Visiting the Disney MGM Studios used to be an animation fan’s dream. In one behind-the-scenes tour you could watch animators sketch scenes and characters from the next great Disney film, then wander into the inking and painting departments to see the sketches come to colorful life. Gradually those pen-and-paper stations gave way to PC terminals, but not long after that, they were blocked-off entirely for fear of competitors stealing trade secrets and/or ideas.
When I last toured the Studios, in August 2005, Disney was wrapping-up production of Chicken Little, its first serious attempt to use CG animation without Pixar’s assistance. Rather than see farms of computers, I encountered walls of concept drawings, shelves of 3D models that animators scanned into their computers, and dioramas illustrating some of the scenes from the upcoming film. Although these provided a decidedly different experience from years past, they still served to excite visitors for Disney’s next animated flick.
Chicken Little didn’t meet the same commercial success of most Pixar films, but the coming-of-age and family-dynamics story for which Disney is known was just as solid as we’ve come to expect from big-budget Disney movies. And although it might not have had the same balance of adult and childish humor, it was still plenty entertaining for parent and child alike.
Ironically, one of Chicken Little’s biggest draws wasn’t its story or graphics or sound, but its alternate presentation: full 3D. Chicken Little 3D was the most impressive way to view the film, and the effects were so impressive that nobody even minded wearing the dorky little polarized glasses. So imagine the excitement surrounding today’s DVD release of the movie. Finally, a second opportunity to put those 3D glasses to good use.
Or not. Chicken Little on DVD has the normal bonus features, including a making-of featurette, a now-standard karaoke session, and a mini game in which viewers use the remote’s navigation keys to search for the character “Fish.” Heck, it’s even got two music videos. But the one bonus that could have made this the DVD Release of the Year, not to mention the one bonus I fully expected to see, is the 3D version. Surely the technology exists to have included both the widescreen and 3D versions of the film, but it’s nowhere to be seen. Buena Vista Home Entertainment could’ve made a collectors edition package with two disks, one of which had the 3D version, and made a killing at the cash register. Instead, Chicken Little’s DVD release is “just another” non-event.
That’s not to say the Chicken Little DVD is bad. As discussed above, the disk has a good number of bonus features, even if they don’t include one notable feature I expected to see. The movie’s also entertaining, and its origin on a computer makes the picture brighter and crisper than many recent animated films’ release. If you missed the movie in the theater, this is definitely one DVD to consider picking up for the kids. If, however, you saw the film in 3D and were hoping to re-live that experience at home, prepare to be disappointed.
— Jonas Allen
