History WesternAnimation / ChickenLittle

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: The tomboy school bully Foxy Loxy being held captive by the aliens, only to return home brainwashed and feminine/girly in both mannerisms and appearance than she used to be. It's not unlike having gone through a successful gay conversion therapy against their will.

* SimilarToTheShow: One of the trailers resembled one made for ''Film/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'' movie (Disney produced both films). The movie posters and the box art for the DVD borrow from the then-current ''Film/MenInBlack II''.

* NerdsAreInnocent: Chicken Little is a nerdy and creative boy with an optimistic and idealistic outlook on life.

* ImprovisedJetpack: Combined with SodaCanShakeUp, Chicken Little often uses a bottle of soda in order to propel himself to high places. His movie version takes this UpToEleven by using a jetpack powered by soda bottles.

Note: Disney had already adapted the Chicken Little story once before, as a 1943 animated short parodying, of all things, Nazi propaganda. See the bottom of the page for tropes relating to that version.

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Disney's first attempt at adapting the Chicken Little story was a short in 1943, a wartime propaganda short lampooning Nazism and even some of Nazism's own propaganda. The initial draft made this explicit, with Foxy Loxy reading from ''Literature/MeinKampf'', but Walt Disney changed things to a less direct comparison in hopes of making the short better withstand the test of time. Though normally remembered for being broadcast on its own, it was also re-aired (alongside the "Bongo" segment from ''WesternAnimation/FunAndFancyFree'' and the short "Figaro and Cleo") as part of the 1955 anthology "Jiminy Cricket Presents Bongo".

Taking its cues from the bleaker interpretations of the base story, this short casts Foxy Loxy into the role of the villain protagonist, as he schemes to lure the poultry of a nearby farm from the safety of their yard to his cave.
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!!{{Trope}}s found in the 1943 short:
* AlcoholInducedIdiocy: The drunken ducks and geese instantly believe the rumors about Cocky Locky and spread them unknowingly helping Foxy Loxy.
* AssholeVictim: Downplayed. The point of the short was to convey the potential fates of standard careless archetypes such as the GossipyHens and gullible drunks who fall for stories and rumours during the war.
* TheBadGuyWins: Foxy Loxy gets to eat all the poultry.
* BalloonBelly: Foxy Loxy sports a notably distended stomach in the short's ending after eating all the poultry.
* CunningLikeAFox: Foxy Loxy's intelligence allows him to play all the fowl for saps.
* DarkerAndEdgier: Though much of the short is PlayedForLaughs, this has one of the bleakest endings of the WesternAnimation/ClassicDisneyShorts.
* DownerEnding: Pretty much every fowl (except Cocky Locky, who's knocked unconscious) from the farm ends up being eaten by Foxy Loxy.
* FlawExploitation: Loxy exploits Chicken's Little naivety
* FoulFox: Foxy Loxy
* GossipyHens: A literal example is seen in the short, which Foxy Loxy takes advantage of the group at the middle of the short to discredit Cocky Locky's reputation.
* GoryDiscretionShot: Once the panic-stricken flock has fled into Foxy Loxy's cave, he wraps a napkin around his neck and dashes inside, blocking the entrance off with a boulder. The next scene shows Foxy Loxy sucking a final wishbone clean before planting it in the ground next to the others, deliberately suggesting a wartime cemetery.
* IneffectualSympatheticVillain: Deconstructed completely. Foxy Loxy acts and schemes like a standard goofy wise guy predator in a Golden Age cartoon, even falling victim to a bit of slapstick early on. Despite the narrator's predictions however, [[NotSoHarmlessVillain his plan]] ''[[NotSoHarmlessVillain works]]''. Of course, unlike most cases, Foxy Loxy is smart enough to target dumber prey than himself.
* OnlySaneMan: Cocky Locky the rooster is far smarter and more rational than the rest of the flock, easily discrediting Foxy Loxy's initial attempt to use Chicken Little to stir a panic. Consequently, Foxy Loxy's next plan is to discredit Cocky Locky and ultimately knock him out before the fowls make their panic-stricken flight from the farm to the fox's den.
* PragmaticVillainy: Instead of using brutal force to sneak into the farm and eat everyone, Foxy Loxy prefers to psychologically lure his lunch into his cave.
* PropagandaMachine: Utilizing his Psychology book, Foxy Loxy is able to manipulate the poultry into running to his cave, demonstrating the destructive power of propaganda.
* SoleSurvivor: Cocky Locky is the only fowl who does not get eaten.
* TemptingFate: Foxy Loxy exploits this immediately by throwing a wooden star when Cocky Locky asks Chicken Little why he hasn't hitten on his head by a piece from the sky yet.
* VillainProtagonist: Although he's unquestionably a bad guy, Foxy Loxy's plans drive the short.
* WartimeCartoon: Less blatant and with more applicability than some of Disney's other [[WesternAnimation/DerFuehrersFace wartime]] [[WesternAnimation/EducationForDeath shorts]], but still unmistakably one of these.
* WhyDontYouJustShootHim: The reasons why Foxy doesn't directly attack the farm include the fence being high enough for him to climb out from the inside, the gates being locked, and the farmer's shotgun near the door of the house.
* WrongGenreSavvy: After Foxy Loxy captures the flock in his cave, the narrator assures the audience that he knows how the story unfolds and that TheGoodGuysAlwaysWin. He is then dumbfounded to find Foxy Loxy has successfully eaten the entire flock the next scene. Made even more so given that this is (aside from the wartime additions) the actual ending of the original story.
-->'''Foxy Loxy:''' Don't believe everything you read, brother!

