Chicken Little Back In Da Coop

"Why did Disney make this sequel and who even asked for a sequel? No one liked the original, and no one likes this one!"

- PhantomStrider Chicken Little: Back In Da Coop is a 2023 CGI animated film that is a sequel/reboot of Chicken Little. Produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios, this is the second time where Chicken Little gets to shine on the big screen and the film brings back most (if not all) of the cast from the original 2005 movie. This is directed by Michael Jelenic and Don Hall with Clark Spencer, Butch Hartman and Beth Milstein as the producers.

Plot
Takes place after the events of the original film, it tells the story of Chicken Little facing a love triangle with Abby and a new kid in town. Another plotline that is prominent would be the characters facing another threat that also happens to be another alien crisis.

Cast

 * 1) Zach Braff as Ace "Chicken Little" Cluck, a young and diminutive rooster who is crazy.
 * 2) John Cusack as Abigail "Abby" Mallard (aka The Ugly Duckling), a female duck who is Chicken Little's girlfriend.
 * 3) Dan Molina (archival recordings) as Fish Out of Water, a goldfish who wears a scuba helmet filled with water.
 * 4) Steve Zahn as Runt of the Litter, a large pig who is much larger than other children, but is far smaller than the other members of his family.
 * 5) Amy Sedaris as Foxy Loxy, a fox
 * 6) Mark Walton as Goosey Loosey, a dim-witted goose and Foxy's best friend
 * 7) Mark Dindal as Morkubine Porcupine
 * 8) Bill Murray as Buck Cluck, Chicken Little's dad.
 * 9) Kimiko Glenn as Shirley Sheep, A new kid on the block who Chicken Little has a crush on.
 * 10) Richard McGonagle as Mayor Turkey Lurkey - A mayor turkey who is a successor of Mayor Turkey Lurkey.
 * 11) Larry the Cable Guy as Sam Sheep, Shirley Sheep's dad.
 * 12) Maya Rudolph as Mama Runt, the mom of Runt
 * 13) Bruce Campbell as Papa Runt, the dad of Runt.
 * 14) Chris Pratt as Chuck Cluck, Chicken Little's cousin
 * 15) Estelle as Milly Mallard, Abigail's mother
 * 16) Dwayne Johnson as Chonco, a ruthless alien.
 * 17) Yahya Adbul-Mateen II as Zingonola, the righthand man or Chonco.
 * 18) Dream as Dreamy, a video game streamer who is a ferret.
 * 19) John C. Reilly as Mr. Ellie, an elephant who teaches science.
 * 20) Patrick Stewart as Mr. Woolensworth
 * 21) Max Mittleman as Nimble, a fast husky who is a fictional in-universe character that is iconic enough for things like merchandise, video games, movies, and cartoons
 * 22) Cassandra Lee Morris as Brushes, a flying arctic fox who is the sidekick of Nimble. Also an in-universe fictional character.
 * 23) Russell Brand as Sgt. Scramble, a mad scientist soldier who hates Nimble and Brushes.
 * 24) Nikocado Avocado as Hippocado, a hippo who is a mukbang internet celebrity.
 * 25) Guy Fieri makes a cameo as a chef bull named Bully Buffalo
 * 26) "Weird Al" Yankovic as Mr. Bearson, Chicken Little's band teacher
 * 27) Keegan Michael Key as Spotter Spotsalot a shop clerk who happens to be a cheetah.

