With the imminent release of Disney’s latest fully computer generated animation Chicken Little, the UK public waits with baited breath to see if Disney can make it big without the help of Pixar.
It can’t be denied that the Disney films Toy Story, A Bug’s Life, Toy Story 2, Monsters Inc, Finding Nemo and The Incredibles were knock out successes, but it is a well known fact that these films were done in association with Pixar Animation Studios. This time around however, Disney have created Chicken Little completely in-house and based on the reaction from US audiences, the lack of Pixar’s deft touch is evident.
 What’s it all about? Well, it is now one year after the “unfortunate acorn incident” when Chicken Little caused big-time havoc in his hometown of Oakey Oaks by proclaiming that the sky was falling after being hit on the head by what turned out to be an acorn. Down but not out, the plucky chicken joins the local baseball team in the hopes of reviving his reputation and winning the respect of his father, Buck Cluck. When he leads the town to an upset victory, he becomes the toast of the town, but no sooner has the champion chicken redeemed himself when he is hit on the head one more time. And this time the sky really is falling! Fearful of once again being labelled crazy, he is reluctant to tell anyone what has happened. Instead, he enlists the help of his closest pals -- Runt of the Litter, Abby Mallard (aka Ugly Duckling), and Fish Out of Water -- in an attempt to save the day without sending the town into a whole new panic.
A plethora of talented actors and actresses lend voices to the animated stars of Chicken Little. Zach Braff, star of the hit US series “Scrubs,” brings offbeat humour, a sense of determination, and lots of explosive energy to the likeable little title character. Veteran director and all-around funny man Garry Marshall (“Pretty Woman,” “The Princess Diaries”) provides the distinctive voice of Buck Cluck, frustrated father of Chicken Little and a former baseball star. Actress Joan Cusack adds warmth and comedy to the vocal performance of Abby Mallard (aka Ugly Duckling), a beautiful friend who has no shortage of advice to share. Steve Zahn (“Sahara,” “Happy, Texas”) takes on the big role of Runt of the Litter, a skittish 900-pound porker who is the smallest in his family. Dan Molina, the film’s editor, creates the non-verbal sounds for Fish Out of Water, aided and abetted by a five-gallon bottle of water and a drinking straw. Chicken Little’s nemesis, Foxy Loxy, is voiced by Amy Sedaris, the popular star of such programs as “Sex and the City” and “Strangers with Candy.”
 The film’s supporting cast includes performances from some top US comic talents. Don Knotts gets a promotion to play Mayor Turkey Lurkey, comic actor Harry Shearer (“The Simpsons,” “This is Spinal Tap”) reports for vocal duty as the play-by-play canine commentator at the big baseball game and Patrick Stewart gives a sheepish performance as the humourless high school teacher, Mr. Woolensworth. Fred Willard and Catherine O’Hara team up for laughs as concerned alien parents, Melvin and Tina, who are on a mission to find their missing kid, Kirby. Adam West turns in a commanding performance as the voice of Ace, Hollywood’s version of Chicken Little in the movie version of his life. Patrick Warburton, who delighted audiences as the dim-witted Kronk in “Emperor’s New Groove,” provides a memorable cameo here as the alien cop.
On top of this, it seems that Disney are trying to go one stage further with Chicken Little - they have teamed up with the special effects giant ILM (Industrial Light and Magic) to render a 3d version of the movie, which is due to be shown across the US soon where the film will be shown using specially installed Dolby Digital Cinema systems.
Unfortunately, once again, UK audiences have had to wait far too long for another big release to make it to British soil. The movie was released in US cinemas on 4th November 2005 and the UK release date is set for 10th February 2006 – yes, a whole 3 months later! Not only that, but we are one of the last countries to receive it! Grrr… We’ll save that argument for another article, but is it any wonder that the audiences on this side of the Atlantic don’t seem as excited about this movie as they usually are when a Disney film is released?
 Disney have a huge reputation for creating humorous, heartfelt family entertainment, but reaction from US audiences has been somewhat muted this time around. Some reviews and reactions level this squarely on the shoulders of Disney for discontinuing their long and successful relationship with Pixar. Pixar have said that its five films so far - including Toy Story, Monsters Inc. and Finding Nemo - have taken in $2.5 billion at the worldwide box office and sold more than 150 million DVDs and videos. Finding Nemo was the highest grossing animated film of all time. With such an obviously successful partnership, you can understand where the criticism for Chicken Little has come from, but you would have thought that Disney had enough experience to be able to make this film a huge success, and although US reaction is split at the moment, I’ve no doubt it will end up a success in the end.
Although I make Chicken Little sound like a complete disaster, the US box office takings for the opening weekend of the movie were a nice $40 million, and so far it has grossed a whopping $133 million… and that’s before it is released in the UK! The criticism so far seems to be levelled at the fact that the running time of the film is a short 81 minutes which leaves audiences feeling a bit “short changed,” as well as the comparison between this movie and the previous “all computer generated” movies. Storyline wise, it looks like most audiences have so far enjoyed what they have seen, it just remains to be seen if it can live up to the other classic Disney movies which have laid down a benchmark for future productions.
BREAKING NEWS: Just as this article was about to be released, it has been announced this morning that Disney have bought Pixar Animation Studios for a whopping $7 billion dollars. Get the full scoop here. It looks like they've done a bit more than resolve their differences - it appears Disney didn't want to see them go to another movie studio.
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