** Don't neglect your own kids and leave them to solve their own problems. Talk to them, deal the problem and help them moving on.

** Abby constantly keeps telling Chicken Little to "Stop messing around and deal the problem" about his father. Although in the third time, she meant the Alien Invasion.

This is the second single-story Disney Animated Feature after ''WesternAnimation/RobinHood'' to use anthropomorphic characters with no humans, and a third film with this concept, ''WesternAnimation/{{Zootopia}}'', was released in 2016.

* AdultsAreUseless: Other than Kirby's parents, who are just looking for their missing child, not a single adult bothers to be helpful trowads our main characters. Sure, Buck helps his son to return Kirby to his parents in the climax, but he falls in the same category through the story for being irresponsable and just caring for his town reputation.

* EndOfAnAge: The film was one of the last to come out of Disney's DorkAge and followed a long string of films that were either financial flops or critical failures; by this time, Disney's financial shares, critical cachet, and audience appeal had dropped dramatically following the close of the Renaissance Era. ''Chicken Little'' proved to be the last straw that prompted Roy E. Disney to oust Michael Eisner from the studio, ushering in Eisner's second banana Bob Iger and lifting Disney out of its long slump.

* DarkerAndEdgier: Though it's still all PlayedForLaughs, this is one of the bleakest, most cynical of the WesternAnimation/ClassicDisneyShorts.

* AdultFear: The alien parents go OhCrap when they realize their child is missing while their spaceship is on an unfamiliar planet. Without the sci-fi elements, imagine going back home and finding out that not only is your child missing, but four strangers have broken into your house. What's the first conclusion ''you'' would jump to?

* ShowWithinAShow: At the end of the film, a movie is made of Chicken Little's exploits in saving the town and the world from aliens. Instead of telling it faithfully, the movie is a cross between ''Franchise/StarTrek'' and ''Franchise/StarWars'' and prominently features Creator/AdamWest.

* AlcoholInducedIdiocy: The drunken gooses instantly believe the rumors about Cocky Locky and spread them unknowingly helping Foxy Loxy.

* AdultFear: The alien parents go OhCrap when they realize their child is missing while their spaceship is on an unfamiliar planet. Without the sci-fi elements, imagine going back home and finding out that not only is your child gone, but four strangers have broken into your house. What would ''you'' think?

* AdultFear: The alien parents go OhCrap when they realize their child is missing while their spaceship is on an unfamiliar planet. Without the sci-fi elements, imagine going back home and finding out that not only is your child gone, but four strangers have broken into your house.

* BullyingADragon: Foxy Loxy tries to do this to the aliens... [[WhatAnIdiot it doesn't end well.]]

* AdultFear: The alien parents go OhCrap when they realize their child is missing while their spaceship is on an unfamiliar planet.

* DemographicallyInappropriateHumour: In one scene, a reporter comments, "Well, at least we can sell the video to ''Chickens Gone Wild.''" He's referencing ''Girls Gone Wild,'' a porn/adult entertainment franchise.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: In one of the trailers, a reporter comments, "Well, at least we can sell the video to ''Chickens Gone Wild.''" He's referencing ''Girls Gone Wild,'' a porn/adult entertainment franchise.

** Chicken Little begs his father to believe him with "You've gotta believe me this time". It takes [[RuleOfThree three times to Buck to support his son]].