Written by Susan Granger
www.susangranger.com

In a new twist on the cautionary tale of the plucky chicken, this time, the sky really is falling!

Back in Oakey Oaks, nerdy, nervous Chicken Little (Zach Braff) is still humiliated from having claimed "the sky is falling" when he was clobbered by a falling acorn. It's a year later and, after trying win approval from his jock'ish widower father, Buck Cluck (Garry Marshall), who urges him to act "normal," he has finally redeemed himself by becoming a local softball hero. Problem is: he's conked again - this time by debris from an alien spaceship. Fearful of being doubted, he recruits his best "misfit" friends: Abby Mallard, the ugly duckling (Joan Cusack); Runt of the Litter, a huge but cowardly pig (Steve Zahn); and Fish Out Of Water, a walking fish in a diver's helmet (Dan Molina). Together, they must warn the town of extraterrestrial danger.

Co-writer/director Mark Dindal stresses the lessons to be learned: love of family, loyalty to friends and, above all, tolerance. Emphasizing the family theme, there's a pivotal fowl father/son confrontation when bespectacled Chicken Little says, "Dad, you never supported me."

This is the first film made in-house at Disney, using all computer animation; previously, the studio relied on hand-drawn cartoons while distributing sophisticated Pixar creations like "Toy Story," "The Incredibles" and "Finding Nemo." Which explains Disney's current commercial tie-ins with McDonald's and Sears. Plus there are the razzle-dazzle 3-D "Chicken Little" versions in 84 theaters with digital projection. Disney's partnership with Pixar expires in 2006, and Pixar wants to pay its new distributor a flat fee instead of sharing profits.

On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, "Chicken Little" is a splashy, spunky 7, geared to amuse its pint-sized audience.