Have you ever seen a movie and felt so much potential was wasted not only because of the narrative execution, but also for focusing on the wrong lead? For me, it would be Don Bluth's Rock a Doodle, one of his worst features to date. What's interesting is that this film was originally meant to be produced by Walt Disney in the early 1960s, but was rejected in favor of Sword in the Stone. Fast forward to the 1980s when Don Bluth and his team put the project into development, the film went through numerous changes in both the writing and even editing stages. Needless to say, the final result might've hatched out of a rotten egg.
The movie is about a barnyard rooster named Chanticleer who could make the sun come up by singing, but then heads to the big city after the sun comes up without him crowing. However, massive storms and dark clouds stop the sun from appearing, so it's all up to a human turned into a kitten called Edmond and a gang of farm animals to find Chanticleer and restore the sun's balance. Right off the bat, the movie's biggest problem is that instead of focusing on Chanticleer and his transition into the big city, we instead have to follow Edmond, an unappealing excuse of a main character who speaks trite dialogue and acts more obnoxious than adorable. It doesn't help that throughout the story, almost every single sequence has an overabundance of expository narration, as if the movie thinks its audience can't figure it out for themselves. To make things even worse, because Chanticleer's role is reduced to that of a MacGuffin, his status of being an Elvis-like rock star past his country origins feels completely sidelined. I guess anything actually thought provoking is out of style in this watered down mess.
Speaking of watering things down, as good as the voice-acting can be, it often feels like the cast tries so hard to over-cutesify their lines in mind of the audience, which in return makes the characters insufferable. In addition to Edmond being obnoxiously pandering as a cute protagonist, his actor did such a weak job that it feels more like you're watching a grade school performance than a kid on the big screen. By his side is the narrating blabbermouth Patou, the know-it-all Peepers, and the misogynistic jerk Snipes, who barely offer any substance outside of one trait only, like shoe tieing or claustrophobia. Almost everyone else is just a plot-demanded architype like Chanticleer's stunning girlfriend Goldie or the controlling con-artist Pinky and his dumb henchmen. The only character worth enjoying in the movie is the villainous Grand Duke of Owls, since he's so deliciously maniacal that he at least offers some amusement in this trainwreck. With a cast of characters that elicit groans instead of charm, is it even any wonder why Chanticleer should have been the focus?
To the film's credit, the animation and art direction are quite spot-on. While the character designs can range from looking cute to grotesque, the movements are quite smooth and bold with a strong dose of tight choreography given the dance sequences. The distinction between the grim looking urban farmland to the vividly bright cityscope is quite fascinating, and even during fast-paced scenes, the movie does give us a good amount of scenery to awe at. Unfortunately, that's where the visual positives end, as even with these impressive artistic choices, the editing can often be so rapid-fire that it ruins the viewer's appreciation of detail. Also, the beginning and end of the movie feature live-action segments in the real world before Edmond ends up in the animated fantasy-land. With that said, there is no reason for these segments to exist at all, as you could have started things off in the farmland and gone from there (as well as save yourself from some of the most laughably bad attempts at animation/live-action compositing ever done in film history).
Finally, with this film being a part-musical, I will admit that most of the songs are actually kind of fun to listen to, especially in the movie's context. The songs can range from upbeat country fodder, to appropriately corny Elvis-inspired tunes, and even charmingly cheesy love ballads. It also helps that Glen Campbell's performance as Chanticleer is the extra spice that livens the feature up when necessary. However, what nearly ruins them is not only the aforementioned narrating dribble, but also how the movie might as well have ADHD given that it goes from the dance sequences to something else going on with the characters. If you're not even gonna let the musical numbers play out on their own, then maybe you shouldn't have even bothered with these annoying explanatory add ons. There are a few songs that do play out fully, mostly belonging to the villains, but the lyrics are so embarrassing and they run for so little that you immediately forget them as soon as they're over. The best musicals know when to let a song play out in full to keep the story going...this could have been one of them.
