Rock-A-Doodle

Starring:Will Ryan, Phil Harris, Jason Marin, Charles Nelson Reilly, Kathryn Holcomb, Glen Campbell, Toby Scott Ganger, Christopher Plummer, Sandy Duncan, Christian Hoff, Eddie Deezen, Ellen Greene, Stan Ivar, Lio, Sorrell Booke
Director: Dan Kuenster, Don Bluth
Studio: Hbo Home Video
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

Don Bluth's lavish animated musical Rock-A-Doodle was not a success when it was released in 1992. It's not hard to understand why: the film varies wildly in tone and the story makes little sense. In the live-action prologue, a little boy named Edmond learns that the crowing of Chanticleer the rooster did not make the sun rise, as everyone thought. But when a flood threatens his family's farm, Edmond sets off to get Chanticleer to make the sun rise and save the day. (Edmond gets turned into a kitten during this adventure, for no apparent reason other than that cats are easier to animate than humans.) Chanticleer has moved to the city, and although the farm seems to be in the Midwest, the nearest city is clearly supposed to be Las Vegas. Chanticleer is now the King, an Elvis caricature used for an unfunny spoof of showbiz clichés. The animation is quite fluid, and there are lots of brightly colored effects--rainbows, sparkles, sunbeams. But parents will have a hard time explaining the story to their children. --Charles Solomon

Customer Reviews:

Great Kid movie.......2007-07-07

I'm a school teacher and during the summer we offer a summer camp. Remembering how much I loved this movie, I showed it to the children ages 5-11. They absolutley loved it! They were so quiet. They even sang the song I wanna rock a doodle to you. It's awesume even the other teachers enjoyed. It's a great family film you'll love it!

Rock-A-Doodle-What? A turkey cartoon for Bluth that simply doesn't shine (or sing)........2007-05-19

I don't know what Don Bluth was thinking when he made this silly, nonsensical animated musical about a singing rooster, but I know what I'm thinking: "Why?" ROCK-A-DOODLE isn't as depressing or dreary as Bluth's previous ALL DOGS GO TO HEAVEN, but it's not much better.

The film tells the story of Chanticleer, a barnyard rooster with a golden voice whose crooning -- sorry, crowing -- makes the sun rise every day. One morning, however, Chanticleer is attacked by a bully rooster; in the process he neglects his crowing duties and the sun comes up anyway. After being laughed at by his friends, the disgraced rooster heads off to the city. Then it starts to rain, and before long, all the animals are terrorized by both floods and the evil Grand Duke of Owls, who, it turns out, actually set up the whole thing simply because he dislikes the sun. In arguably one of the few memorable lines this movie offers, he also sneers, "I positively LOATHE rock and roll."

Naturally, the animals head off to the city to find Chanticleer, who, by this point, has become a famous star dubbed "the King," with a greedy manager and a reluctant girlfriend, Goldie. If the animals can bring Chanticleer back to the farm, the sun will once again rise and the floods will stop. To prevent this, the Duke sends his clumsy (and unfortunately not very funny) nephew, Hunch (whose vocabulary mostly consists of rhyming with the word "annihilation") after the animals.

The plot, such as it is, doesn't make the least amount of sense and is likely to baffle even the most intelligent of grown-ups. Working against ROCK-A-DOODLE as a whole, however, is the haphazard and confusing execution. It also suffers from the problem of a major identity crisis: on one hand it tries to be a simplistic fairy tale, on the other it attempts to be a musical parody of Elvis (Chanticleer's rock star persona and his songs are very closely modeled after the legendary singer, from the slick hairdo to the deep voice and the mannerisms). However, it ultimately comes across as a hodgepodge of ideas crashing into each other.

Furthermore, the characters, in addition to being unattractively designed, are not particularly compelling. Chanticleer, while supplying a dead-on impression of Elvis Presley down to the voice and the singing (courtesy of Glen Campbell), is a two-dimensional lead. His barnyard friends, which include Patou, a droopy canine unable to tie his shoes, Peepers, a bespectacled and lisping mouse, and Snipes, a zany magpie, do little to emerge as anything memorable, although the first two are well voiced by Phil Harris and Sandy Duncan, respectively. Hunch, as mentioned, is unfunny, and useless. That leaves the character of Goldie, Chanticleer's love interest, who is supposed to be a tough girl that eventually falls in love with our hero, but the screenplay doesn't give her much to do. One suspects that she was included in this film just for the sake of a love interest. As for the Grand Duke, he's little more than your typical scary, nasty, scheming bad guy, despite having the voice of Christopher Plummer. And don't even get me started on where his supernatural powers (that enable him to grow to enormous size or transform anybody) came from.

