Chicken Little Soundtrack (CD)

Chicken Little is a pretty standard soundtrack for Disney circa the mid-2000s, offering a mix of the studio's own teen pop and a handful of vintage tracks along with excerpts of John Debney's score and songs sung by the film's characters. While Patti LaBelle and Joss Stone's reworking of LaBelle's hit "Stir It Up" ends up being a little less distinctive than the original and Five for Fighting's piano ballad "All I Know" feels a bit too gloomy within the context of the album's other songs, Barenaked Ladies' "One Little Slip" and R.E.M.'s especially apt "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" capture the film's quirky charm. This vibe is especially apparent on the songs performed by the Chicken Little cast; "Don't Go Breaking My Heart," Chicken Little's "We Are the Champions," and Abby Mallard and Runt of the Litter's "Wannabe" play like barnyard karaoke and have an appealingly silly charm. However, Debney's witty, malleable score might be the best part of the soundtrack. Ranging from the appropriately melodramatic, bombastic "The Sky Is Falling" to the triumphant majesty of "The Big Game" to the whimsical antics of "Dodgeball," Debney's compositions do a great job of embodying the film's quick emotional shifts. While Chicken Little is a slightly uneven soundtrack, its best moments should please fans of the movie. ~ Heather Phares, Rovi