Chicken Little

Disney produced its first fully 3D computer animated film without the help of Pixar in 2005. Chicken Little, starring Zach Braff, Garry Marshal, Joan Cusack, Steve Zahn, Dan Molina, Amy Sedaris, and Mark Walton, was also the last Disney animated film made before John Lasseter took over as CEO. It made over $300 million.

Chicken Little (Braff) is a nerdy boy bullied in school because of the one time he caused waves of panic by warning that the sky was falling. Tending to hang out with the unpopular kids, Abby Mallard (Cusack) and Runt of the Litter (Zahn) and Fish out of Water (Molina), he uncovers the presence of extraterrestrials in his town. Now, he must warn the extremely skeptical townsfolk before all havoc breaks loose.

It’s really obvious that this is Disney’s first CGI film without any help from Pixar. Mainly because the film is trying to be something it’s not. Mainly a Dreamworks movie. There’s so many half-baked pop culture jokes that don’t go anywhere alongside really good jokes that have little to no follow up.

Furthermore the plot is just completely idiotic, trying to follow up on a story that really didn’t need one. It basically becomes Chicken Little meets War of the Worlds, except it’s not really War of the Worlds, because the aliens just want acorns. The entire film is basically a cliché with ideas borrowed from more successful films.

Like a lot of other films Disney put out in this era, it really lacks the magic and charm that Disney’s other films had. Instead of trying to be groundbreaking, it tried to be a copycat.

#97.