Where ROCK-A-DOODLE really falls apart is in its attempt to bookend the movie with live-action sequences. The idea is to include a real-life little boy, Edmond, as one of the story's major protagonists. Actually, he spends much of the film transformed as an animated kitten (a transition that feels very awkward and unnatural). And whining about how he is unable to do anything as a result of being small. Constantly. This subplot feels like it was tacked onto the story, hence one gets the feeling that it came out of nowhere.

There are also two live-action/animation sequences in the movie, but unlike WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT, they come across as very patchy and unconvincing--the real-life surroundings don't mesh well with the drawings, and it looks especially bad at the song and dance finale when the kid actor playing Edmond, Toby Scott-Granger, is brought back to the cartoon world. Speaking for the animation itself, it's pretty much below par, even for a Bluth production.

Equally distracting is the narration that supplies most of the film. Phil Harris has a great voice and does a credible job (although some might find it strange that the dog is recounting the whole thing). The problem is that he narrates CONSTANTLY, even going far to chime in over some catchy songs sung by Chanticleer. Considering that this film is supposed to be a musical, having Harris chime in every two minutes proves to be very distracting. (The narration was apparently added on to prevent audiences from being confused, but why did they have to overdo it?)

Probably the only things that come clean out of this mess are the voice work and the musical score by Robert Folk. Campbell, Harris, Duncan, Plummer, and squeaky Ellen Greene (as Goldie) all do the best they can with their characters, although Toby Scott-Granger's childish speech impediment does get in the way of his portrayal of Edmond (although considering how weak his character is, it's no surprise he doesn't give a memorable performance). The underscore, as mentioned, is also beautiful, far better than this movie has any right to be. T.J. Kuenster's dozen songs, on the other hand, are mediocre to bad, particularly the owls' Bach-style numbers, although the ones for Chanticleer are admittingly a lot of fun.

As entertainment, ROCK-A-DOODLE is mostly harmless fare for younger kids. It has its funny moments, but anyone else older will find this to be uninspired and chaotic. Considering that this is from the director of THE SECRET OF NIMH, AN AMERICAN TAIL, and THE LAND BEFORE TIME, though, its a disappointing endeavor. Regrettably, after this movie, Bluth's output would only get worse, with the exceptions of THUMBELINA and ANASTASIA.

Old Favorite!.......2007-05-06

This was a favorite of mine when my oldest daughter (now 15) was little. Now my youngest (19mos.) gets to enjoy a really great movie! Excellent lessons to learn about friendship, and everyone's importance in the world, with enjoyable music and delightful characters!

Still as good as I remember.......2007-04-05

Since when do cartoons make sense?! It's unique. I like all Don Bluth movies. It has a moral to the story too- even small people can do big things. I've enjoyed this movie my whole life and now my 3 yr old loves it too.

Wait, shouldn't it be Rock-A-Doodle-Do?.......2007-03-16

If there's one thing that I can't stand, it's when nostalgia blinds people. Too many times have I seen people going on about how great a movie from their childhood was, but they haven't watched it again recently to really stand by that statement. I've been watching a lot of older movies that I liked, or missed out on from my childhood these past few weeks, and it's amazing how few of them hold up today. That's not to sound like some cold person who doesn't like kid's movies or anything- I love my fair share of the genre, and am not biased to who makes them, be it Disney or Fox or another company. In fact, both Disney and Fox have movies I've re-watched that seem downright stupid. And then there's Don Bluth's movies, which are generally praised for not being too cutesy or too out there. An American Tail, All Dogs Go To Heaven, The Secret of NIMH, etc. Many of these are beloved by children and adults to this day, and I can say that those previously mentioned hold up marvelously to this day. But what about one of the lesser-known ones, Rock-A-Doodle? I saw this when it hit theaters over 10 years ago and remembered loving it, though before re-watching it, I don't remember why. All I remembered were some of the characters, and the main plot. How'd it do in the end? Well, 50/50...more or less.

The movie starts out with a mom and her son, Edmond, reading a storybook about a rooster named Chanticleer, who works on a farm with all the other animals. His job is to crow every morning in order to make the sun rise. He had a great singing voice and everyone loved him, except for one person- the Grand Duke, a big owl who just plain hates light. He sends one of his buddies to fight Chanticleer in order to take him out of the business, but Chanticleer wins the fight. Unfortunately for him, that was only half of the plan, since by the time the fight's over, the sun has began to rise, and everyone sees that Chanticleer wasn't needed for it to happen. It breaks his heart, and he leaves the farm in order to find work in the city. Just then, we cut back to the boy and his mom, who are now in big trouble, as their farm is in danger of being flooded due to the rain. Be it a learning disability or just hearing the story, Edmond decides that they need Chanticleer to make the sun come up and stop the rain [after he just heard that Chanticleer wasn't needed, no less]. Things get worse, and by some amazing fluke, the Grand Duke shows up in Edmond's room, and turns him into a cat with the hope of eating him. Yeah, he showed up just for that. Before he can though, a noble dog and friend of Chanticleer, Patou, shows up and bites the Duke's leg, and Edmond blinds him with a flashlight. The two befriend one another, and make a plan to find Chanticleer, along with a few other animals who tag along. As their luck may have it, Chanticleer did find work in the city, but now he goes by a different name, and has much more success this time around.

