#185: Rock-a-Doodle

Release Date: April 3rd, 1992

Format: Streaming (Tubi)

Written by: David N. Weiss

Directed by: Don Bluth

1.5 Stars

There’s a good movie in here, somewhere. 

Don Bluth’s 1992 film, Rock-a-Doodle, keeps throwing things at the screen in hopes that something sticks, but in the end we’re left with a slop of odd story beats, strange tonal shifts, and undercooked characters. It seems to be one of those films that attempts to mimic much better films (The Neverending Story, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, The Little Mermaid), only to seem like a weird, pale imitation instead.

It’s too bad, really. I’ve seen a few other Bluth films (All Dogs Go to Heaven, An American Tail, The Land Before Time) and he is capable of a beautifully raw style of animated storytelling that is distinct, especially in comparison to the megalord that was Disney in the late ‘80s/early ‘90s. At his best his films hit raw nerves that his Disney contemporaries shied away from, and he never seemed afraid of embracing moments of real menace and profound sadness. 

But Rock-a-Doodle is not one of his best films. It’s a story that isn’t even sure who its protagonist is, and gets so convoluted it needs heavy voiceover narration to get us from one scene to the next.

I do love the basic premise, though: a proud rooster, Chanticleer, thinks he raises the sun each morning with his singing, until he finds out one day that it can rise without him. Disgraced in front of his barnyard peers, he runs away to the big city where he becomes an Elvis-esque rock star. But back on the farm that he left behind, there is a terrible storm, and forest owls swoop in and take over. The dark skies last for days. 

Who could possibly save them? Surely not Chanticleer. Right? Or could he?

Stripping the plot down to its bare parts would have made for a great, simple, epic hero’s tale.

Instead Bluth decides to chase the style (and dollars) of much bigger and better films.