Toon Talk: Chicken Little DVD
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A fourth deleted scene in this section (which offers optional introductions by producer Randy Fullmer and director Mark Dindal) is a scene in the school’s lunch room wherein Fish Out of Water (who really is a character who is odd just for the sake of being odd) coming to Runt’s rescue. Fish is also featured in the requisite DVD game, Where’s Fish?, where one or two players answer movie trivia questions (which often repeat themselves in the same game) to gain tries at finding him. And both Runt and Fish are featured in an Easter Egg hidden on the bonus feature menu.
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Chicken Little - The Awards: Although Oscar didn’t call with a nomination for Best Animated Feature, that didn’t stop Disney-owned ABC from shamelessly sticking in an appearance of Chicken Little and Abby Mallard at the Academy’s annual kudos-fest earlier this month (ah, Disney synergy at work). Nevertheless, the film did receive nominations from: The Annie Awards:
Producers Guild of America:
It lost all of these awards to Aardman Animation’s Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, which also took home that Oscar. |
“Music and More�? features a “Shake Your Tail Feather�? Music Video by the nondescript Disney girl group The Cheetah Girls and not one, not two, but three versions of “One Little Slip�?, the film’s opening MOR anthem. First is the actual Music Video starring the Barenaked Ladies (who, as seen here, are neither naked nor ladies) recording the song, followed by a character-centered music video available in Karaoke and Sing Along options. The latter two are a puzzling inclusion as they are actually the exact same thing plus or minus the original vocals.
Completing the disc is the 18-minute Hatching ‘Chicken Little’: The Making of the Movie, the sole “Backstage Disney�? bonus. Fullmer and Dindal return in this standard walk-thru “making of�? feature. Of note are appearances by the film’s voice cast - Zach Braff (Chicken Little), Joan Cusack (Abby Mallard), Don Knotts (in what would be his last film role, Mayor Turkey Lurkey), Gary Marshall (Buck Cluck), Dan Molina (the film’s editor, speaking into a tube attached to a jug of water as Fish Out of Water), Catherine O’Hara (alien mom Tina), Amy Sedaris (Foxy Loxy), Fred Willard (alien dad Melvin) and Steve Zahn (Runt of the Litter) - and musical talent - composer John Debney and singers Patti LaBelle and Joss Stone (“Stir It Up�?), John Ondrasik of Five for Fighting (“All I Know�?) and those Barenaked Ladies - but not much else.
With its lack of significant bonus features, one gets the unsettling feeling that Disney will be returning to this roost sometime in the future with an unnecessary (and unwanted) “special�? edition.
Toon Talk Rating: C-
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In this ‘Toon Talk’ feature, I will briefly highlight a recommended film or DVD, outside of the Disney universe, of similar interest to the main subject. Aliens Attack! Aaaaah! The ultimate invading aliens tale is H.G. Wells’ sci fi classic The War of the Worlds, which has been brought to the screen on several occasions (not to mention Orson Welles’ legendary radio broadcast), but it is the original and most recent versions that are notable. The vintage George Pal production (1953, Paramount, DVD available from Paramount Home Video) features those scary-cool Martians and Oscar-winning special effects (visible wires notwithstanding), while the Steven Spielberg remake of last year (Paramount/DreamWorks, DVD available from DreamWorks Home Entertainment) has some nifty Oscar-nominated effects of it’s own. But wouldn’t the whole enterprise had been more interesting if the roles played by superstar action hero Tom Cruise and everyman character actor Tim Robbins had been reversed? |
Coming Soon in Toon Talk:
- Scrat - and the rest of the Ice Age gang - is back in Ice Age: The Meltdown (Fox, March 31).
- A pack of NYC Zoo animals goes back to The Wild in the new computer-animated comedy (Disney, April 14).
- Its soccer time in the next Disney sports flick, Goal! The Dream Begins (Disney, May 12).
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-- Kirby C. Holt
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Kirby is a lifelong Disney fan and film buff. He is also an avid list maker and chronic ellipsis user ...
Took Talk: Disney Film & Video Reviews by Kirby C. Holt is posted whenever there's something new to review.
The opinions expressed by our Kirby C. Holt, and all of our columnists, do not necessarily represent the feelings of LaughingPlace.com or any of its employees or advertisers. All speculation and rumors about the future plans of the Walt Disney Company are just that - speculation and rumors - and should be treated as such.
-- Posted March 21, 2006