Review of Rock-A-Doodle (1991) by Catherine S — 01 Jan 2011

Rock-A-Doodle is well animated and overall very innocent, but as a film it doesn't hold up and has several plot holes.

Rock-A-Doodle focuses on Edmund, a young farm boy and Chaunticleer, a rooster who crows to bring the sun up. One day, Chaunticleer forgets to crow and the sun still rises. The other animals make fun of him and he leaves the farm. But apparently, his crowing did bring up the sun and now the world is stuck in eternal night, with the Duke of Owls planning on taking over. The Duke breaks the laws of reality by going into the real world and transforming Edmund into a kitten. Edmund now has to join the other animals in finding Chaunticleer and bringing him back to the sun so morning will come again.

It's not extremely bad, but for a Don Bluth animation, it's pretty poor. While the animation is as always, nice to look at, and the songs aren't terrible, the plot holes and poor acting drag it down like a rock attached to a toy boat. Rock-A-Doodle lacks the heart of Don Bluth's other works like Secret of NIMH and American Tail.

Overall, Rock-A-Doodle isn't terrible, but it's not good either. For kids, it's decent entertainment, but it's not much else. (Real rating: 41%).