FilmFreak94 Coming after such great movies like The Secret of Nimh, American Tail and The Land Before Time it's baffling how Don Bluth could make something like Rock-A-Doodle. The film has things going for it, like some of the voice cast is pretty good, and the animation is nice but the story... most of the songs... Well the story is there's a rooster named Chanticleer (voiced and sung by country singer Glen Campbell) who's job is to crow every morning to bring the sun up. One morning he gets involved in a fight with some other bird sent by his nemesis The Grand Duke (voiced by the great Christopher Plummer) and he forgets to crow. He's cast out as a charlatan by his fellow farm animals and leaves for the nearby city.It turns out this was a story that was being read to a small boy named Edmund. He lives on a farm that is currently undergoing a terrible storm. Since he just read about Chanticleer leaving he assumes that's the reason the storm is happening and calls out for him. Okay but what about the rest of the day? Was it just raining all day or something? Anyway, The Grand Duke shows up and turns Edmund into an animated cat with his magic breath (don't ask) and tries to eat him. One of Chanticleer's old friends, Patou the dog (voiced by the late Phil Harris) saves Edmund and is joined by other animals from the farm. They resolve to go to the city and bring Chanticleer back so he can crow and bring back the sun.There's already a lot of holes in the story from the first ten or so minutes. Like if Chanticleer was really responsible for raising the sun, why did it come up that one time? Or why does Edmund assume the sun just isn't coming up, I mean he's a kid but he's not stupid. When they get to the city it gets a little more confusing when all the inhabitants are animals. Did they just show up when all the humans evacuated the city? Did the humans evacuate the city, are they all dead? Anyway, it turns out Chanticleer is now making a living as an Elvis impersonator named 'The King.' He's incredibly depressed and only feels good when he's on stage singing. His manager, Pinky, is in contact with The Grand Duke and is told to keep Chanticleer from meeting his old friends by distracting him with a chorus girl named Goldie. The two fall in love and Pinky manages to capture Edmund and the gang. Goldie tells Chanticleer his friends are here and they save them and after a lengthy chase return to the farm. While this is going on, The Duke sends his nephew, Hunch to try and kill Edmund but he keeps failing miserably. This all comes to a head when Chanticleer can't crow and The Duke hurts Edmund. This causes the animals to try and boost Chanticleer's confidence until he finally crows and brings up the sun, sending the owls flying and turning the Duke into a midget for whatever reason. Edmund turns back into a boy and then it turns out the whole thing was a dream, Wizard of Oz style. Or maybe it wasn't cause Chanticleer pops out of the book, and Edmund is now on their farm and... what? I'm not ashamed to admit I watched this movie a lot as a kid, but watching it now... what's going on? The animation is nice and some of the songs are decent but there's too much going on. I didn't mention the other two animals who accompany Edmund, a magpie named Snipes (voiced by Eddie Deezen of Dexter's Lab fame) and a mouse named Peepers. None of the characters get a lot of development and most of the story is told through narration from Phil Harris. Narration is good sometimes, but not to tell the audience everything that's going on at the moment. We're not stupid we can figure this out by ourselves.The songs also range from OK to just plain unnecessary. The Duke and his cronies don't get any good songs which is a shame since Christopher Plummer is a talented singer. Some toad bouncers get a song about bouncing people, make of that what you will, and most of Chanticleer's songs are talked over. Wasn't the whole purpose of getting someone like Glen Campbell to sing for the character to use his voice to attract an audience? Why talk over most of his numbers?This film is a mess, through and through. Is there anything here offensive for kids? Not entirely, I remember liking it when I was young but there isn't really much to offer them in return. Apart from some good animation and a decent cast this film isn't really for those looking for the high quality of Don Bluth's other movies.

chiibiprincess 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.

CalvinValjean This has to be one of the worst movies ever made. I don't care if it was made for kids; it is excrement. Let's go through this travesty, shall we?1) Wow, I was not aware that apparently owls EAT such animals as cats and pigs! No, you've really seen it all when you see a pig scared of being eaten by an owl. Wouldn't it have made more sense if the villains had been hawks or vultures? Okay, then they wouldn't have hated the sun so much, but having owls wanting to eat pigs doesn't make any more sense!2) Story logic: Everyone believes Chanticleer makes the sun rise every morning, but then they see it come up without him, so they think he's a fraud. But then it turns out it DOESN'T rise without him. So what the hell? Why did the sun come up without him that one time? Is it able to come up by itself a single time, but then needs him to continuously do so? I saw this movie when I was 7, and was confused by that.3) Okay, so the sun can't come up and it's always night; why does that make it rain and flood as well?4) The live-action scenes are shot so terribly! Seriously, they look like a bad home movie.5) Edmond can't act, but if you think about it; his entire storyline is really unnecessary. You could just cut him out, cut out all the live-action stuff, told the whole movie as just a straight cartoon, and still have the same story.6) With all respect to Phil Harris and his long resume of animated voice work, I think he's one of the most annoying narrators in film history. "Well, shucks. Just imagine if one day the sun just didn't come up, but went back down." Then he just KEEPS ON TALKING, sometimes over very dramatic scenes.Patou: (narrating) If Edmond wanted to bring Chanticleer back to raise the sun, the Duke was going to have something to say about it. Grand Duke: Kittens are more digestible. Patou: (narrating) Young Edmond was about to have the most amazing adventure he'd ever dreamed of.Just SHUT UP! You don't need to tell us that the Duke is mad, we can see that. You don't need to tell us that Edmond is about to go on an adventure. Just let us enjoy the movie!!7) The climax: after going on this "amazing adventure," it all comes down to a stupid climax of convincing Chanticleer to crow, but he doesn't feel like it. So they chant his name over and over until he feels like it. Couldn't they have come up with something more dramatic than that?8) And what does his crowing do? Make the Duke shrink. I don't quite understand that logic.So in conclusion, the story is badly conceived, the execution is even worse, and the result is a mess of a movie.

Mr. Neutron I used to watch this movie back-to-back, all the time when I was younger. I watched it again recently and I still love it. To this day I could quote the first ten or so lines of the movie, and to this day I remember every word to the songs. It captured my imagination and entertained me to no end. From the beginning of the movie, the view of outer-space with strings in the background before the harmonica cuts in... magic. Moments like these make truly timeless films. Too often when adults watch movies intended for children, we're jaded to them because of our age, and begin to pick at the little flaws we find here and there. Sometimes you just need to sit back and watch with innocent wonder.