In the end, not only is Rock-a-Doodle an embarrassing waste of a legend's talents due to its oversimplified tone, but it's a sad case of putting focus on the wrong character to drive the feature forward. Even with some impressive visuals and upbeat songs, it's all ruined in the execution by a movie that doesn't trust its audience to think for themselves. Let this be a lesson to storytellers: never underestimate your viewers, because they can smell saccharine indulgence from a mile away. Why else do people not even care about this movie anymore? Especially when the director himself has done better for his audience.
The movie is about a barnyard rooster named Chanticleer who could make the sun come up by singing, but then heads to the big city after the sun comes up without him crowing. However, massive storms and dark clouds stop the sun from appearing, so it's all up to a human turned into a kitten called Edmond and a gang of farm animals to find Chanticleer and restore the sun's balance. Right off the bat, the movie's biggest problem is that instead of focusing on Chanticleer and his transition into the big city, we instead have to follow Edmond, an unappealing excuse of a main character who speaks trite dialogue and acts more obnoxious than adorable. It doesn't help that throughout the story, almost every single sequence has an overabundance of expository narration, as if the movie thinks its audience can't figure it out for themselves. To make things even worse, because Chanticleer's role is reduced to that of a MacGuffin, his status of being an Elvis-like rock star past his country origins feels completely sidelined. I guess anything actually thought provoking is out of style in this watered down mess.
Speaking of watering things down, as good as the voice-acting can be, it often feels like the cast tries so hard to over-cutesify their lines in mind of the audience, which in return makes the characters insufferable. In addition to Edmond being obnoxiously pandering as a cute protagonist, his actor did such a weak job that it feels more like you're watching a grade school performance than a kid on the big screen. By his side is the narrating blabbermouth Patou, the know-it-all Peepers, and the misogynistic jerk Snipes, who barely offer any substance outside of one trait only, like shoe tieing or claustrophobia. Almost everyone else is just a plot-demanded architype like Chanticleer's stunning girlfriend Goldie or the controlling con-artist Pinky and his dumb henchmen. The only character worth enjoying in the movie is the villainous Grand Duke of Owls, since he's so deliciously maniacal that he at least offers some amusement in this trainwreck. With a cast of characters that elicit groans instead of charm, is it even any wonder why Chanticleer should have been the focus?
To the film's credit, the animation and art direction are quite spot-on. While the character designs can range from looking cute to grotesque, the movements are quite smooth and bold with a strong dose of tight choreography given the dance sequences. The distinction between the grim looking urban farmland to the vividly bright cityscope is quite fascinating, and even during fast-paced scenes, the movie does give us a good amount of scenery to awe at. Unfortunately, that's where the visual positives end, as even with these impressive artistic choices, the editing can often be so rapid-fire that it ruins the viewer's appreciation of detail. Also, the beginning and end of the movie feature live-action segments in the real world before Edmond ends up in the animated fantasy-land. With that said, there is no reason for these segments to exist at all, as you could have started things off in the farmland and gone from there (as well as save yourself from some of the most laughably bad attempts at animation/live-action compositing ever done in film history).
Finally, with this film being a part-musical, I will admit that most of the songs are actually kind of fun to listen to, especially in the movie's context. The songs can range from upbeat country fodder, to appropriately corny Elvis-inspired tunes, and even charmingly cheesy love ballads. It also helps that Glen Campbell's performance as Chanticleer is the extra spice that livens the feature up when necessary. However, what nearly ruins them is not only the aforementioned narrating dribble, but also how the movie might as well have ADHD given that it goes from the dance sequences to something else going on with the characters. If you're not even gonna let the musical numbers play out on their own, then maybe you shouldn't have even bothered with these annoying explanatory add ons. There are a few songs that do play out fully, mostly belonging to the villains, but the lyrics are so embarrassing and they run for so little that you immediately forget them as soon as they're over. The best musicals know when to let a song play out in full to keep the story going...this could have been one of them.
In the end, not only is Rock-a-Doodle an embarrassing waste of a legend's talents due to its oversimplified tone, but it's a sad case of putting focus on the wrong character to drive the feature forward. Even with some impressive visuals and upbeat songs, it's all ruined in the execution by a movie that doesn't trust its audience to think for themselves. Let this be a lesson to storytellers: never underestimate your viewers, because they can smell saccharine indulgence from a mile away. Why else do people not even care about this movie anymore? Especially when the director himself has done better for his audience.