Rock-A-Doodle (1992)

The rooster on the farm, Chanticleer, has to sing every morning for the sun to rise. One morning, he is stopped from singing and the other animals discover that he's a phony - the sun rises anyway. He becomes an outcast and runs away to the city. However, the animals discover that this was a mistake, because the sun stops coming up and rain, which causes a flood, begins instead.Somewhere along the way, cartoons and Disney became almost synonymous. And yet, Don Bluth has forged ahead, with "American Tail" and "Land Before Time", among many others. This one, though forgotten by some, is beloved by others. Personally, I think it is just as good as any Disney film of the era, and you have to love the voice casting of Glen Campbell.If it hasn't already been done, someone ought to release a retrospective blu-ray set of Bluth's golden years.

You know, for over a year after I saw this for the first time, I pretty much convinced myself that this movie was actually good, and no, it isn't. It is a terrible mess of a film with poorly-written characters, a contrived plot and... to be honest... that's actually why I like it.If you go into this movie knowing how poorly contrived it is, you will actually get a lot of enjoyment out of it. It starts off with a very interesting premise, one that made it worth questioning the immediately contradiction of its plot that wasted no time before rearing its ugly head, but the minute Edmond is introduced to the whole thing it becomes laugh-out-loud hilarious! The animations are very nice, the Grand Duke sometimes looking like something out of an 80's Bluth film and the good guy songs are nice to listen to (Which is why it's a shame Phil Harris talks over most of them) but all in all, this is a movie that's enjoyable simply because of how bad it is. The minute Edmond enters the story and we get quite possibly one of the strangest team-ups ever, it's impossible to take the movie seriously in the slightest.It's kind of a shame, though, as this movie did have a lot of promise. The characters Peepers and Edmond both have speech impediments which could have made for great development between the two, but no, we get none of that. Maybe if Pinky had been the main villain and the animals were looking for Chanticleer for a, well, less selfish reason than saving their own hides, we could have still gotten a great entertaining movie with a much better message of acceptance. Maybe instead of the whole "owls threatening to eat them" thing, they could have sought out Chanticleer because without him, productivity on the farm would decrease or something like that.Still, for what it is, it's unintentionally hilarious and that's why it passed in my eyes. Still, it's a shame the writers clearly weren't taking it seriously enough otherwise it could have been really good.

