In order to defeat the Grand Duke of Owls, a young boy transformed into a cat teams up with a group of barnyard animals to find a rooster who can raise the sun.
Directors: Don Bluth, Gary Goldman (co-director), Dan Kuenster.
Stars: Glen Campbell, Christopher Plummer, Phil Harris, Sandy Duncan.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102802/
Watched online, ok print.
12 songs in the Soundtracks, one about tying shoes (over, around, under and through; when you're trying something new, you're bound to make mistakes).
The film is ok, but I started to rate it 5 because I didn't like the insecurity of the young boy turned to kitten, and the story/music didn't do anything for me.
This starts with live action, mom reading to boy the story of Chanticleer, a rooster who crows the sun up each morning. The barn owl dislikes him because owls like it dark, so he gets C into a fight pre-dawn, and the sun rises without his crow, so he's humiliated and jeered by his "friends". He leaves the farm, and a big storm comes, so the boy thinks they need the rooster to bring the sun out. Boy turns to kitten and joins with other barnyard animals to search for C, leading them to the big city, where C has become an Elvis-like star named King (GC). But King is lonely in has new life, and is persuaded to return to the farm where he brings the sun out with his crowing.
The shoe-tying song is by a dog with bunions (PH), but is not catchy enough to stick in my head. Listening to those lyrics almost saved this from a 5. But the whole thing is just to dull to suggest to myself it's ok to watch again.
If Don Bluth (b. '37) films feel like Disney, that's because that's where he started: his 1st IMDb credit is Sleeping Beauty ('59) as assistant animator, going independent with The Secret of NIMH (1982, his 11th credit). Of his 15 credits through '91 (21 credits total through '00; 13 are tagged music/al), I've watched 8 films (including Xanadu ('80)), and rated them all 5 or 6. But 7^ is rare from me for a feature-length animation. DB uses celebrity voices more than Disney did.
Shrug.
distr. Goldwyn, dir. Bluth+; 5+
