Chantecler, o Rei do Rock

The rooster on the farm, Chanticleer, has to sing every morning for the sun to rise. One morning, he is stopped from singing and the other animals discover that he's a phony - the sun rises anyway. He becomes an outcast and runs away to the city. However, the animals discover that this was a mistake, because the sun stops coming up and rain, which causes a flood, begins instead.

Somewhere along the way, cartoons and Disney became almost synonymous. And yet, Don Bluth has forged ahead, with "American Tail" and "Land Before Time", among many others. This one, though forgotten by some, is beloved by others. Personally, I think it is just as good as any Disney film of the era, and you have to love the voice casting of Glen Campbell.

If it hasn't already been done, someone ought to release a retrospective blu-ray set of Bluth's golden years.

Clearly this wasn't Don Bluth's finest day as a filmmaker- it's nowhere near the imagination present in The Secret of NIMH and An American Tail, but it's still entertaining for kids. It certainly worked when I first saw it, and I remember watching it several times (maybe cause of the songs which were like filtered but enjoyable Elvis-type tunes, or some of the designs with the characters like the evil owls). It's about a little boy who gets transformed into a cat- his storybook, which comes to life, is about a rooster on a farm who can't do his patented COCKADOODLE call- and soon he's swept up in a quest to bring Chaunticlair back from his fall into a career as an Elvis star.

It's not really too amazing, and it's probably even cliché by the standards of any animation let alone Bluth's. But there's enough invention and fun and quirks to make it worthwhile as a children's film, if not as an overall family flick (adults will most likely enjoy the final performance of Phil Harris, the voice of Baloo). Some of it is even very funny, like when the dastardly inept small owl who keeps spouting exclamations like "ANNIHILATION!" tries to skewer the heroes while tied up. It's like a minor rockabilly farm comedy, and there's certainly worse out there for your kids.

Although I think that along with Troll with Central Park that this is one of the weaker Don Bluth movies, I personally don't think it is that bad. When you compare the animation to gems like the Secret of Nimh and American Tail, you do think it is disappointing. Some of it, and I am putting emphasis on the some, was a bit Saturday-morning standard, and some of the minor characters were drawn rather weirdly. The non-animated parts were quite jarring to be honest with you, and seemed rather flat. Though i will say the animation is nowhere near as bad as people have said it is. I liked the incidental music, not so much the songs, they just seemed rather lacklustre as I am used to hearing Barry Manilow and Cynthia Weil songs, not Elvis-style ones. Although there was some excellent singing from Glenn Campbell, the songs' lyrics were rather mediocre. Also the owl's songs, or recitatives as I prefer to call them, sounded the same every time. However the voice overs were the redeeming merits. We all know from Disney classics such as Robin Hood and the Jungle Book, that Phil Harris is very talented at singing and acting, and he was put to good use here as Patou,("you're rocking the boat") although his narration did get distracting after a while, as the story is admittedly too heavily reliant on the narration. The narration in fact was to me more of a mini-commentary, that had been over simplified. However, Chistopher Plummer was wonderful as the voice of the Duke,("if I kill my nephew, would it be murder or charity?") who wasn't only the best character, but one of the better Bluth villains, he was really evil in some scenes, like when you first meet him. His performance was worth an award, it was so good. I also liked Edmund and Goldie, Chanticlair was very likable and the Duke's nephew was hilarious in some scenes, like when he screams Annihilation. In conclusion, one of the weaker Bluth movies, does have a number of redeeming merits, and not that bad. Anyone who's seen the secret of Nimh sequel will know how awful that was. 6/10 Bethany Cox

Rock-A-Doodle is a movie that some say is the start of Don Bluth's streak of bad films until Anastasia was released, but to me, it sounds like an underrated gem. Telling the story of a boy named Edmond, a boy turned into a kitten by the Duke of Owls, he has to help the other farm animals bring back Chanticleer, whom they laughed out, as their farm is in danger of flooding.

Now, the movie is seen as a box office bomb, and one of the reasons why is executive meddling. Originally, there was not going to be any live-action segments, but MGM saw Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, a successful film that combined live-action and animation, and decided they want a piece of the money pie it was making. Also, a lot of scenes were cut or edited for being "too scary for kids", either because of notes for test audiences or done to avoid a PG rating (the test audiences notes being mostly because Don decided to take their advice after All Dogs Go To Heaven was negatively received for its dark content). The result was a different movie that strayed far from what Don originally planned, and to me, that could be one of the reasons that caused it to bomb.

But despite those changes, the movie is still good. It still has some dark scenes that is a trademark of any Don Bluth film, the characters are memorable, and the music is good, as the country music songs are actual country music instead of the stuff we have today that masquerades as country music. This is a film work checking out.

In all honesty, I never saw this as a child. Perhaps that accounts somewhat for why I don't enjoy it very much now. Unlike many other children's films which have plots that people of all ages could appreciate, this was contrived and full of holes that you could "drive a John Deere tractor through", as Chanticleer would say. The songs were lackluster and all sounded the pretty much same, and the kid that played Edmond brings a whole new level to bad child actors. I did have a few good laughs though, mostly due to the good ol' Patou, so I can't rate it too low. Overall, if you didn't see this as a kid, you more than likely wont like it now.

6/10