Chicken Little--The Movie

I went on a trip to Taylor, TX this weekend on a trip of service to the community and church there. While we were there, I had the opportunity to watch Chicken Little with some of the youth and kids of the church. It was a very interesting experience, seeing their reaction to the story.

Some of the kids have heard of the story of Chicken Little, while others were completely clueless to who Chicken Little was and why the sky was falling. However, the movie puts a very interesting and creative twist on the story. Being a movie, it created more character development and relationships betweeen the characters than I remember reading as a child.

Anyway, the main relationship conflict was Chicken Little trying to get approval and acceptance and love from his dad, after failing him time and time again with the whole "sky is falling" incident. At the end, the father and son resolve their issue and the dad finally encourages his son and backs him up in his decisions instead of tearing him down.

The teacher-side of me decided to use this as a lesson for the kids I was watching the movie with. We talked about being nice to others and using kind words to build each other up, like the dad did for his son at the end of the movie. We discussed the importance of friends who believe in us and how they make us feel good and happy and secure.

And at the closing of the movie, they show the story that was in the movie as a movie in the town of Oakey Oats. They changed some of the story's plot and made Chicken Little's character bigger and more buff than he is in actual life. They made all the characters more glamorous, sort of mocking at the things Hollywood does to stories. One kid noticed this and asked why it was so different. I explained to him that sometimes the people who make the movies do not always stick to the truth so we should not always believe what we see on television. We then discussed the difference between the two stories in the movie.

I was amazed at the answers and understanding of the kids that were watching the movie with me. I guess I underestimate the depth of knowledge that students have these days. Even a simple movie on the Disney channel can turn to an opportunity of learning and discussion. Never underestimate all the amazing opportunities and blessings to learn around us.