This article is about the newer version of the character. For the original version of the character with the same name, see Chicken Little (1943 character).
- “A piece of the sky?! Shaped Iike a stop sign?! Not again!”
- ―Chicken Little seeing a hexagon panel
Ace "Chicken Little" Cluck is the titular protagonist of Disney's 2005 animated feature film of the same name.
Background
Development
Chicken Little was initially written as a female character with the voice of Holly Hunter (who voiced Elastigirl from The Incredibles) and Hunter reportedly recorded her lines for the part. The gender flip occurred because of the notions that short boys are more likely to be bullied than short girls, and that boys will not watch a film with a female lead even if girls will watch a film with a male lead. Before Zach Braff was cast as Chicken Little, Michael J. Fox, Matthew Broderick, and David Spade were originally considered for the role.[2]
Personality
Despite his smart nature, Chicken Little has a tendency to worry about everything and can be both impulsive and quick to jump to conclusions, which lead to the whole incident where he panicked and thought that the sky was falling. However, after the incident, he remains determined and optimistic that he can redeem himself in everyone's eyes, especially his dad, whose approval he desperately seeks. He is also kind and supportive, especially to the people he cares about he most like his family and friends, which he extends to Kirby when he finds out that he's just a lost child trying to get back to his parents.
Physical appearance
Chicken Little has white feathers and a red rooster comb. His outfit consists a green and white striped T-shirt, green glasses, and brown shorts though he briefly lost them and replaced it with shorts made from paper.
Appearances
Chicken Little
After Chicken Little gets hit by a hexagon-shaped object with an image of the sky on it one day, he believes that the sky itself is falling, and tries to warn the town, but his attempt to do so throws the town into a panic that causes him to be accused of being insane due to not being able to provide any proof of it. One year later, after constantly being the subject of public ridicule ever since, Buck explains to him while dropping him off at school that it would probably be best for the both of them if he tried to blend in and call as little attention to himself as possible.
Unable to catch the bus, Chicken Little has to rush to school on foot, during which he loses his pants and has no choice but to carry on in his underwear. However, he manages to make it just as the bell is ringing, sneaks around to a secluded spot where there's an open window and uses a bottle of orange soda to get inside the school. He then manages to make a pair of shorts out of paper, but he then gets accidentally trapped inside his locker when a janitor shuts it on him. During Mr. Woolensworth's class, Goosey Loosey points out that he did not show up on time as he is marked "tardy".
A misfit ever since and the target of bullies, Chicken Little and his small circle of friends have since been trying to figure a way for him to improve/fix his image; for example during a game of dodgeball, Chicken Little's classmate Abby Mallard encourages him to employ "closure" and talk openly with his father, which she explains to him can resolve the problems they've been having ever since the incident from the year before. Later, he ends up getting bullied by Foxy Loxy and Goosey Loosey, who launch him at a window, which causes him to drop down and hit a lever triggering the fire alarm, causing the sprinklers to turn on and everyone to panic. Later, Chicken Little is sent to Principal Fetchit's office where he talks to his father about the inappropriate things he did at school. After a talk with the principal, Buck explains to his son not to talk about the inappropriate things he did at school earlier on the way home. However, Chicken Little then explains to his father that he wants to be on the baseball team, but his father, very uneasy about this, tells him to choose another activity such as chess. After Chicken Little and his father return home, he sits on the rooftop where he looks at the sky where he wishes for his dream to come true.
The next day, Chicken Little sees an opportunity and tries signing up for the school baseball team, as his father did years ago, but he ends up training in order to be a better player when Foxy Loxy keeps constantly winning all the team's games for them. Later, after Chicken Little trains hard, he ends up taking a crucial at-bat at the end of a big game due to multiple players being injured, much to everyone's chagrin. Though he almost gets three strikes, Chicken Little ends up hitting the ball on his third attempt as the commentator, the crowd, his father Buck, and even Turkey Lurkey, tell him to run. He tries to make it all the way home, but it initially looks like he gets tagged out. However, the dirt covering the plate gets cleared away and the umpire announces to the crowd and announcer that he is actually safe and has won the game for them. After winning, Chicken Little is extremely satisfied with his victory at home and talks cheerily to his father, with them both feeling like "Sky falling incident" has been put behind them. However, later that night, Chicken Little ends up noticing a glow in the sky and is subsequently hit by a hexagonal object that looks like a piece of the sky, which he recognizes, much to his horror, as the same one that hit him before. He decides to call up Abby Mallard about it and ask her to come over to his house along with Runt and Fish.
Chicken Little then explains to Abby, Runt, and Fish about the object falling from the sky. However, while they're talking about it, Fish plays with the object and accidentally turns it on while he's on top of it, which causes it to start up and fly out the window with him on it and reconnect with an invisible object that it came from. Chicken Little, along with Abby and Runt, chase after the object carrying him away by following the light Fish is carrying that gives away its position to the baseball field where it connects to an that alien spaceship lands. Runt is convinced that the aliens have killed Fish, but he is seen through a window alive and well. When they reunite, the four find a map of the solar system that looks like the aliens want to invade the Earth and the four flee with the aliens at their heels, unaware that their son is following them.
