Rock-A-Doodle

This time I am reviewing Rock-A-Doodle. It is directed by a man named Don Bluth he is known for excellent animated films like The Secret of NIMH and An American Tail. But he is also known for horrible animated films like A Troll in Central Park and Thumbelina. Let's see where this film is at.

The Grand Duke of Owls

We start on a farm where we meet a rooster named Chanticleer (Glen Campbell) who crows to make the sun come up. After a rock song Chanticleer doesn't crow but the sun comes up with out him. The other animals reject Chanticleer. But then it all gets stormy and gives this movies villain The Grand Duke of Owls (Christopher Plummer) the perfect moment to strike. But it turns out that this part of the story is part of a book a live action mother is reading to her son Edmond (Toby Scott Ganger). But outside Edmond's house there is a huge storm. Edmond's family goes out and they tell him to stay inside to be safe. Edmond wants to help so he tries shouting out the window for Chanticleer to come and help. But instead of Chanticleer he gets The Duke of Owls. The Duke is angry for Edmond calling for his arch enemy.  So  The Duke turns Edmond into a cartoon kitten  using his magical breath (no comment). He also turns the world into a cartoon. I'm guessing he did this because they didn't have enough money in the budget for a live action animation hybrid. The Duke leaves and the other animals from Chanticleer's farm come in. They tell Edmond they where wrong to reject Chanticleer and that he did make the sun go up. So wait why did the sun go up with out him that one time? Did the sun drink a cup of coffee and wake up without any help from the rooster? Anyway moving on. Edmond and some of the farm animals head to the city where Chanticleer is. After being attacked by some of The Dukes henchmen they make it to the city.

I can't take this image seriously

Now let me explain something weird about the city. All the people are animals. So either Edmond lives next to a city of animals or the humans turned into animals when The Duke animated the universe...my brain hurts. Let's just move on. So they find Chanticleer who is now a singer who impersonates Elvis. Wow that sounded a lot less weird in my head. But Chanticleers boss Pinky (Sorrell Booke) works for The Duke. So Pinky gets another performer named Goldie (Ellen Greene) to keep Chanticleer away from his friends. During one of Chanticleers performances Edmond and the gang give Chanticleer a letter saying that they need him to crow to make the sun come back up. But Goldie distracts Chanticleer before he can read the letter. Goldie and Chanticleer sing a love song and Edmond tries to talk to Chanticleer. But Pinky catches Edmond and company. However one of The Dukes henchmen named Hunch (Charles Nelson Reilly) tries to finish them off but ends up freeing them. Now before I move on I must say most of Hunch's dialog is just the word annihilation which can be annoying at times.


             ***SPOILER ALERT STOP HERE IF YOU DON'T WANT THE END RUINED***

Goldie tells Chanticleer about his friends and they catch up to them. They escape the city and head to the farm. We get the climax in which The Duke tranforms into a giant tornado (wait what) and Chanticleer defeats him crowing. But then...it was just all a dream that Edmond had. Wait. A kid on a farm goes on an amazing adventure but but all turns out to be a dream...this is ripping off some classic movie...what was it...The Wizard of Ooze The Wizard of Claws now I know...The Wizard of Oz. Anyway it was all just a dream. The En...Wait Chanticleer pops out of the book and takes Edmond with him. Edmond turns into a blue screen effect and they sing one final musical number then we cut to credits. The End

                                   ***SPOILERS OVER KEEP READING***





Now for what I think of this movie. The kid playing Edmond isn't a very good at acting and the songs are forgettable. Also some of the characters are very annoying and the plot is a bit confusing. But the animation is nice and some of the slapstick is funny. Overall I didn't really like the movie. But the guy who directed this has done worse (I'm looking at you A Troll in Central Park).

REJECTED HORROR MOVIE #5: NIGHT OF THE LIVING BOWL