It has seemed like eons since Disney ruled the cartoon confines of the planet, bringing us Snow White, Bambi and, more recently, The Lion King. Since then, however, it has been bullied out of the market by Pixar (Toy Story, Finding Nemo) and DreamWorks (Shrek, Madagascar). Disney recently re-entered the game with its purchase of Pixar and the establishment of a new CGI division. As is popular with the new wave of smart animations, Chicken Little references and parodies classic adult films, just to keep parents from falling asleep. Whereas Shrek achieves this goal subtly, the creators of this film are about as subtle as a sledgehammer. When the aliens (a hybrid of the arachnid probes from Minority Report and the stilted machines of War of the Worlds) are vaporising civilians of Oakey Oaks. Abby Mallard (Joan Cusack) exclaims: 'Its like War of the Worlds out there' ten minutes after most intelligent human beings have twigged it. A clever trick, however is a giant sized ball rolling through the town and crashing through a cinema theatre playing Raiders of the Lost Ark, with Indiana Jones trying to escape a similar fate. I wonder does Spielberg have a stake in this film.

The subplot of this film is the relationship between Chicken Little and father hen, a struggling single father (see how children's tales have rolled with the times!). This would be fine were it not for Ugly Alma's American Oprahesque psychobabble about closure. Chicken's crack squad of social rejects also include Runt, an overweight camp pig reminiscent of Little Britain's 'only gay in the village' sketch, who has a penchant for dancing to pop classics like the Spice Girl's 'Wannabe'. He also possesses a record collection full of Barbra Streisand classics. I'll say no more. Interestingly enough, the funniest characters are the sardonic news reporter who sounds like The Simpsons' Kent Brockman, and the Fish (out of water) who says nothing. This observation doesn't reflect too well on the talents of Braff, who sounds like a younger sanitised version of Woody Allen. The film makes a few snide remarks about Hollywood: when the film within the film about the film is distorted beyond recognition, Alma remarks how closely Hollywood films adhere to real events. Chicken Little is funny in parts, while the new Disney Digital 3-D animation is dizzying to follow. Overall it's very cutesy; it's also sickeningly PC, lacking the cutting jokes found in Shrek. No doubt the film will make money from McDonalds Happy Meal giveaways, the sale of action figures, and a travelling Disney On Ice show, but give me the flash animation and irreverence of SpongeBob SquarePants anytime.

Rated G (see IFCO website for details)
Chicken Little is released nationwide on 10th February 2006.
Chicken Little - Official website