"A Special Cartoon"

Release Date December 17, 1943

Synopsis

The traditional story of the little chicken who believes that the sky is falling ... but with a decidedly different ending.

Characters

Cocky Locky

Henny Penny

Chicken Little

Turkey Lurkey

The Jitterbirds

Goosey Poosey

Ducky Lucky

Foxey Loxey

Credits

Director : Clyde Geronomi

Animation : Ward Kimball

Cut Scenes

Some scenes of the animals smoking and drinking have been cut.

Videos

United States

Storybook Classics

Germany

Donald Total Verliebt

Italy

Paperino Pippo Pluto e ...

Laserdiscs

Japan

Disney Cartoon Festival 7

DVD

United States

Disney Treasures : On the Front Lines

Disney Treasures : Disney Rarities: Celebrated Shorts, 1920s - 1960s

Television

The Ink and Paint Club : #56 : Wartime Disney

Technical Specifications

Color Type : Technicolor

Animation type : Standard

Sound mix : Mono

Aspect ration : 1.37 : 1

Negative format : 35mm

Print format : 35mm

Cinematographic process : Spherical

Original language : English

Released by RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.

Comments

Given the spirit of the wartime years it was difficult not to detect the political tones given by Disney to the traditional story of "Chicken Little." Although not quite as direct as the propaganda in"Reason and Emotion" or "Education for Death," it still made an effective fable, showing how outside forces could bring down the solidity of the American way.

From David Hastings : Great short animation! Saw it a long time ago and just recently had the opportunity to view it again. Very funny, has all the makings of an allegory and with a great ending! Seldom does Disney bring all its cute characters to a horrible fate! (In this case the hungry tummy of a certain "foxy-loxy") If you get the chance, see it! It's decidedly twisted.

From Jerry Edwards : Foxey Loxey convinces dim-witted Chicken Little and the other farmyard poultry that the sky is falling and the fox's cave is the only safe place. When they enter and are trapped, they are devoured.

On the surface, this short has nothing to do with World War II. The basic wartime propaganda moral was to teach the audience to think for themselves. But the short was originally planned to contain much stronger propaganda. At the end, the fox was going to be reading "Mein Kampf" and the chickens' grave markers were to be swastikas. But Disney wanted the cartoon to have more lasting appeal, so the book title was changed to "Psychology" and the markers were changed to "wishbones."

A truly demented short, especially if you don't realize the original wartime propaganda plans.

From Ryan : This short was okay, but it wasn't one of my favorites. It is different from most Disney films in that fate actually meets the characters. The fox tricks them into coming into his cave and eats them, leaving their bones as the only remains of them.

From Baruch Weiss : This is a good short but it isn't one of my favorites.

From Mr. X : This short is highly interesting, especially when you consider what it was meant to convey when it was first released to the general public. It's interesting...Leonard Maltin mentioned in his special introduction on Walt Disney Treasures: On the Front Lines that Chicken Little might be a short best seen by parents before showing it to their kids. Personally I feel he should have said that about Education for Death or even Der Fuerher's Face.

From Chip Wolfe : I give this version of Chicken Little a 10. Everyone's got to deal with life and Foxy Loxy sure did give those chickens a taste of it after he ate them. This short after watching it just tells you that's life live with it. Chicken little made the biggest mistake of his life and got all the chickens eaten. If this thing teaches anything besides you got to deal with life it also teaches as Foxy Loxy says: "Yeah! Don't believe everything you read brother!" which summerizes everything up perfectly. Hearing something from someone can either get you killed, injured, or left in panic for the rest of your life. And that's what this war time pariable showed in it. For those people who love the original Chicken Little and not the Wartime pariable. I suggest you go suck your thumb and lick your lolly pop in La La land cause the wartime pariable brings in every mistake in life that anyone can think of this cartoon shows life and what it's really like. You get fooled you get eaten. That's the way life is and we all got to deal with it.

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