Why It Sucks

 * 1) First off, Chicken Little didn't feel like it needed a sequel because the film didn't get to set up where would the film be if there was a sequel meaning that a sequel is pointless? To be fair, though, Chicken Little was going to get a sequel, but here we are now. The movie is so pointless that it gives Home Sweet Home Alone a run for its money.
 * 2) On top of that, Chicken Little was released in 2005, so that would be roughly 18 years from then, meaning it's too late for Chicken Little to get a sequel, and as mentioned before, too pointless.
 * 3) The first film does have mean-spirited moments, but it's nothing until you see this film. The mean-spiritedness cranks up to 11. While Chicken Little isn't treated badly unlike the first film (well aside from Chuck Cluck), the second film has mean-spirited moments that are not even funny to begin with, and instead come off as insulting, almost like Modern Family Guy levels of insulting albeit kid-friendly. Abby, Buck Cluck, and Runt of the Little are the ones who get that effect due to them being treated like butt-monkeys (especially Runt). There's even one scene that glorifies cancel culture in front of Buck Cluck (though we can understand that Buck was unlikeable in the first film, this is just taking this too far).
 * 4) Some characters are still unlikeable as they were in the first film regardless of whether it's a new character or a returning character.
 * 5) *The townspeople of Oakey Oaks are more unlikeable yet they are more annoying in the film. They mainly treat Abby, Runt, and Buck Cluck badly due to an incident with Buck being the worst offender and Runt coming in second place. Neither of them is punished or even APOLOGIZE.
 * 6) *Mayor Turkey Lurkey is more incompetent than he was in the first film. He does not even care what is going on with the world and instead seems to care more about his wellbeing
 * 7) *Nimble and Brushes are Sonic & Tails rip-offs who try too hard to be hip and cool with the kids. Each of them has a terrible personality with Nimble being an unrelatable Gary Stu who craves being popular with Brushes being a generic know-it-all.
 * 8) *Chuck Cluck is by far the most unlikeable character that is ever put in not only a Chicken Little movie but also a Disney movie. He's very mean-spirited to Chicken Little (even his friends, but not as much as Chicken Little) and is also a Karma Houdini. It has gone to the point where Buck Cluck called him out.
 * 9) *Foxy Loxy became a feminist stereotype. But she also has a split personality in regard to her original personality from the first movie.
 * 10) *Abby became a useless and stupid character who is so useless that she can be compared to that of Aqua from Konosuba.
 * 11) *Sam Sheep is portrayed as a gay stereotype who is very offensive to the LGBT community. He's also a heterophobe as he tried to attack Buck Cluck just because he was straight.
 * 12) *False Advertising: Despite being advertised frequently, appearing on the DVD case and posters (in which he took the place of Abby, the main character, and being one of the most likable characters, Morkubine Porcupine is a useless character who only says YO and is nothing more than just a marketing gimmick voiced by the director.
 * 13) *While Runt can still be pretty funny at times, he also became a massive otaku stereotype.
 * 14) The story is even lamer than it was in the first film. Not only is it a save-the-world plot that is just as generic as what you expect with Jump Force, but it's also confusing as it can't tell what the story wants to be. Does it want to be some action story or does it want to be some comedic story? WHAT KIND OF STORY IS THIS?
 * 15) *There are some pathetic side-plots that are confusing that it can't decide which plot it want to be. Many of the plotlines include Runt wanting to go to an anime convention, Chicken Little going to a big game as a baseball star, the love triangle between Chicken Little, Abby, and Shirley, Foxy's quest to be an internet celebrity, Chicken Little searching for the worst movie ever, Buck Cluck managing to bring Nimbles and Brushes to the real world, Nimble and Brushes stopping Sgt. Scramble from taking over the world, etc.
 * 16) *It is noted that the story takes elements from the first movie. Not only that, but we also get elements stolen from other movies like Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul, The Emoji Movie, Ice Age Collision Course, and for some reason much better films like Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, The Mitchells vs. The Machines, and Despicable Me.
 * 17) *Other than that, the producers had to explain the story.
 * 18) Executive meddling: The original plot was going to be a legit reboot of the franchise as Disney did want to try to improve the original Chicken Little with a great story that would have Chicken Little going to summer camp instead of being a fractured fairy tale like the first film yet the other side wanted a sequel to Chicken Little, despite being too late for the film to have a sequel. It wasn't until the meddling caused by the people behind the film to make a sequel/reboot of the movie that is just too ridiculous showing how inconsistent the writers are. They ended up attempting to be a crappy film.
 * 19) Before the movie starts in theaters, there is a cringe PSA where Chicken Little, Abby, Runt of the Litter, Buck Cluck, Fish, and Foxy Loxy do a rap number about turning off your phone
 * 20) Remember those pop culture references from the first movie? Well, they are back and worse than before. Why don't we list out EVERY pop culture reference?
 * 21) *The opening scene is exactly the same as the one in the first movie, where it makes a few opening parodies of other movies:
 * 22) **One of them is a parody of the opening part of The Circle of Life, with a cover version of it playing, which is unfitting because Chicken Little and The Lion King are two different things. Thankfully it was interrupted.
 * 23) **Another one parodies the opening to 2001: A Space Odyssey by having the sun rise above the earth, and it had a cringe-worthy scene of Chicken Little singing "Also Sprach Zarathustra" in an opera voice.
 * 24) *A scene where there is a dream sequence where Chicken Little, Abby, Runt, and Fish have a dream that is so similar to that of Earthbound complete with sprites that just look like the source material
 * 25) *"Is That A JoJo Reference"