Eventually, Chicken Little, Abby, Runt, and Fish manage to escape, albeit with the aliens attacking them. While hiding in a cornfield, Abby tells Chicken Little, Runt, and Fish to go to the school bell at Oakey Oaks Middle School to warn all the citizens of Oakey Oaks about the alien invasion. Chicken Little then tells Abby, Runt, and Fish that he needs a bottle of soda to reach the school bell (just like what Chicken Little did to get to school when he was running late). Reaching the bell, Chicken Little remembers trying to warn the town about the sky falling from the sky and the people accusing him of being insane and becomes afraid to do it, but he then sees his friends being corned by the aliens, so he rings the bell to warn the citizens and save them. However, due to being extremely bothered by the noise and retreating so quickly that the other townsfolk don't see the UFO before it vanishes, he is left with no proof, and despite desperately trying to explain it in detail and how it connect to being hit with a piece of the sky, everyone doesn't believe him, including his own dad, putting his reputation in jeopardy again.
The next day, Chicken Little feels depressed over what happened and is still too discouraged to talk to his father despite Abby's encouragement, feeling it's too late. However, they soon discover a small alien named Kirby, who happens to be the child of the aliens they encountered, and tells Fish, who communicates the message to the others, that they're planning on coming back to get them. Just then, dozens of UFOs invade Oakey Oaks in an effort to track down Kirby and rescue him, mistakenly believing that he's been kidnapped and proving that Chicken Little was right all along. Kirby then desperately tries to get back to his parent's ship, with Chicken Little having to protect him from the pandemonium, including an oncoming truck. He and Kirby end up in a movie theater after this, as do Buck and Abby, where he finally takes Abby's advice and talks to his dad, calling him out for never being there for him when he needed it ever since he though the sky fell. This causes Buck to realize what a bad parent he's been, and he subsequently apologizes to Chicken Little and vows to try to be there for him moving forward.
After leaving the movie theater, the ground troopers spot Buck holding Kirby, they get the wrong idea and attack. Thankfully, they manage to escape, after which Chicken Little explains to his father that they need to take Kirby to the alien mothership, which is above Town Hall, since the whole thing is a misunderstanding, and they'll call off the invasion if he's returned to them. With the help of Runt, Abby, and Fish, who commandeered a fire truck, they manage to get through the ground forces, reach the Town Hall, and Chicken Little and his dad make it to the top of the building where Chicken Little tells the aliens that he has their son and they can stop the attack. He and his father then get beamed up to the UFO where Kirby's father angrily accuses the two of taking his son and threatens them. Thankfully, both his wife and Kirby verify that they are telling the truth about him accidentally being left behind, so he puts them down, puts away the weapons and has them returned along with all the other citizens and property that were beamed up by him and his forces. The couple, whose names are Melvin and Tina, then reveal that the only meant to come by to pick up their acorns due to the town's sign claiming "they're the best in the universe", as well as that the panel that hit Chicken Little last night (and likely last year) was a malfunctioning part of their ship. They then depart on amiable terms, and having witnessed all of this, the other townsfolk finally realize that all of the details of Chicken Little's story make sense and become grateful for his efforts to save the town.
After the aliens leave, Chicken Little and his father, along with the citizens of Oakey Oaks, watch a movie depicting an extremely fanciful retelling of the events that transpired, portraying Chicken Little as an action hero also named "Ace".
Later during the credits, Chicken Little and the citizens of Oakey Oaks sing "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" where Chicken Little and his father dance along together. When they're done with the song, Chicken Little waves goodbye to the audience.
Once Upon a Studio
In the short, Chicken Little, appears in the men's restroom of the Disney Animation Studio with The Headless Horseman, Gaston, Happy, Milo Thatch, Thomas O'Malley, and Prince John. Chicken Little then joins all other Disney characters in a group photo to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Walt Disney Animation Studios beside his best friends.
Wish
Chicken Little was among the Disney animated characters that appeared during the credits.
Video games
Kingdom Hearts II
Chicken Little is a Summon that appears in Kingdom Hearts II. He is obtained by talking to Merlin after visiting the Land of Dragons and Beast's Castle (or Olympus Coliseum if Sora skipped either of the aforementioned worlds). To summon him, Sora uses the Baseball Charm he receives from Merlin.
When Sora, Donald, and Goofy return to Hollow Bastion they reunite with old friends and Sora's magic instructor Merlin who re-teaches Sora some magic attacks, he then gives Sora a special baseball charm to help him along his journey. The charm summons Chicken Little who teams up with Sora and throws baseballs at enemies to stun them. Chicken Little also has a limit called FPS (First Person Shooter) Mode, which allows Sora to shoot firecrackers or baseballs at enemies through a scope in a first person shooter style.
