortunately goes to waste here. Perhaps, with the support of the incoming Pixar administration at Disney, these creators will have another chance to show what they can do.

The DVD
Packed in a standard keepcase with a promotional booklet and a two-sided insert that lists chapter stops and provides a map of the DVD, Chicken Little is a one-disc affair, with an animated, anamorphic widescreen main menu, which offers options to watch the film, select scenes, view bonus features, adjust the languages and check out previews. The scene-selection menus feature still previews and titles for each chapter, while audio options include English, French and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1, and English SDH subtitles. As is usually the case with Disney DVDs, the disc features FastPlay, which starts the film automatically.

The Quality
The anamorphic widescreen transfer looks as clean as one would expect from a recent CGI film, with excellent clarity, a crisp level of detail and good color. There's not a spot of dirt or damage either. The only questionable part is the brightness of the image in many parts of the film, as it seems slightly dull. It's not a deal-breaker, but it's unusual nonetheless.

The Dolby Digital 5.1 audio is rather impressive, delivering a deep sound field that takes advantage of all your speakers. Quality directionality and good atmospheric sound effects give the film a dynamic sound that works well with the action sequences, while the dialogue is clean and well reproduced and the music enjoys serious enhancement in the surrounds.

The Extras
Appropriately, since the film is less than special, the features are similarly disappointing, made up mainly of kid-focused fluff. The only bits of interest for film fans are a set of four deleted scenes and a making-of featurette. The deleted scenes are available with or without video introductions from director Mark Dindal and producer Randy Fullmer, and include three alternate opening scenes. Presented in various forms, including storyboards, finished animation and everything in between, the 10 minutes of footage offers some interesting info about the film's development, especially the alternate openings.

"Hatching Chicken Little" runs about 18 minutes long, and takes a look behind the scenes of the film, covering the voice actors, the story, the animation, and so forth. It's average as far as DVD supplements go, though the info is good, as it explains, somewhat, why they film feels like a bit of a retread, whether it meant to or not. It can be viewed in one lump or as five individual chapters, the best of which are "Birds of a Feather," the piece on the actors, and "Rock-a-Doodle-Doo," which includes a freestyle Chicken Little rap from the Barenaked Ladies.

The rest of the package is made up of games and music videos, including the Barenaked Ladies' "One Little Slip," which is available as a video, karaoke track and sing-along feature, The Cheetah Girls' teen-pop "Shake Your Tail Feather" and a trivia-game called "Where's Fish," which features the voice of Harry Shearer.- This stuff is aimed directly at the younger set, and the BNL video is sadly just a mix of in-studio video and film clips.

On the Hunt...
There's at least one Easter Egg on this DVD, and they make it very obvious where it is. It's also not the most entertaining content.

The Bottom Line
Chicken Little is not a bad film, and in terms of its technical quality, it is quite good. The only thing missing is a storyline that is worthy of a feature film. Unfortunately, as seen in Dinosaur and other Disney fare, this is not an uncommon problem. The DVD looks and sounds great, and includes a couple of decent extras, but it doesn't hold up when compared with the Pixars and Dreamworks of the world. Give it a rent and see if you (or your kids) will be into it before investing.

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*The Reviewer's Bias section is an attempt to help readers use the review to its best effect. By knowing where the reviewer's biases lie on the film's subject matter, one can read the review with the right mindset.