 * 26) *Certain quotes said by certain characters like "Do you want to have a bad time? Because if you take one more step forward...you are REALLY not going to like what happens next!", "Die, alien you don't belong in this world", "Hasta La Vista Baby", "Execute Order 66", "NOOOOOOOOOOOO" (As in Darth Vader), "Delicious Pancakes", "Doh" (as in Homer Simpson), "Laugh it up fuzzball", "Some like it hot", "Objection", "It's a trap", "Bite the dust", Niiiice (as in Joseph Joestar), "This is the taste of a liar", "Oh? You are approaching me?", "snooping as usual I see", "Yeah baby yeah", "Now that's what I call a close encounter", "What can I say except", "Face it, girls. I’m older and I have more insurance”, "Keep the change, ya filthy animal", "Ladies and gentlemen, FASTEN YOUR SEATBELTS", "This is on like Donkey Kong", etc. There are so many of them that they can be compared to The Emoji Movie or Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul.
 * 27) *There is even unessacary product placement as well. There is one scene where Buck Cluck can be seen watching an episode of The Simpsons before switching to a basketball game as soon as Chicken Little shows up. Then there is another scene where Chicken Little and his friends go to a store buying lightsabers, Captain America's shield, Aladdin's lamp, Judy Hopp's Tranquilizer gun, and Bart's skateboard, just to name a few. Despite this, it doesn't really take up the entire movie when comparing it to something like Space Jam: A New Legacy, but still.
 * 28) *When the characters are at the movies, they can be seen watching footage of Pixar's "Soul" for some reason.
 * 29) *Runt and Chicken Little watching a making that is similar to the infamous Nikocado Avocado complete with a character that is voiced by Nikocado. What's even worse is that the Nikocado parody gets the most screen time in the movie alongside the Dream parody including when they were somehow invited to go join Chicken Little's raid party.
 * 30) *Chicken Little saying "Chickie Chickie Chii" as a reference to Nico from Love Live.
 * 31) *Abby saying "Just Abi" much like Monika from DDLC.
 * 32) *Nimble and Brushes being references to Sonic & Tails from Sonic the Hedgehog.
 * 33) *Runt mentioning My Hero Academia and sometimes referencing it. To prove this to you, there was a scene where he said "You say run".
 * 34) *Chuck Cluck attempting to throw Turkey Lurkey off a cliff much like in Tekken yet for some reason Turkey survives somehow.
 * 35) *During a concert scene where Chicken Little plays a part of Giorno's Theme from JoJo's Bizzare Adventure on a piano.
 * 36) *There is one scene where the characters play Among Us which has nothing to do with the plot.
 * 37) *''Disney + and Chill"
 * 38) *The movie uses sound effects from certain media like the Metal Gear exclamation mark, the GAME OVER YEAH! sound from Sega Rally Championship, The Body Reported sound effect from Among Us, the Vent sound effect also from Among Us, Nelson's HA-HA from The Simpsons, or the Roblox oof. And who could not forget the scene where Runt accidentally plays Megalovania in high volume.
 * 39) Humor is much worse this time around. We still get some bad gross jokes and mean-spirited humor, but the humor also relies on modern-day society such as jokes about social media or trends. There are also fat jokes as well. Even if the jokes were not in any of these categories, those jokes tend to fall flat or be annoying.
 * 40) It tries too hard to be hip with the kids including the characters saying things like "YOLO", "BOI", "SIMP", "Ok boomer", "Periodt", "OMG", "Salty", "Roasted" "Sus", "OTP", "Scrub", "Dat", "lowkey", "noob", "yee", "dawg", "YASS", and "chillax".
 * 41) Despite a good score, they use pop-culture-oriented songs just like in the original film like "Get up offa that thing" by James Brown, "All-Star" from Smash Mouth, "Don't Stop Believin'" by Journey, "Feel This Moment" by Pitbull, "Blue" by Eiffel 65, "I'm Still Standing" by Elton John, "Walk Like an Egyptian" (which was a cover done by Runt and Abby) originally by The Bangles.
 * 42) The infamous scene where Chuck said "Suprise Motherclucker" in a kid's movie albeit later releases changed the line to something else.
 * 43) Too many plot holes here and there. Let us name a few for you guys.
 * 44) *How did the characters invite the Dream, Guy Fieri, and Nikocado parodies to join Chicken Little's club? The movie never bothers to explain.
 * 45) *How did Nimbles, Brushes, and Sgt. Scramble came to the world of Chicken Little when they are video game characters. Are the characters even video game characters at all?
 * 46) *When Runt attempts to eat a sacred arrow that he found thinking that the arrow can give him powers, how did Runt not get hurt despite eating arrows being dangerous?
 * 47) *How did Chuck Cluck not get in trouble with security when he stole an item from the store?
 * 48) *Sgt. Scramble is somehow the only human in this movie despite most of the cast being animals.
 * 49) *That one scene where Chicken Little and Chuck Cluck eat food that resembles chicken nuggets. Yep, that is cannibalism since they are chickens! Are the chicken nuggets even made out of real chicken? The same can be said about the scene where Runt eating ham.
 * 50) *When Fish out of Water was seen in a freezing area, the water that is inside his scuba helmet doesn't freeze despite the water being able to freeze at low temperature.
 * 51) *How can Chicken Little even carry a bat that is bigger than him. In the first movie, Chicken Little did struggle to carry a bat, yet this movie implies that Chicken Little has no problem with a heavy bat.
 * 52) *For some reason, Brushes can fly due to his tails yet when Abby attempts to fly since she's a mallard, she falls flat. The movie suggests that Brushes is the ONLY character that can fly yet bird characters like Chicken Little, Abby, Buck, and Chuck can't fly.
 * 53) *Hippocado can somehow eat tons of junk food without getting a heart attack.
 * 54) Morkubine's death is tasteless. You see, he's only a character that only serves as a gimmick for the film. How would his death be sad when he barely does anything in both films? Does the film try to make us sympathize with a character who is a filler? Morkubine's death gets put away later on as if the writers want to give Morkubine his last "epic" gimmick.
 * 55) The final battle is so chaotic that it's annoying. The movie tries so hard to be an epic battle yet the battle is just annoying. Too many noises as well as the context used in the battle turn out to be total destruction.