Yeah, there's not much to the plot. The Duke sends a complete idiot of a minion to track down Edmond and the others, while he has a few other much more reliable guys instead, plus the Duke's more than capable of taking care of things himself. I mean, he just turned a kid into a cat, and can grow well over ten times his original size. He even gives his nephew, the idiot minion, a pair of sunglasses to ward off the lights of the city. Why didn't he use them himself in the first place? Anyway, most of the cast here is forgettable. Patou and Chanticleer, and maybe Peepers (a mouse with a lisp), are the ones you'll remember the most, especially since they get the most dialogue. All the other farm animals are filler, and I couldn't care less what happened to them when I was a kid, and labeled them as "dead to me" this time around. ESPECIALLY that pig with the crew cut. The animation in Rock-A-Doodle feels very cheap as well. Yes, it's a non-Disney movie from the early 90s, but man, I can name some animated shows from that same time that looked better than this does. Heck, even An American Tail looks more current than Rock-A-Doodle. The new box art image doesn't help in its defense either. On top of this, the few times when real life is blended with animation, it looks VERY dated. I mean, even Pete's Dragon looks state-of-the-art compared to this. Finally, I always thought something was off in the plot when I was a kid, but couldn't put my finger on it. Now I know what it is- a plot point involving Chanticleer and how he shouldn't pay attention to his past friends. It's handled so poorly that I had to skip back a few chapters, thinking I missed something big somehow. Nope, it's just something barely mentioned that works its way into the story. Perhaps I'm being too hard, given this is a kid's movie, but again, I like many of the genre, and really can't see showing this to my daughter when she gets older unless there's nothing else for her to watch, unless she wants to of course. If I were reviewing just the movie, I'd be nice in giving it 3 stars, but it's really more of a 2.5.

What hurts the score here even more is the poor picture quality. The animation's already dated enough, but the transfer looks like it comes from a copied vhs tape, or even Betamax. The movie is presented in full screen, and you can tell that something's missing on the sides. There's a lot of grain here and there, as well as interlacing and jaggy lines on the close-up shots. The sound does a little better, but not much. It was nice and loud, and musical sequences didn't sound over mixed or anything. At least they got this right. And even better, you get some subtitle options just in case!

Special features? Well, if the trailer and sneak peeks of other similar movies count, you're in for a treat! Other than that, there's nothing. 'not too surprising given how little the movie made, but you'd think there'd be even a featurette with the voice actors or something. A future rerelease doesn't look likely, so this is the only version to get if you want it, though I'd try and get the first release with the less cheap looking cover.

There's really not much more to say here. Rock-A-Doodle is a slightly below average kid's movie that you probably won't remember unless you watch it several times over the course of a month or two, or force yourself to think it's still great because you liked it from 10+ years ago. By all means, give the other Bluth movies a shot before giving this one a try. If you haven't seen the likes of Secret of NIMH and watch Rock-A-Doodle first, it might leave a bad impression on what the rest of his work is like. Add this one with A Troll in Central Park and The Pebble and the Penguin.

Average customer rating:

Great Kid movie
Rock-A-Doodle-What? A turkey cartoon for Bluth that simply doesn't shine (or sing).
Old Favorite!
Still as good as I remember
Wait, shouldn't it be Rock-A-Doodle-Do?

Rock-A-Doodle
Starring: Sorrell Booke , Glen Campbell , Eddie Deezen , Sandy Duncan , and Toby Scott Ganger
Director: Don Bluth
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000B6CO4I
Release Date: 2005-11-08

Amazon.com

Description

During a fierce thunderstorm, a mother tries to comfort her frightened young son, Edmond, by reading him the story of Rock-a-Doodle, about a big ol' singing rooster named Chanticleer who oversleeps and fails to wake the farm before the sun rises. When the other farm animals tease and laugh at him, Chanticleer's feelings get hurt so he packs his belongings and heads for the nearest metropolis, where he becomes a famous rock star. But it seems he also took the sun with him so the farm animals, with a little help from Edmond, hit the road to bring Chanticleer and the sun back home.

Customer Reviews:

Great Kid movie.......2007-07-07

Rock-A-Doodle-What? A turkey cartoon for Bluth that simply doesn't shine (or sing)........2007-05-19

Old Favorite!.......2007-05-06

Still as good as I remember.......2007-04-05

Wait, shouldn't it be Rock-A-Doodle-Do?.......2007-03-16

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