- 1991movierewind
Episode #140: Rock-A-Doodle
Listen to Episode 140 of the Podcast here while you enjoy the show notes.
SUMMARY - In Rock-A-Doodle, Chanticleer the rooster (played by Glen Campbell) falls victim to the Duke of Owls (played by Christopher Plummer) and is ousted from his farm. The sun no longer rises and the constant rain floods the home of a little boy Edmond (played by Toby Ganger) who gets turned into a cat by the Duke. Edmond must team up with the other farm dwellers to find Chanticleer in the big city so he can call the sun back.
Screenplay by David N. Weiss; Directed by Don Bluth, Gary Goldman, and Dan Kuenster; and released in the United Kingdom on August 2,1991.
FILM DISCUSSION
The movie gives a very quick introduction to the side character on the front of the box that our actual main character needs to find. Confused? Well, there's tons of narration to fill in the gaps
There's an effort to tap into the "Roger Rabbit" mix of live action and animation. Generally, it's handled pretty well.
The story moves fast and is full of standard jokes and things that go nowhere like the dog who can't tie his shoes
We expected a little more flair from the Don Bluth animation. It's not terrible by any means but it feels rushed at times.
The music is not for us. It's probably not for kids either. We don't understand the music.
While we like the voice actors, the story really moves so quickly that you don't get any characterization
Did we mention the terrible songs?
Oh and the ending didn't make tons of sense either, really. It just sort of happens. At least there's almost 10 minutes of credits to close it out and pad the running time.
Awards Talk: None to speak of
TRUE CRIME & POP CULTURE
This week we don't have any true crime to talk about so we start by talking about the inspiration of the film: The Canterbury Tales
Chantecler by Edmond Rostand play
Moving on to TV
We're looking at a couple kids shows starting with WIld & Crazy Kids
Here's the intro as a reminder.
We also are diving into the Marvel Power Pack TV Pilot. We erroneously said it was on MTV. After further review after release, the MTV show "Power Pack" was likely a 1 hour block of music videos. But this pilot did get produced in 1991 and there's basically no info on the MTV named show, so yeah.
The Entire episode is on Youtube and if you want to learn more, here's some additional info
and a link to info on the Marvel comic book
RANKINGS & RATINGS
Nikki 1-5 star scale - 2 out of 5
Jon 0-4 star scale - 1 out of 4
Would you watch it again? - This is not one of Don Bluth's finest in terms of animation quality but it still has some of his trademark charm. However, the storytelling and the songs fall flat. We didn't hate the movie, but it is not a great experience for adults and honestly may not be too interesting for kids either.
If you want to watch Rock-A-Doodle, as of this recording in November 2023, it’s available on Prime, Tubi, PlutoTV, Hoopla, Digital Rental, VHS, DVD. Check your local listings.
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