Chicken Little

Chicken Little is typically cute in that standard kids’ movie fashion, surprisingly short, and very heavy on the G-rating. The vocal talents were well-chosen for each of the characters, and I actually laughed aloud several times. Yes, I know, I’m easily entertained.

Chicken Little (Zach Braff) is an intelligent and highly imaginative little chick, who has completely destroyed his reputation after an unfortunate encounter between his head and what he believed to be a piece of the sky—later confirmed to be an acorn. Because of this celestial mixup, everyone thinks he’s a bit of a nutjob, with the exception of his three best friends: the ugly duckling Abby Mallard (Joan Cusack), the oversized pig Runt of the Litter (Steve Zahn), and Fish out of Water (does not speak). Despite his extremely small stature, Chicken Little joins the baseball team in a misguided attempt to win back his father’s approval, as his father, Buck Cluck (Garry Marshall), was a high school baseball star. His dad simply doesn’t believe in Chicken Little anymore and advises him not to get his hopes up, to which Chicken Little responds by beating all the odds and making the game-saving hit in the final inning of an important game. After having finally earned back everyone’s respect, Chicken Little is understandably dismayed when what appears to be a small piece of sky crashes through his bedroom window, placing him in the familiar position of freaking everyone out. Yet this time his friends, Abby, Runt, and Fish, are witness to the event, and they must now convince the skeptical town that an alien invasion is about to commence.

The overall plot is fairly straightforward and fast-paced, and the underlying message of believing in your offspring, be they bird, pig, or otherwise was blatantly clear. So too was the lesson that one should never give up, always believe in yourself, blah blah blah—insert your typical “Disney movie lessons” here. There was nothing exceptionally earth-shattering about this film, but I did like the humor quite a bit. The fish character was remarkably entertaining even though it did not speak, and I found that any scene in which it appeared was sure to be amusing. Much of the dialogue was surprisingly witty, but always in keeping with good taste—for the kids, afterall. By the time the movie was over, I was legitimately surprised at how short it had seemed.

This is a great movie to take small children to see, and it won’t be excruciatingly painful and cheesy despite its blatant message. I wouldn’t say this is necessarily the kind of kids’ movie that will widely appeal to adults as well, but it’s one of those things that you can pretend you don’t want to see and then “humor” the kids by agreeing to watch it with them, rolling your eyes yet inwardly laughing.