Rock-A-Doodle (1992)

the audience applauded

Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

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

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.

As is often the case, I find these animated features more fascinating when I see who provided the voices. Among the people in "Rock-A-Doodle" were Eddie Deezen (of "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" and "1941") and Christopher Plummer. As for the movie's plot line, I now find it somewhat hokey that some farm animals have to bring a rooster back to the farm to stop malevolent owls from taking over. When I learned - some time after first seeing the movie - that the rooster's celebrity persona was a sort of Elvis Presley, that also made the movie more interesting.So, in my opinion, this is no masterpiece by any stretch. I consider Disney's "Aladdin" the coolest animated feature ever (remember, it had Robin Williams as the genie), and consider the classic Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies cartoons the greatest cartoons ever. But this one's OK.

I used to watch this movie back-to-back, all the time when I was younger. I watched it again recently and I still love it. To this day I could quote the first ten or so lines of the movie, and to this day I remember every word to the songs. It captured my imagination and entertained me to no end. From the beginning of the movie, the view of outer-space with strings in the background before the harmonica cuts in... magic. Moments like these make truly timeless films. Too often when adults watch movies intended for children, we're jaded to them because of our age, and begin to pick at the little flaws we find here and there. Sometimes you just need to sit back and watch with innocent wonder.