Disney’s panicked, gasp-for-air effort Chicken Little mocks Disney cliches by more cleverly depicting a Hollywood adaptation of the classic Chicken Little story. These self-reflexive gimmicks are playful, but also point to the more serious matter of Disney’s dependence on this film to save its animation department, which now produces only computer-animated films.

Once upon a time, Disney led the pack in animation. Since the advent of computer animation, however, Disney has faltered (see 2003’s Brother Bear or 2004’s Home on the Range), and the company has decided to abandon traditional animation in favor of competing with digital cartoonists at Dreamworks (Shrek, Madagascar) and former ally Pixar (Finding Nemo, The Incredibles).

Frankly, none of these ventures – including Chicken Little – come close to achieving the sublimely endearing charm of recent claymation success Wallace & Gromit. Yet Chicken Little does offer the Disney spark that so many other modern animated features lack, mostly in the animation itself. Like Wallace & Gromit, Chicken Little makes no attempt at realism, but instead invites viewers into a caricatured world with talking animals and an invading “galactic armada” (the falling sky) that put Toontown to shame. The resultant characters are adorable, and the film’s general appearance is overwhelmingly enticing.

But in such a childlike world, it’s unfortunate that all of the characters are awkwardly voiced by adults. Zach Braff (Chicken Little), Joan Cusack (The Ugly Duckling) and Steve Zahn (Runt of the Litter) all speak in normal celebrity voices. Meanwhile, nauseatingly cheesy songs sporadically butt into the story and add Shrek-style glitz to an otherwise wholesome tale.

Despite an element of commercialized sentimentality that pervades the film, Chicken Little is genuine enough to ensure the continuation of Disney’s “happily every after” success story.

– Kevin Brown