 * 56) There is a pointless blink and you miss the cameo of the aliens from the first film.
 * 57) *It was pure filler anyway.
 * 58) The love triangle between Chicken Little, Abby, and Shirley is pointless. Chicken Little just met Shirley in the movie not to mention that Chicken Little already has a love interest. In order for the love triangle to work, Chicken Little somehow cheats on both characters one way or the other.
 * 59) Even though the animation is a major step up from the previous films due to the improvement of CGI that Disney has been doing ever since films like Bolt, Tangled, Wreck-It Ralph, Encanto, and many more, it can also look uncanny to look at due to how some characters move in fast-paced movements as if it was attempting to copy off the Hotel Transylvania movies except Hotel Transylvania made more sense compared to this.
 * 60) Tons of cringey lines some characters had said as if a five-year-old or a hip kid came up with these lines. For instance, in the scene where Runt said "I'm bringing home my bacon". When you think about that line, did Runt not realize that bacon is made out of pigs (though turkey bacon exists too)?
 * 61) *Another one would be Chuck saying "Did you chucked up my computer?"
 * 62) *Buck saying "Buck says buckle up fellas".
 * 63) *Brushes saying "I want an ICE BURGER"
 * 64) For some reason, there is a bunch of unnecessary product placement including Ice Age, ABC, Marvel, The Simpsons, Freeform, FX, ESPN, Hulu, Disney+, Samsung, Apple, the MCU, Genshin Impact, and National Geographic. Not even the original Chicken Little didn't have product placement yet the movie decides to shoehorn it just for comedy despite not working well.
 * 65) There is a reference to killing in a kid's movie. When we mean by that, there is a scene where Chuck wanted to kill Runt and Abby for real. Thankfully, Runt and Abby survived.
 * 66) The morals here are hypocritical and confusing. The moral is supposed to be about doing the right thing yet the plotline is so confusing and laughably bad that the morals can also result in bad morals as well such as being okay with cheating on love interests.
 * 67) The movie tends to show that the writers can't take any criticism. There are some scenes that depict this including one where Buck Cluck said "you got to listen to those critics who give out feedback, they can give you pointers on how to improve" with Chuck Cluck saying "How about if we just ignore those online losers!"
 * 68) *There is another scene where Runt got really mad at hearing what critics think about their first movie.
 * 69) *Abby saying "Those reviews that I just read are uglier than me".
 * 70) *The DAC (Destroy All Critics) movement by Foxy Loxy. 'Nuff said!
 * 71) This movie can't go on without treating the audience like numskulls as if they are stupid enough to know the movie. Though nowhere as bad as Norm of the North, still.
 * 72) There is often bias between cartoons and anime in this movie. You see, Chicken Little and Runt had drama during recess over opinions between cartoons and anime with Chicken calling Runt a "Waifu hog" while Runt calls Chicken a "Baby Chick". But it's getting worse when Abby and the rest of the classmates join a war Chicken and Runt started. That fight scene is filler and Chicken and Runt are way too out of character in this scene.
 * 73) The scene when Chuck Cluck raided Chicken Little's school via vandalizing it comes off as too mean-spirited and it seems like he is fine with messing up the school system.
 * 74) Some "emotional" scenes try to be emotional yet they come off as either forced, cliche, or ruined by something else. For instance, when Chicken Little was too worried about him dying yet Chuck said "You make a great Chicken Sandwich" which is too disturbing.
 * 75) Little to no character development despite certain characters still being pretty likable.
 * 76) Crazy amounts of filler scenes that don't do or barely contribute to the plot and instead are used to pander to kids (especially those of the modern age). For instance, there is a scene where Chicken Little does an unboxing-styled scene where he unboxes some merchandise he got from the store in front of the audience.
 * 77) It feels like the movie was made to cash in on the Chicken Little memes and "nostalgia".
 * 78) The movie here ends with a big musical/dance number and boy let us tell you it's not only irritating but also dated due to some dance moves shown off. Also, the dance scene does not contribute to the ending well and instead shows up for filler. You can just remove that scene and nothing will change.
 * 79) For some reason Chuck invests in NFTs which are harmful to the environment. It has gone to the point where Buck called him out.
 * 80) Poor pacing all thanks to filler and how the story turned out to be. It's by far the longest (though not too long) animated Disney movie that it surpasses Cars. Also thanks to the pacing, the pacing is also inconsistent.
 * 81) Terrible usage of source material just as you would expect it.
 * 82) The promotional materials like the trailers and the posters are not that good either. There are a lot of lies in the trailers thinking that it can be an improvement somehow regardless or it would try to take itself a little more seriously yet the movie nowhere does that despite attempting to do so.
 * 83) There are alcohol references in a kid's movie. There was this one scene where Runt got "drunk" from drinking a lot of strawberry cream soda despite the beverage not being non-alcoholic.
 * 84) *There was even a scene where Chicken Little mentions that he would need some "weed". What kind of weed did he need anyways? Even Buck looked awkwardly at him. Though it was revealed by the producers that Chicken didn't intend to take any drugs.
 * 85) Sequel baiting: Chicken Little at the end of the credits says "who's ready for round three" which is just pathetic. Though ironically enough, a TV series is in the works.
 * 86) Sometimes there are moments where it attempts to use the nostalgia-baiting trope.
 * 87) The fact that cast members like Chris Pratt, Dream, Nikocado Avocado, Max Mittleman, Cassandra Morris, Estelle, Guy Fieri, Dwayne Johnson, etc., seem to be used as cast members just to appeal to anime fans and tweens.
 * 88) Overall, the reason why the movie failed critically is because of the amount of toxic behavior behind the studio. It was to the point where the entire movie felt like it was unorganized complete with a heavy amount of disagreement and meddling.

