Chicken Little
Buena Vista Pictures | Release Date: November 4, 2005 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
48
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 32 Critic Reviews
Positive:
12
Mixed:
15
Negative:
5
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
91
Christian Science MonitorPeter Rainer
The visuals are irrepressibly witty and so is the script, which morphs from the classic fable into a spoof on "War of the Worlds." I prefer this version to Spielberg's. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterMichael Rechtshaffen
A consistently amusing, often inspired family romp. Read full review
75
USA TodayMike Clark
With one of the year's busiest scripts, Little launches 76 zippy minutes. Read full review
75
TV Guide MagazineAngel Cohn
This wild and unexpected ride should delight younger children with its bright colors and constant chaos, while adults are likely to be charmed by the witty banter, subtle one-liners and a sweet father-son relationship that highlights the need for good communication. Read full review
75
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
When the picture hits high gear, your qualms vanish one by one, and the script, credited to four writers, grows into its own. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChroniclePeter Hartlaub
As cluttered as the movie gets before the ending, it's funny throughout, with some 1970s and '80s music thrown in to keep adults happy. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
Animation fans will find this worth the wait. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneRobert K. Elder
For all the whiz-bang visuals, however, "Little" could use a little consistency in tone. Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Bogged down by many of the problems that have plagued Disney's recent traditional animated features: anonymous voice work, poor plot structure, and the mistaken belief that the Disney brand will elevate anything to a "must see" level for viewers starved for family friendly fare. If there's a bright side to Chicken Little, it's that kids will love it. Read full review
63
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
The movie did make me smile. It didn't make me laugh, and it didn't involve my emotions, or the higher regions of my intellect, for that matter. It's a perfectly acceptable feature cartoon for kids up to a certain age, but it doesn't have the universal appeal of some of the best recent animation. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeTy Burr
Shiny and peppy, with some solid laughs and dandy vocal performances, but even a small child may sense how forced this movie is -- how hard it tries to be all things to all audiences. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
The problem is that Chicken Little settles for what's expedient and safe and, over all, lives down to its title. Read full review
60
EmpireOlly Richards
There's more here for the under-tens than over-, but it's still charming, amusing and energetic enough to win you over. Read full review
58
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
It's often funny but it flails around like a chicken with its head cut off, flapping and squawking and making a spectacle, but never really going anywhere. Read full review
50
VarietyTodd McCarthy
Lives up to its name by serving up a fraction of what audiences are used to getting in this department from PixarPixar and DreamWorks -- little originality, little humor and little ingratiating characterization. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubTasha Robinson
Turning brief fairy tales into sweeping mini-epics has long been Disney's hallmark, but even for a fable, Chicken Little is thin stuff; it's a brief cautionary tale against alarmism, essentially "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" without any of the poetic irony. Read full review
50
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
What falls in Chicken Little are hopes. Read full review
50
L.A. WeeklyRobert Abele
Chicken Little is a clunky, arbitrarily plotted, over-caffeinated spritz that, despite colorfully visualizing a world of suburbanized animals, shifts from social-outcast comedy to underdog clichés to War of the Worlds mayhem as if the filmmakers were an improv troupe slamming through genre requests. Read full review
50
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
The studio's fresh corps of CG animators may get up to speed before the current four-picture cycle is completed, but if they don't get better material to work with, the sky will be falling along Dopey Drive. Read full review
50
Washington PostStephen Hunter
Takes the story one more crank toward the literal. When the thing hits the bird, it turns out, guess what, it is a piece of the sky, the sky is falling. It's like saying: McCarthy was right! Sheesh, revisionist history: It's everywhere! Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesCarina Chocano
Chicken Little, though it has its moments, mostly just feels anxious and overreaching. It tries to be all things to all people and fails to be anything to anyone. Read full review
50
Baltimore SunChris Kaltenbach
Chicken Little is relentlessly cute. That's the good news, and those who consider the word cute anathema may want to look for entertainment elsewhere. Read full review
50
New York PostLou Lumenick
Heavy on celebrity voices, pop culture references and rock tunes and low on memorable characters or imagination, Chicken Little is on a par with such mediocre but popular CGI films as "Madagascar" and "Shark Tale." Read full review
50
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
Chicken Little is entirely lacking in anything "Disneyesque." Read full review
50
PremiereRyan Devlin
In the film, the cleverness just isn't there. There's still a lot to like about Chicken Little - the animation is top notch, and the characters, if somewhat recycled, still generate the requisite sympathy and chuckles. Read full review
50
Dallas ObserverLuke Y. Thompson
If Chicken Little were in 3-D, shown in a theme park as you sit in motion simulators, the lame gags might not be so much of a problem. Read full review
40
Village VoiceBen Kenigsberg
The usual pop-culture jokes, disco tunes, and sarcastic narrator are on hand to prevent atrophy, but by the time the sky really does start "falling"--courtesy of an alien invasion-- Chicken Little's frantic efforts to stay farm fresh have started to wear on the nerves. Read full review
38
Miami HeraldPeter Debruge
Kids will love it. It feels fresh and original and mildly subversive, but it's all a cover for the filmmakers not having the patience or confidence to put together a real story with a beginning, middle and end. Read full review
30
The New York TimesDana Stevens
A hectic, uninspired pastiche of catchphrases and clichés, with very little wit, inspiration or originality to bring its frantically moving images to genuine life. Read full review
30
Austin ChronicleMarrit Ingman
It is funny at times – the teams for dodgeball break down into "popular" and "unpopular" – but Chicken Little is painful to watch for all ages. Read full review
20
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
If I could find some facet to praise, I'd be glad to do so, but the production's mediocrity is all-pervasive -- story, character, graphic design, even music -- and it all points to a failure of corporate imagination, or maybe just nerve.
20
Film ThreatPete Vonder Haar
Seriously, it's a bad sign for your "kids movie" when the kids in question are asking their parents, "When is something going to happen?" Read full review
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