Chicken Little

1943
Chicken Little
7.3| 0h8m| NR| en| More Info
Released: 17 December 1943 Released
Producted By: Walt Disney Productions
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
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Synopsis

It's a peaceful day at the local poultry farm until Foxy Loxy happens along intent on a chicken dinner. He takes the advice of a book on psychology by striking "the least intelligent" first and convinces dim witted Chicken Little the sky is falling. Chicken Little spreads the word but when head man Cocky Locky proves the story to be false, Foxy Loxy spreads rumors that Cocky Locky isn't the smart chicken he appears to be, which leads to the ultimate undoing of the chickens at the hands of Foxy Loxy.

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Hot 888 Mama . . . is right twice a year, and Disney's CHICKEN LITTLE accurately forecasts D.J. Trump's total eclipse of the Son. Disney casts the title character here as Lowest Common Denominator Trump, but the brains behind the curtain belong to the Steve Bannon-like Foxy Loxy, whose Bible is the Breitbart Playbook. As Bannon, Foxy guides Little's Trump into bamboozling his logically-challenged flock of mostly Red State Chickens. Little is the reigning local yo-yo champ, presaging Trump's hourly vacillations between Bad and Worse. Little proves to be inordinately proud that its dad Fred ran for the Presidency of the KKK, and that another Grand Imperial Gizzard (Beauregard Sessions, played here by Cocky Locky) is in charge of Making America White Again. Foxy soon lures all the Trumpster Chickens into his Death Cave, which becomes a graveyard of wishbones. This suggests that God will Punish our formerly Great USA for allowing its KKK takeover by having the sky fall on us (presumably, a North Korean EMP blast from Outer Space). As Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, Maria, and Nate bear out CHICKEN LITTLE's Cries of Doom, who could argue with the Disney folks?
Vimacone Disney produced the strongest propaganda films during WWII. He delivered effective messages for people to understand and make wise decisions during wartime.On the surface, Chicken Little doesn't look like a wartime propaganda film as there aren't any references to the Axis powers, the war, or life on the American home front. (Contrary to popular belief, Foxy Loxy reading from Mein Kampf as depicted in storyboards and animation drafts did not end up in the final version that was released in 1943). This fortunately has made the film age well. The film is a warning against listening to and spreading rumors and misinformation. A message that still applies today anywhere. One remarkable thing about this film is that all the characters and narration are voiced by one person, Frank Graham, whose voice had a great range.Chicken Little has some of the best Disney character animation from the wartime period. Milt Kahl's animation of Chicken Little mindlessly playing with the yo-yo is brilliantly executed and Foxy Loxy is animated with a menacing but entertaining flair. The poultry characters remind us of everyday personalities we encounter.And this isn't your typical Disney cartoon as there is no happy ending to this one. Likely done to drive home the message of the consequences of falling prey to subversive information. This makes it one of the most disturbing Disney cartoons, but one of the best.
OllieSuave-007 I first watched this cartoon short when it was part of Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color, in an episode titled "Man Is His Own Worst Enemy." It was also my first time learning of the Chicken Little story. It was, honestly, a pretty sad story to watch, seeing Chicken Little and the rest of the bird family meeting an untimely fate in the hands of Foxy Loxy. Some of parts of the short was, though, pretty entertaining to see when Chicken Little and friends think the sky is falling, thereby, running around frantically. The characters were zany and the animation was great.Overall, it's not a bad story. It gives children a harsh reality that not every story has a happy ending and that life could be pretty complicated.Grade B-
TheLittleSongbird The Disney shorts have seen a large number of classics and a lot of very good shorts too, there are very few that I didn't care for. Chicken Little(1943) is very different for Disney, who have rarely been more cynical or morbid, but here different equals great results. Chicken Little is terrific, maybe not quite one of the Disney masterpieces or among my personal favourites, but is bold well-made stuff and one of the better Disney shorts of the 40s. The animation is fluid and colourful, the backgrounds moving from frame to frame smoothly and the colours as vibrant and well-textured as you'd hope. The characters are well drawn too. The music is typically lush and energetic if ever so slightly repetitive. The writing can be much enjoyed, the gems being with Foxy Loxy and his psychology book dialogue. It will admittedly most likely go over children's heads but not over adults, who be impressed and amazed by how daring Chicken Little and how much of its content it manages to get away with, considering the time when it was made. The story is very true in detail to the original story but with a unusually twisted(especially for Disney) ending that will shock the viewer as much as it shocked the narrator. It also has a point that is made clearly and not heavy-handedly, and is as relevant now as it was then with stuff that parallelled WW2 and also parallels now(especially from a militaristic viewpoint). The characters carry the narrative very well and their personalities do stand out, the most memorable and entertaining by a mile being Foxy Loxy. While Frank Graham does a superb job voicing almost all the characters(Florence Gill and Clarence Nash do their distinctive hen and duck noises), particularly the narrator- the role of which is well written and doesn't try to explain too much- and Foxy Loxy. To conclude, terrific short that succeeds at doing something different from what Disney usually do. 10/10 Bethany Cox