Disney's new computer animated feature, Chicken Little, is a homage to science fiction movies wrapped up in a fairy tale.
Poor Chicken Little (Zach Braff) becomes an instant outcast when he insists the sky is falling.
Actually, the sun cast the shadow of a stop sign over him at the same time an acorn hit his head.
A year later, a panel from a spaceship falls into Chicken Little's bedroom. so he is faced with a major dilemma.
He can either remain silent and let the aliens invade or he can risk public humiliation once again and warn the townsfolk.
At least this second time around, Little has a few friends who also see the spaceship and the aliens, but they too are social outcasts not to be taken seriously.
Abby Mallard (Joan Cusack) hasn't quite turned into a swan yet and, at 900 pounds, Runt Piglet (Steve Zahn) is the brunt of every fat joke going.
With his water helmet, Fish Out of Water (gurgles by Dan Molina) looks like a spaceman, which is why the aliens abduct him.
The animators and voice actors have a great deal of sly fun bringing this misfit foursome to life.
Their looks and transformation into heroes will appeal to the younger viewers, as will all their early frantic, slapstick antics.
The family-dynamics theme will please the adults, too, especially if children learn the important life lessons lurking just behind all the mayhem.
Little's mother is dead and his father, Buck Cluck (a hilarious Garry Marshall), has no idea how to communicate with his nerdish son.
Buck was a jock at school and remains a popular citizen, but he is a failure as a father until he and Little really do connect emotionally.
The film makes numerous inspired references to such famous flicks as Close Encounters of the Third Kind, ET the Extraterrestrial, War of the Worlds, King Kong, Mars Attacks, Indiana Jones and Star Wars.
Though it is spirited family fun, Chicken Little doesn't quite rival Shrek, Monsters Inc., Ice Age or The Incredibles, though that is obviously its aim.
(This film is rated G)
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