Disney Heroes: Battle Mode
Chicken Little in Disney Heroes: Battle Mode
Chicken Little is a playable character in Disney Heroes: Battle Mode. Chicken Little is a Back-line Damage role hero. His addition to this game marks a debut for Chicken Little as a playable character in a crossover game. Chicken Little's skills are: "Batter Up!", "The Sky is Falling!", "Soda Surge", "Special Eyes", and "The Acorns". These skills allow Chicken Little to (in the order):
- Chicken Little pulls out a baseball bat and hits a baseball across the battlefield removing all Hardy stacks, dealing Normal Damage and applying a stack of Weakness to enemies hit. As the baseball reaches the edge of the battlefield it bounces back, dealing True Damage and applying a stack of Corruption to enemies hit by the bounce back. Chicken Little has a maximum of baseballs on the battlefield.
- Chicken Little points to the sky and shouts as a space panel falls giving all allies Precise and Energized for a few seconds. While Energized all allies gain extra Energy each time they Basic Attack. Space panels target the enemy with the highest percent of remaining HP dealing Normal Damage and Stunning all nearby enemies for a few seconds. Enemies that prevent this Stun in any way, are instead dealt bonus Normal Damage and Chicken Little gains Energy. Chicken Little can only receive energy this way once for each panel.
- Chicken Little uses a soda bottle to rocket through all enemies dealing Normal Damage. As Chicken Little returns to the battlefield he launches the soda bottle at the Most Wanted enemy, dealing Fantastic Damage per second for a few seconds, Stunning for a few seconds and reducing his Armor for a few seconds. If there is no Most Wanted enemy, Chicken Little will target the enemy with the most Armor.
- At the beginning of each wave, Chicken Little and all enemies are Blind for a few seconds. Chicken Little Gains Basic Damage and a percent of Attack Speed every time his attacks or skills Miss. These buffs cannot be removed and last between waves. Chicken Little can gain up to a certain amount of Basic Damage and Attack Speed this way.
- Chicken Little and allies become stronger, based on their role, everytime a panel falls from “The Sky is Falling!” for a few seconds. These buffs cannot be removed or stolen. Tanks Deal a percent of the damage mitigated by Armor and Reality to nearby enemies as Normal Damage. Damage role Heroes ignore a percent of enemies’ Armor. For control role allies: Enemies that block Disables with Hardy are dealt bonus Normal Damage. For support role allies: A percent of direct healing is dealt as bonus Normal Damage to enemies near the healed target. Every few Basic Attack misses from Chicken Little, add some extra panels to the next time “The Sky is Falling!” is cast to a maximum amount of panels. Each extra panel deals Normal Damage. Amount of Panels reset on cast of “The Sky is Falling!”. After Chicken Little lands from “Soda Surge”, he becomes Blind for a few seconds. Every time Chicken Little or allies Cleanse or Block a Blind effect, his next Basic Attacks will Miss. Chicken Little is immune to Precise.
Chicken Little has friendship campaigns with Daisy Duck and Mulan.
Disney Parks
Chicken Little posing for a photo at one of the Disney Parks.
Chicken Little and Abby used to have appeared as figures in Disney Parks. Afterwards, Chicken Little has not been seen in the US parks for a few years, except for special events such as the Easter parade. Anyone's best bet to meet him is at Disneyland Paris; however, even there he is a rare character.
Gallery
Trivia
- Before Zach Braff was cast as Chicken Little, Michael J. Fox, Matthew Broderick, and David Spade were originally considered for the role.[2]
- Chicken Little's inclusion in Kingdom Hearts II has been seen as a way to promote his titular film in Japan, as the film was not yet released in Japan at the time of the game's Japanese release.
- Chicken Little bears some resemblance to Honker Muddlefoot from the show Darkwing Duck.
- Also, he is partially similarly with Eggbert from the animated "Looney Tunes" shorts, because both characters are chickens, both characters are boys and both characters are designed as childrens/teenagers.
- In the Japanese versions of the movie and Kingdom Hearts II, Chicken Little is voiced by a woman instead of a man.
- Chicken Little makes a small cameo appearance in Big Hero 6. He is seen in the sliding pictures of the San Fransokyo tower.
- Chicken Little has 250,000 feathers on his body.
- In a deleted scene during the "Cooking With Klaus" alternate opening during the part where the reporters tell Chicken Little to know what actor should play him in his movie, there are three actors whose names are puns on real-life actors and animals: Sean Penguin (pun on Sean Penn and Penguin), Brad Pitbull (pun on Brad Pitt and Pit Bull), and Russell Crow (same pronunciation of Russell Crowe)
- He is the second main protagonist of a Walt Disney Animated Classic wearing glasses, following Milo Thatch.
References
- ↑ "Interview: “Once Upon a Studio” Directors Trent Correy and Dan Abraham Geek Out Over Disney Animation History". Laughing Place (June 17, 2023).
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Hischak, Thomas S. (2011-09-15). Disney Voice Actors: A Biographical Dictionary (in en). McFarland. ISBN 9780786486946.
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