If Pixar is the reigning king of animated film with box office hits like "Finding Nemo" and "The Incredibles," then Disney is the town idiot.
When Disney and Pixar combine forces the outcome is often a beautiful and moving animated film.
But when Disney puts the partnership on hold, the result is "Chicken Little."
In a time when companies are fighting against each other to win the respect of viewers with animation, humor and storyline, Disney has produced a failure on every level.
"Chicken Little" is the story of a tiny chicken trying to prove himself to his community. Instead of building up a solid storyline, Disney chose to make a sappy, melodramatic mini-soap. With heartwarming father-son scenes and monologues about closure, this movie leaves much to be desired in the laughs department.
Possibly because the Pixar nametag is missing, the animation here is mediocre at best. It has not improved upon its animated predecessors in any form.
The humor attempts to reach an older audience, but only the laughs of small children are audible.
No person over the age of 12 is going to a movie for a lesson in morality. The audience wants action and wit but all they get is a feeble attempt to teach children how to maintain a valuable relationship with their fathers.
Chicken Little (Zach Braff of "Garden State") is a surprisingly ingenious animal. Throughout the movie he finds inventive ways to overcome the problems he encounters. For example, when his pants get stuck to a piece of gum, Chicken Little creates a pair of pants from a piece of loose leaf.
This may not seem like a groundbreaking cinematic moment, but at least it's more interesting than listening to the speeches his father gives him that are on the same level as Danny Tanners' painfully melodramatic lectures given to DJ, Stephanie or Michelle in "Full House."
Besides Chicken Little, the supporting characters are even less noteworthy. An overweight pig named Runt, an absurdly hideous ugly duckling named Abby and a fish out of water round out the rest of the cast. Unfortunately, the fish is the only funny character in the bunch.
With a water-filled scuba mask, this little fish was the only one able to make the older members of the audience laugh at his pure foolishness.
Either way, the fish's inability to speak English and only being understood by one other character adds a marginal amount of humor in the way that Kenny does in "South Park."
One would expect that Disney would at least produce an original soundtrack. Instead, the audience had the displeasure of suffering with the Spice Girls' "If You Wanna Be My Lover" complete with karaoke subtitles. The entire soundtrack is composed of songs that were popular at some point to the preteens in the crowd. Not one song contained the nostalgia of classic Disney hits from movies like "Aladdin" or "Beauty and the Beast."
The movie isn't completely devoid of quality. There are some laughable parts, mainly in the abuse that Chicken Little faces.
It's not a terrible movie. It's just not what any Disney fan is expecting. For those who take small children to the movies on a regular basis, it's better than "The Spongebob Movie" or "The Rugrats Movie." However, it doesn't come close to flicks like "Monsters Inc." or "Toy Story."
Disney failed terribly in its endeavor to regain control of the movie scene. They have steadily declined from the time of "Cinderella" and "Snow White," but it's possible that Disney just hasn't found its niche yet in the new-age world of animated films.
