Chicken Little (2011)

Run Time - 10 min.  |   Countries - Canada  |  
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Synopsis by Hal Erickson

One of four WW2-era Disney cartoon "specials" produced at the behest of the US Government, Chicken Little utilizes the titular fable to warn against the influence of Nazism. The story opens in a very cosmopolitan henhouse (complete with beauty parlor and dance hall!), overseen by "supervisor of egg production" Cocky Locky. Meanwhile, hungry Foxy Loxy lurks outside the high fence which protects the henhouse, trying to figure out a way to lure the fowl into his lair. Pulling out a book marked "Psychology", Foxy Loxy absorbs the volume's advice on how to influence the masses: the "Big Lie" theory, spreading rumors, discrediting authority figures, and exploiting the delusions of grandeur of the least intelligent members of society. In this instance, that "least intelligent" fellow is dimwitted Chicken Little, who thanks to Foxy Loxy's machinations becomes convinced that the sky is falling and quickly spreads his hysteria to the rest of the henhouse. In the original script for Chicken Little, the book consulted by Foxy Loxy was none other than Mein Kampf, but Walt Disney vetoed this idea so that the cartoon would become dated after the War. He did not, however, have any objections to the morbidly hilarious closing gag, which may not be suitable for very small children.