Ha.......beware of the long rant of a hugely biased Bluth fan...Fine, warned ya, didn't I? ^_-First of all, I don't really see why people hate this movie so much. I don't see what's so bloody confusing about it....unless people are really that simpled-minded that they can't understand a plot as simple as "a live-action boy joins the animated world in order to bring back a hero who can save them from darkness and destruction." That's it. ........yeah, what exactly is so hard to understand about that?And.....they're criticizing the animation? LOL These same people who love American Tail and the Land Before Time are actually criticizing a film WITH THE EXACT SAME TYPE OF ANIMATION!? Seriously, use your common sense, people!! No, rather, use your EYES! It's the SAME!! Okay, fine, the live-action parts MIXED with the animation does look cheap. But it's old!! And of course it doesn't look as good as it did with Roger Rabbit! That movie was one of the most expensive movies ever made in all of film HISTORY!! Bluth didn't have that kind of budget, okay?! Besides, it lasts for all of twenty seconds, so suck it up and fast-forward if you hate looking at it so much, geeze!!Don't believe all the bad reviews you have read on here. The animation is not horrible, the characters are not annoying OR ugly, the songs are not bad, and the voice actors are CERTAINLY not untalented! Believe you me, being a fan of animated classics from the time I was barely able to talk to now, (in my 20s) adults can appreciate this movie JUST AS MUCH if not more, than a child can. I have sat through BAD voice-acting, (early dubbed anime, anyone!?) horrible songs, terrible characters, awful, FLAT animation, the whole lot....and Rock-a-Doodle shines like a gem next to these. Another reviewer on here just asked, "Why watch this when you can be in a world with Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, and Pinnochio?My answer is simply this:"Because it's DIFFERENT and I'm freaking sick of those fairy tales that everybody's seen a thousand versions of before they have even reached the age of TEN, damn it all!". The problem is, everyone's treating this as a Disney film when it's not. It's Bluth. Bluth is not Disney. He never WILL be. And I don't want him to be, either! See, this is why I adore Don Bluth so much and consider him to be the finest animator and director in America. Don Bluth's films are SO different, SO sophisticated, SO unique, SO non-cliché, and above all, SO magical. Yes, "magical" is really the best way to describe a Bluth film...and ever single one he's directed delivers the magic...so much that just from watching a couple seconds of random animation, you can immediately recognize that Bluth had something to do with it.I will say that Disney can take you on a journey through storybooks...even through history, perhaps...but you still feel like you're just watching something.....artificial? It's meant to entertain, be bright, happy, make you laugh and dance then cry..then laugh some more...and then it's over. But what Bluth does.....it's something much more valuable...much more surreal: he takes you on a journey through DREAMS. Yes, watching a Bluth film is very much like being in a dream. It's beautiful...yet bizarre...bright...yet dark...calming...yet terrifying.... Rock-A-Doodle is exceptionally GOOD at being a film that feels like a dream. Its awesome random, wonderful strangeness is right up there with "The Secret of NIMH" and my eternally top-favorite, "All Dogs Go To Heaven". And I can tell you right now: every single scene feels more memorable than an entire Disney movie. When I watched this movie just last week to relive my childhood, I found out that I appreciated it even MORE and that it was much more enjoyable to watch than the Disney movies that were created around the same time!!I can understand that some people don't like this just because it's too...WEIRD for them...which I agree. It IS weird. But see, I love weird. I love bizarre. I love strange. I love being treated as an adult and actually having to use my brain.....during a KID'S film.If you're tired of that same-old-same-old protective Disney bubble that doesn't really let you think outside the box and want something really interesting and out of the ordinary, PLEASE give this movie a look. You won't regret it. If you're a Bluth fan, THIS IS A MUST-SEE.My rating for each aspect of Rock-A-Doodle:Animation: 10 It's Don-freaking-BLUTH Characters: 8 All main ones are likable, unique, and fun. The Duke is a GREAT villain especially!Sound: 10 It's a musical of course! Not all the songs are given attention like in most musicals though. Some are very short to give you a short laugh or two and some just serve as background music while main points about the characters are being pointed out to you. This is refreshing for those who get tired of song after song in animated movies.Story: 7 There's a plot hole or two, seemingly but based on what's revealed at the end, that's entirely excusable!! (and all the critics totally ignored this!!) Voice-actors: 10! Nothing to complain about here! Ganger's (Edmond) childish voice is adorable, Duncan (Peepers) and Deezen (Snipes) are priceless, Reily's (Hunch) hysterical, Campbell as Chanticleer just plain rocks and Chris Plummer should have gotten an award as The Duke because he's outstanding.

Rock-a-doodle is one of the many poorly conceived animated films from ex-Disney animator Don Bluth, who was known through the 80s and 90s for making boring kiddie animated movies. This movie was different from Bluth's previous films, animation wise. In his previous films, the character designs were all very loose, and the animation was kind of dull. Here, the character designs are more solid, and though much of the movie has a weird sepia toned color, it still looks great. As for plot and dialogue, this is pretty terrible.Chaunticlare the rooster (voiced by Glenn Campbell) sings the sun up every morning, but after he is attacked by an evil owl named the Duke (Christopher Plummer), he is ridiculed and leaves the farm for the city. The next scene shows that this is actually a story, and the movie briefly switches to live action to introduce Edmund, the young protagonist. Edmund's mother is reading him the story of Chaunticlare during a storm, but stops to help her husband. During the height of the storm, Edmund shouts out Chaunticlare's name, which somehow makes the Duke become real and turn Edmund into an animated cat. Now Edmund, and a few barnyard animals, led by Patou, the hound dog (Phil Harris), are headed off to the city to find Chaunticlare and make him crow again to make the sun come up.This whole movie just doesn't make sense. The Duke's evil powers are confusing. Why can an owl magically shape shift animals and himself. He was more of a genie than an owl. Why was this story real, and why was Edmund turned into a cat, other than the purposes of making a cute cartoon character. Why did Edmund immediately forget about his parents and start only caring about the cartoon animals he doesn't know? The answer to all these...because this was a poorly written movie.Rock-a-doodle is a good movie for kids, meaning they will enjoy it. Adults will not. The plot makes no sense. The animated sets are the saving grace for me. Some of the sets in this film are really great looking, and are fun to look at...which makes eye candy the main attraction to this bizarre cartoon. The characters are kind of cute, and have odd chemistry together, but overall, this is a weird kiddie flick that adults will find very boring.My rating: ** out of ****. 75 mins. Rated G.