Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with a contrasting review to the one I posted last night for the CG Animated CHICKEN LITTLE from Disney. The one posted yesterday didn't like the movie at all and since then I've gotten 2 people email me saying they radically disagreed with it. One was in the form of a review (below) and the other was more of a personal email that said that it's not as good as THE INCREDIBLES, but a damn sight better than SHARK TALE... although I'd say that's a pretty wide gap myself. Here's the contrasting review, one which I hope I agree with when I see the movie. I hate bad computer animated flicks (see the aforementioned SHARK TALE).
I read the review one person posted and have to say that I couldn't disagree more. We enjoyed CHICKEN LITTLE, as did our 3-year-old daughter (who, incidentally, was as bored as we were by the overlong, meandering, ultimately confused mess, MADAGASCAR)... To give you an idea of how much she enjoyed it, she didn't get up from her seat or ask us to take her to the potty one time during the movie. By comparison, we had to get up three times during MADAGASCAR and she kept asking us if it was over. (Maybe that would be a good way to start reviewing kids movies - by number of potty breaks. "I held it for 73 minutes!" - Susie Derkins, Chagrin Falls Valley Times.)
CHICKEN LITTLE is filled with jokes that work for adults as well as kids. There are lots of funny Disney references in it as well, if you know what to look for. It moves at a brisk pace, taking just enough time to slow down and explore the emotion relationship between C.L. and his dad. The world is nicely fleshed out, never leaving you with that hollow feeling that, in my opinion, Dreamworks Animation is notorious for. The voice talent (Zach Braff, Joan Cusack, Steve Zahn, Garry Marshall, and Amy Sedaris) is more than merely serviceable. There are some great surprise voices at the end of the film, too. And anyone over 30 might be glad to hear the voice of Don Knotts in a Disney movie again - it just feels right.
As far as music is concerned, they pretty much slather the movie in pop songs, kind of like SHREK 2 did. Not too bad. My daughter had fun dancing to SHAKE YOUR TAIL FEATHER as the closing credits rolled.
Is CHICKEN LITTLE as great as the best of Pixar? Maybe not. Is it better than MADAGASCAR? Definitely. Heck, I think it's even better than the ever-so-flawed SHREK, but that's a separate discussion.
Keep in mind, this is Disney's first solo outing as a strictly CG animation studio. CHICKEN LITTLE is the first of many projects that are sure to get better and better as they grow accustomed to the technology. (I had the great fortune to see some stills from upcoming Disney Feature Animation projects like MEET THE ROBINSONS, RAPUNZEL, and AMERICAN DOG - all very promising. The RAPUNZEL still had the classic beauty and intricate detail of SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS, yet it will be done entirely CG. Can't wait to see how that turns out!)
But Disney's big advantage is their commitment to story, as evidenced by the wonderful preview of MEET THE ROBINSONS they screened before the movie. This is an area where Dreamworks Animation, for all its mastery of technology, still lags woefully behind.
