Lack of good storyline.

just watch it!

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

As a fan of Don Bluth since I was a kid, I think this is probably where his work started to decline. What's really weird about this film is just how, well weird it is. I mean, it's about a singing rooster that resembles Elvis that is able to bring the Sun up. The weirdest thing is that at one point the Sun comes up without him singing. He then leaves because the animals realize they don't need him to bring the Sun up. It turns out they do. So...why did the Sun come up that one time? It's very dumb. Also, the main kid character in this is really not a good actor. His voice is pretty annoying and I guess I can't blame him since he's just a kid.Now, I did like the animation in this. Come to think of it, ALL of Don Bluth's movies have had good animation. That was something that was always consistent and in a good way. There is also an interesting subplot where a chicken named Goldie falls in love with the rooster, but it sadly doesn't go anywhere. Still, I will praise the visuals and I honestly thought this was something pretty unique for Don Bluth. Wow, owls have really gone downward since their portrayal in "The Secret Of Nimh". I guess the movie itself is harmless enough and doesn't teach bad morals or anything. It's just mostly boring and uninteresting. **

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.

Although I think that along with Troll with Central Park that this is one of the weaker Don Bluth movies, I personally don't think it is that bad. When you compare the animation to gems like the Secret of Nimh and American Tail, you do think it is disappointing. Some of it, and I am putting emphasis on the some, was a bit Saturday-morning standard, and some of the minor characters were drawn rather weirdly. The non-animated parts were quite jarring to be honest with you, and seemed rather flat. Though i will say the animation is nowhere near as bad as people have said it is. I liked the incidental music, not so much the songs, they just seemed rather lacklustre as I am used to hearing Barry Manilow and Cynthia Weil songs, not Elvis-style ones. Although there was some excellent singing from Glenn Campbell, the songs' lyrics were rather mediocre. Also the owl's songs, or recitatives as I prefer to call them, sounded the same every time. However the voice overs were the redeeming merits. We all know from Disney classics such as Robin Hood and the Jungle Book, that Phil Harris is very talented at singing and acting, and he was put to good use here as Patou,("you're rocking the boat") although his narration did get distracting after a while, as the story is admittedly too heavily reliant on the narration. The narration in fact was to me more of a mini-commentary, that had been over simplified. However, Chistopher Plummer was wonderful as the voice of the Duke,("if I kill my nephew, would it be murder or charity?") who wasn't only the best character, but one of the better Bluth villains, he was really evil in some scenes, like when you first meet him. His performance was worth an award, it was so good. I also liked Edmund and Goldie, Chanticlair was very likable and the Duke's nephew was hilarious in some scenes, like when he screams Annihilation. In conclusion, one of the weaker Bluth movies, does have a number of redeeming merits, and not that bad. Anyone who's seen the secret of Nimh sequel will know how awful that was. 6/10 Bethany Cox

I never heard of this 1991 Don Bluth film until about five years after its release. I was about ten years old at the time, and saw "Rock-A-Doodle" when it came on TV. I was fairly impressed with the movie upon my first viewing, and watched it more than once shorty after that. Over a decade later, after not seeing it for a long time, I finally rented a copy on video to see what I would think of the movie after all these years. This time, I didn't enjoy it so much, but that wasn't surprising.Chanticleer is a musical rooster who sings early every morning on the farm. The other animals are convinced that he has to do this in order for the sun to rise. However, one morning, Chanticleer is distracted by an intruder! The rooster manages to fight this intruder off, but the incident prevents him from singing at the usual time, and the son still comes up without him! The other animals on the farm who once respected the rooster now begin to ridicule him, so an upset Chanticleer leaves the farm and goes to the city. After his departure, however, the sun stops rising in the morning, and it begins to rain nonstop! The animals on the farm now realize that Chanticleer really is needed for the sun to rise, so several of them, including Edmond (a young boy who has been turned into a cat by an evil owl), set out to find the singing rooster in the city, before the flood gets so high that everyone drowns! Finding him in this big city won't be easy, and the owls will make the mission even more difficult! If you've looked at IMDb's main page for "Rock-A-Doodle", I'm sure you've noticed that it has a fairly low rating, which I can understand. Watching the animated feature again recently, it really didn't mean much to me at all, and I found it very forgettable. However, by this point, I was probably WELL past the age group that this film was aimed at. Watching this movie when I was around ten years old was somewhat enjoyable, and I might have enjoyed it more if I saw it back when it was first released in 1991, when I was around five. So, I can understand why this movie is so highly criticised, but those who have seen it as adults and don't like it should remember its audience.In my opinion, "Rock-A-Doodle" is one unmemorable peace of animation, with a rather bland plot. Some of the characters are poor quality as well (especially Goldie, with her voice). However, who am I to judge? I'm sure that a lot of kids (especially younger ones) would strongly disagree with my thoughts on the film. For that reason, I do recommend this Don Bluth movie for kids who are into animated adventures. For adults, I do not recommend it, unless you have any kids to watch it with. If you want an animated feature that can strongly appeal to all ages, there are plenty of those for you to choose from, but remember, "Rock-A-Doodle" is not one of them.