Tonight with the Family: Even if it’s underappreciated, Disney’s release 20 years ago marks an important date in the studio’s history

Since that sad day two years ago when a bump hit him in the skull, Chicken Little has become the laughing stock of everyone in Oakey Oaks. Convinced that the sky was falling overhead, the little hen did not hesitate to sound the alarm, causing panic among her peers.

Although even his father doubts him, he sets out to make up for a past mistake by joining his school’s baseball team. But it seems that history repeats itself when one fine evening in his room, the little chicken sees a piece of the sky break from the sky and land directly on his floor.

• Tonight with the Family: Released 20 years ago, this Disney movie did not leave its audience with very good memories

complex context

“So… where do we start? Let’s see… how about we try ‘once’? Too classic! All stories start with ‘once’! We have to find something else!”

Those few words that open Disney’s 46th animated classic speak volumes for the state of mind the jubilant studio found itself in when the film was released. We know that the 2000s were uneventful for the famous company.

And it’s in the context of a lack of inspiration, where Disney seems to be searching for its own identity with new competitors (the very promising Pixar and Dreamworks) with a worried eye that Chicken Little is trying to coax Chicken Little into its coop. .

First Disney in CGI

Inspired by a European fairy tale (already adapted by Disney studios in the 1940s), this film, which was received rather cautiously by the audience, nevertheless marked the history of the company by becoming the first Disney animated film to be completely synthesized (5 years ago, Dinosaur, what Of course, it was populated by CGI characters, but they moved into a live-action environment).

Rated 2,227 out of 5 stars by AlloCiné viewers, Chicken Little was particularly criticized for its clichéd storyline, lack of originality and unsympathetic characters (based on 188 reviews written by our internet users and analyzed using an AI tool).

The fact is that for any Disney fan, Chicken Little is an important document, a true testament to the time when Big Ears was beginning to transform into computer graphics, and was still struggling through some risky paths before finding its way. to success in the early 2010s.

What will you like…

• Animal society was established in the film, more than 10 years before Zootopia.

• Various references to pop culture and movies such as Raiders of the Lost Ark, Signs or The Empire Strikes Back.

What could be bothering them…

• The aliens that cause panic in Oakey Oaks at the end of the movie, maybe. But rest assured, they have excellent reasons for being there.

(re)discover the trailer for the film…