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'Chicken Little' has been Disneyfied with a vengeance

The sky isn't falling at Disney, but it seems like the bottom is falling out. Stock troubles. Executive troubles. Board troubles. Pixar ("Finding Nemo," "Toy Story") bolting.

So there's a lot riding on "Chicken Little," the studio's first foray into computer animation since Pixar left. Unfortunately, the strain shows.

Buena Vista Pictures 'Chicken Little' C- The verdict: Doesn't exactly lay an egg, but could've been a lot better. Director: Mark Dindal Starring: Zach Braff, Garry Marshall, Joan Cusack, Steve Zahn, Don Knotts Run time: 81 minutes Release date: Nov. 4, 2005 Rating: G See showtimes On the web Official movie site View the trailer    Trailers require Quicktime Rate 'Chicken Little'   Go see it   Make it a matinee   Wait to rent   Don't bother Voter Limit: Once per Hour View Poll Results

Most of you probably remember the nursery tale about the little clucker who mistakenly thought the sky was falling when an acorn fell on his head. The movie begins the same way with Chicken Litttle (appealingly voiced by "Garden State's" Zach Braff) causing a pre-credits panic among the residents of Oakey Oaks.

The story then takes up a year later as our scrawny, bespectacled protagonist, who's still a laughingstock, tries to rescue what's left of his reputation. And that's when "Chicken Little" gets a little, well, chicken about what it wants to be — an inventive and warmhearted family film or a joke-fest for parents.

Now most of you probably don't remember how the original tale ended, with Chicken Little and her (she's been transgendered for the film) gullible friends (Henny Penny and Ducky Lucky, among others) being lured into Foxy Loxy's den. Not exactly G-rated material. More like "The Last House on the Left."

But certainly none of you remember the part about the alien invasion or snaggle-toothed Abby Mallard (Joan Cusack), who has a crush on Chicken Little. Or our little fowl's overbearing dad (Garry Marshall), who's ashamed of his boy. Or a porker named Runt of the Litter (Steve Zahn), whose mom threatens to take away his Streisand albums. Or the baseball game for the pennant or the three-eyed Mickey Mouse watch or — did I mention the alien invasion?

Yes, "Chicken Little" has been Disneyfied with a vengeance. Or, more accurately, given its pumped-up barrage of annoying pop culture jokes, it's been DreamWorked ˆ la "Shrek." The 8-year-olds may get the references to "Babe" and "E.T." But "King Kong"? "Braveheart"? "The Natural"? And words and phrases like "closure" and "satellite communications" aren't likely to make much sense either.

Some of the film is innocuous fun — like a dodgeball game between the Populars and Unpopulars at Chicken Little's school, a segment that smacks more of "Peanuts" than Mother Goose. The animation is well done, if not especially creative. Chicken Little's feathers ruffle in a breeze as believably as Sulley's fur in "Monsters, Inc." (ironically, writer Robert L. Baird contributed to both films). And the voice talent is well cast. Along with Braff, there's Amy Sedaris, Patrick Stewart, Wallace Shawn, Fred Willard, Catherine O'Hara and best of all, the inimitable Don Knotts as Mayor Turkey Lurkey.

Still, it's difficult to shake off the impression that the House of Mouse, in doing away with their traditional 2-D animation department, has traded its royal heritage — "Bambi," "Pinocchio," "Beauty and the Beast," "The Lion King" — for a group of smart-alecky Looney Tunes wannabes. Certainly there's room for both.

At one point, when the aliens are in full swing, someone cries out, "It's like 'War of the Worlds' out there!"

Exactly. And that's exactly what we don't need from the studio that invented the full-length animated film.