VividSimon
Simply Perfect
Raetsonwe
Redundant and unnecessary.
Staci Frederick
Blistering performances.
Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de)
"Chicken Little" is a cartoon from 1943 that runs for almost 9 minutes and has its 75th anniversary this year. It's a Disney production as you can see by the names who made it (Geronimi etc.) and the voice actors (Nash etc.) that all worked prolifically during that time. This one here really is a prime example of cartoons reflecting the current political climate as these were the days of WWII and you can either interpret the fox as Hitler and the title character as one of his aides or you see the fox as ideology and Chicken Little as Hitler. I personally would go with the former. Anyway, the ending shows you that the times of unrealistic feel-good happy endings are over as the people need to make the right decisions themselves and if they don't, then tragedy is inevitable. Also you rarely see psychology as such a dominant aspect in a Disney cartoon. Sure you could argue if the fat rich male cock really should be considered the good guy or if he represents other values worth despising, but lets just accept it this way. I think comedy-wise it may be nowhere near Disney's finest from this glorious era, but in terms of contemporary relevance and symbolisms, metaphors etc. this is an absolute must-see, so maybe it is even a better watch for (film) historians than for cartoon lovers. Anyway, I give it a thumbs-up without hesitation. Go see it.
MartinHafer
This Disney short is a bit preachy, but in its original incarnation, it was a lot more obvious and a lot more dated. That's because Walt felt that the obvious references to WWII would date the film. In hindsight, although the film isn't perfect, it does hold up pretty well today.This is a retelling of the old story of Chicken Little. It's pretty obvious that it was meant to be a metaphor for spreading and believing rumors during wartime, but no mention is made of the war--just Chicken Little and all his stupid poultry friends believing ANYTHING that the wicked Fox tells them. I give this one a 7 despite the dated theme. Why? Because the Fox is a great character and I loved the very dark and twisted ending. Well worth your time.One negative, by the way, was the film's use of repetitive animation. Like the lower quality Hanna-Barbera films of the 60s, you see the same images again and again--in the hopes that the audience wouldn't notice this. I certainly did.
Robert Reynolds
There will be spoilers to one degree or another in here.During World War II, Disney produced a number of cartoons for general release that were propaganda aimed at fueling the war effort. While most of these were still humorous in tone as well as serious in message, two were notably different: Education For Death, the most grimly serious short produced by a Hollywood studio I've ever seen and this one, Chicken Little, in which the humor is sharply limited and the ending is most un-Disney in nature. Disney has been taken to task (often with justification) for taking fables, fairy tales and other old source material and making it far more sweet than it originally was. This was not done here-oh, boy, was that not done! Though there is no overt attempt to make this directly about Germany, the Nazis or Hitler, the context of the times makes it clear who the target is. The use of Hitler's concept of the "Big Lie" is a dead giveaway. Interestingly, the lack of obvious ties to the current enemy make this short less dated and it can readily be viewed as targeting any totalitarian state. There's nothing cute here and only a few laughs. The ending is a punch in the solar plexus. Look at what the fox does with the wishbones.This is available on the Disney Treasures On The Front Lines. The set as a whole is remarkable and is worth having for any number of items it contains. It is telling that, as good as this short is, there are easily a half-dozen other things on the set that are even better. Most highly recommended. Get it while you can.
Ron Oliver
A Walt Disney Cartoon.Wily Foxy Loxey uses psychological chicanery to confuse dimwitted CHICKEN LITTLE - Step 1 in his plot to plunder the poultry yard.This unusual little film eschews a happy ending for a not-so-subtle warning against evil manipulators and gullible citizenry. Foxy Loxey could be the personification of either Hitler or Stalin and the quotes from his psychology book ('To influence the masses, aim first at the least intelligent,' 'If you tell a lie, don't tell a little one - tell a big one,' 'Undermine the faith of the masses in their leaders,' 'By the use of flattery, insignificant people can be made to look upon themselves as born leaders') are pure Marxism. As for Cocky Locky, Henny Penny, Goosey Poosey, Ducky Lucky & Turkey Lurkey - their human counterparts are only too easy to find everyday.Veteran Disney voice artists Florence Gill & Clarence Nash can be heard making various hen & duck noises.Walt Disney (1901-1966) was always intrigued by drawings. As a lad in Marceline, Missouri, he sketched farm animals on scraps of paper; later, as an ambulance driver in France during the First World War, he drew comic figures on the sides of his vehicle. Back in Kansas City, along with artist Ub Iwerks, Walt developed a primitive animation studio that provided animated commercials and tiny cartoons for the local movie theaters. Always the innovator, his ALICE IN CARTOONLAND series broke ground in placing a live figure in a cartoon universe. Business reversals sent Disney & Iwerks to Hollywood in 1923, where Walt's older brother Roy became his lifelong business manager & counselor. When a mildly successful series with Oswald The Lucky Rabbit was snatched away by the distributor, the character of Mickey Mouse sprung into Walt's imagination, ensuring Disney's immortality. The happy arrival of sound technology made Mickey's screen debut, STEAMBOAT WILLIE (1928), a tremendous audience success with its use of synchronized music. The SILLY SYMPHONIES soon appeared, and Walt's growing crew of marvelously talented animators were quickly conquering new territory with full color, illusions of depth and radical advancements in personality development, an arena in which Walt's genius was unbeatable. Mickey's feisty, naughty behavior had captured millions of fans, but he was soon to be joined by other animated companions: temperamental Donald Duck, intellectually-challenged Goofy and energetic Pluto. All this was in preparation for Walt's grandest dream - feature length animated films. Against a blizzard of doomsayers, Walt persevered and over the next decades delighted children of all ages with the adventures of Snow White, Pinocchio, Dumbo, Bambi & Peter Pan. Walt never forgot that his fortunes were all started by a mouse, or that childlike simplicity of message and lots of hard work will always pay off.