Redeeming Qualities

 * 1) Say what you want about the story but it's also crazy and unpredictable.
 * 2) Some characters can still be pretty likable.
 * 3) *Buck Cluck is much more tolerable in this movie.
 * 4) Some emotional scenes are not interrupted by a stupid scene and instead decide to be serious.
 * 5) Depending on your view, some may see the movie as a "so bad it's funny" movie. Especially those who love to watch bad movies just for kicks.
 * 6) The credits scene is creative and colorful.
 * 7) The animation is a big improvement from the previous films. Not to mention the color palette.
 * 8) Aside from the dance scene, the ending isn't so bad.
 * 9) Good voice acting regardless if it were the veterans or newcomers of Chicken Little.
 * 10) A fair chunk of funny moments here and there.
 * 11) At least the NFT scene wasn't intentionally meant to promote NFTs.
 * 12) Despite the flaws, the soundtrack is good with some legit bops.
 * 13) Good use of nostalgia for fans of the first film despite bringing up and rehashing some elements from the first film.
 * 14) They are a few good messages and morals no doubt despite being over the place.
 * 15) "Ha ha! And who takes the laughter now?"

Reception
Despite being a huge box office success, Chicken Little Back In Da Coop received mixed to negative reviews much like its predecessor. It was praised for its animation, voice acting, and some good songs yet the story, humor, and attempt to be hip was criticized as well. Many people felt polarized about the return of Chicken Little. However, the movie did get a cult following (especially when it's mostly those who grew up with Chicken Little) Even Mark Dindal was still disappointed with the final product despite not working on the movie.

Trivia

 * Spawned a truckload of memes that became popular in the meme community. Runt and Buck still are popular yet characters like Chuck, Mr. Ellie, Runt's Mom, and Dad, etc. also join the popularity
 * It was announced that the movie franchise will get an animated series.
 * There have been talks about a potential Chicken Little reboot that would still attempt to improve the problems the film suffers and its in-development reports state. Even Mark was happy to help out and hopes it can work out well. The news gave a good response from fans of the film series.