Voices of Glen Campbell, Phil Harris, Toby Scott Ganger, and Christopher Plummer
Directed by Don Bluth
Music and Lyrics by TJ Kuenster
After the failure of All Dogs Go to Heaven in 1989, Don Bluth decided to try something entirely different. He'd been enamored of the success of Who Framed Roger Rabbit and wanted to make his own live action-animated hybrid. He'd been trying to get the tale of Chanticleer the Rooster off the ground since 1982, and Disney had tried as far back as the 1930's, but nothing had ever come of it. Production finally began in 1990, but trouble with the live-action portion and MGM's financial difficulties pushed the release to 1991, then to spring of 1992 when they didn't want to compete with Beauty and the Beast. After all that, how does the story of a rooster whose crow brings up the sun look now? Let's head down on the farm with Chanticleer himself and find out...
The Story: Chanticleer (Campbell) is beloved by all of the animals on the farm. He's handsome, he's strong, and his crow seems to help bring up the sun every day. The only creatures on the farm who don't adore Chanticleer are the Grand Duke (Plummer) and his owls, who would prefer permanent night. The Duke sends another rooster to attack Chanticleer and distract him from his duties. The sun comes up on its own, prompting the others to make fun of him. Chanticleer goes off, dejected...and that brings about torrential rain and darkness.
Which brings us to the live-action segments. Edmund (Ganger) is a small boy who lives on the farm and is hearing the story from his mother. Believing what the book says, he tries to call Chanticleer back, only to attract the Duke. The Duke turns him into an animated kitten, to his horror. Joined by Patou (Harris), a dog who can't tie his shoes, know-it-all mouse Peepers (Sandy Duncan), and neurotic magpie Snipes (Eddie Deezen), he heads to the big city to find Chanticleer and bring him back to the farm. Not only does the Duke not want the sun back, but Chanticleer has become a big star, and his manager Pinky (Sorrell Booke) wants to keep making money off him. Edmund will have to enlist the help of pretty pheasant Goldie (Ellen Greene) and find the courage inside his furry body if he wants to save the farm and stop the flood.
The Animation: There's some decent work here, especially as the group travels to the city and once they arrive. The animals move pretty well, and the backdrops are colorful and fun, especially in the city. Wish Bluth had figured out how to integrate the live-action as seamlessly. It's pretty obvious the very few times that the live Edmund and the animated characters interact that it's all done with blue screen and effects, and it never really feels like they're seamlessly part of each other's worlds.
I wish they hadn't played with the aspect ratio. The live-action segments are in widescreen, and the animation is in full-screen, and the two make for some awkward transitions, especially when the Duke shows up in Edmund's bedroom.
The Song and Dance: At the very least, Bluth learned his lesson from All Dogs and made this a tad lighter and more family-friendly. In fact, he did some judicious editing to keep it from getting a PG. If nothing else, it's bright and colorful, with some decent numbers and a cast who (mostly) know how to handle them. There's also the use of several real-life backing groups who once sang backup vocals for Elvis Prestley in Campbell's numbers to lend the music at least a little authenticity.
Favorite Number: Campbell kicks things off in robust style with "Sun Do Shine," showing just how popular Chanticleer is on the farm and how the farm operates. He gets two mildly enjoyable production numbers when he's a star in the city, the title song and the beach-themed "Treasure Hunting Fever." He and Greene have a cute duet when they litterally "Kiss and Coo."
What I Don't Like: The live-action sequences shouldn't be there. They're unnecessary and really bog things down. The whole idea of Edmund being human and it all being just a story makes the plot way too complicated. For all that Patou explains, there's a just as much that is never really adequately discussed...including how the sun came up without Chanticleer crowing. Patou and his narration are annoying and get in the way more often than not.
The other characters aren't much better. For the rooster who the sun literally revolves around, not only do we not really see that much of Chanticleer, but he barely has a personality when we do see him. Goldie switches sides way too quickly once she gets past the "bad kitty" thing. Edmund is too cutesy (as a kid and a kitten), and his lisp makes a lot of his dialogue hard to understand. Snipes and especially Peepers are slightly more useful than Patou, but they're also obnoxious and are generally only there to be the funny sidekicks. The villains are all cardboard stock characters, and Plummer and Charles Nelson Reilly are wasted as the light-hating Grand Duke and his sniveling nephew.
The Big Picture: Despite some decent animation and cute touches, the movie just plain doesn't work. Unless you're a really huge fan of the cast or Bluth, I'd rock on by this one.
Home Media: At the moment, I'm going to say streaming is your best bet here. Several streaming companies currently have it for free, including Vudu and YouTube. (I caught it on the latter.) It was re-released for its 25th anniversary on DVD and Blu-Ray in 2017 by made-to-order company Olive Films, but apparently the pitch on their print is higher than it should be.
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