Grade: C | Genre: Family/Animation Summary: Let's go ahead and get this out of the way: The sky is NOT falling. However, Chicken Little may be a sign that it is, in fact, starting to cave-in around Disney. As the inspiration for its first full-length 3-D animation without Pixar, Disney's Chicken Little adopts the classic fable of the panic-stricken chicken that proclaimed the sky was falling. In this Disneyfied version, we see Chicken Little (voiced by Zach Braff) as he still lives under the shadow of that fateful day. In addition to the continuous mocking from the whole town, his father (Garry Marshall) seems to have gone the way of the masses and is embarrassed by his son. But just as Chicken Little's string of bad luck seems to come to an end, he comes in contact with another piece of the "sky," and he finds himself smack dab in the middle of an alien invasion. That's right... an alien invasion.

The voice talents of Zach Braff, Joan Cusack (Abbey Mallard) and Steve Zahn (Runt of the Litter) are accompanied by an endless list of fun "guest appearances" by the likes of Patrick Stewart, Don Knotts and even Adam West. But considering the erratic nature of the loosely constructed plot, Disney is getting more out of having them than they will from listing Chicken Little on their resumes.

Chicken Little Starring: Voices of Zach Braff, Fred Willard, Patrick Stewart, Catherine O'Hara & Harry Shearer Director: Mark Dindal View the Trailer (Quicktime) Related Articles A Video Message from Zach Braff Scrubs: Season 1 DVD Tim Burton's Corpse Bride

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It also seems the Disney trademark of original, memorable and beautifully composed soundtracks of such favorites as Aladdin or The Lion King have been replaced with renditions of "Stayin' Alive" and "If You Wanna Be My Lover" by the Spice Girls. The handful of original songs composed for Chicken Little are generic and lack that Disney magic with which composer Alan Menken (Beauty and the Beast and The Little Mermaid) has become synonymous.

But where Disney does quietly succeed is it's clever play with the animal inhabitants of Oakey Oaks. Some of Chicken Little's classmates are Foxy Loxy, Fuzzy Wuzzy and Goosey Loosey; and they are also able to pull-off many sight gags, like having a bull working in a china shop. But one of the more creative inventions (not to mention personal favorite) is Chicken Little's friend Fish Out of Water. As a goldfish that dons a diving helmet for survival, Fish Out of Water is the silent one of the gang (resembling South Parks' Kenny) who takes full advantage of his mime stature to get laughs.

Disney has also managed to turn "being a Chicken Little" into a good thing, making it synonymous with being courageous, and for storytelling reasons, Disney has changed the fable's original moral from "don't believe everything you are told" About halfway through, we get our Disney-family-oriented moral of the story. And they aren't subtle about their hammering, either. Apparently, the lesson to be learned from the sky falling is the importance of parents believing in and listening to their children, with an extreme emphasis on open communication.

But seeing how I was the only one in the darkened theater not accompanied by a small child, I have to think that I may not have been Disney's target audience. Either way, you will be quite all right if you wait to catch this on DVD.

Originally Posted: November 14, 2006