Chicken Little thinks the sky is falling when he is hit in the head by an octagonal shaped disc, but it’s just an alien invasion in the 2005 Walt Disney Animation Studios film, “Chicken Little.” This film is meant to be a timeless tale about a son’s need to bond with his father when they have very little in common. Instead, it’s a bloated mess that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. It’s still better than “Home on the Range” though.

I think this film could’ve worked if it spent more time deciding what it wanted to be instead of trying to be both a coming of age story and an action film. The need for bonding between a father and son could’ve easily worked without the alien invasion story. Likewise, the alien invasion film could’ve worked without the father and son bonding story. They had the beginnings of two very good ideas, but tried to cram them both into the movie and gave us something very mediocre.

It’s a real shame the story is lacking because the animation is beautiful. This was in the midst of Disney’s Experimental Age of Animation and you can see how hard they are trying to make the 3D animation style work. They, of course, would eventually master it, but right here it was still in its infancy for Disney. The animation holds up better than “Dinosaur” or “Treasure Planet.” It’s really a beautiful film. I would like to revisit it more often, but the story does the animation no favors.

This is not the worst Disney film I’ve ever seen. This is not the worst Disney film of the Experimental Age of Animation. Both of those dishonors belong to “Home on the Range.” But it’s not one I plan to go back and watch. I didn’t hate it, but I didn’t love it. Like so many of the Walt Disney Animation Studios films of the 2000s, it’s just kind of there. And that may be worse than being bad, because, at least, bad can be memorable.

Ranking: 2.5 stars

What did you think of “Chicken Little?”

Jeremy Brown

Jeremy has been a big Disney fan since he was a kid growing up during the Disney Renaissance. One day he hopes to go to every Disney Park in the world.

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