Synopsis:

No one would've believed in the early years of the 21st Century that our world was being watched by intelligences greater than our own. As they observed the Earth through curious eyes, the two worlds would eventually cross paths in the small town of Oakey Oaks where Chicken Little (Zach Braff) lives. At this point, he has been recovering from a past incident that saw him cause mass hysteria over an alleged "piece of the sky” that hit him. Eventually, the sky would truly fall when Chicken Little and his friends finds out the truth of what really hit him and what may be lurking in Oakey Oaks.

Intentions:

Make the film feel more like an extremely loose adaptation of H.G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds with the film focusing on an alien invasion plot in the second half. Focus more on the alien plot to make the film feel more consistent in its storytelling instead of it being a mishmash of other story ideas in the first half. Cut out many unnecessary gags, lines, and jokes that don't work for the film. Replace (the majority of) the music (which included various rock/pop songs and John Debney’s score) with John Williams’ score from War of the Worlds. Redo the opening and endings with new narration and a montage (this includes footage from Zootopia for the sake of expanding the scale of the world). Use certain sound effects from the 2005 Spielberg War of the Worlds adaptation (and other fanmade sounds based on that film) for the alien fighting machines (or alien walker as it is referred to). Reduce the mean-spirited nature of the film. Tighten the pacing for the chase scenes.

Change List:

Major Overall Changes: Redid the opening with new narration (which is modified from the 2005 Spielberg War of the Worlds adaptation) and a montage of sequences from the first 40 minutes of the film for context, bacteria footage, video of Earth from space, and from Zootopia footage to create the sense of Earth’s scale. Cut out roughly 40 minutes of the original film with some footage being repurposed for other scenes. Rescored the majority of the film with John Williams’ score from War of the Worlds. This also means removing the rock and pop songs that don’t fit well with the tone I’m going for. Replaced certain effects of the Alien fighting machines with Tripod sounds from Spielberg’s War of the Worlds. The only sound I didn't use is the main horn which wouldn't fit in with the edit I'm going for. Cut out many unnecessary gags, lines, jokes, and pop culture references to the best I could. Redid the ending with new narration (by me) and a montage of sequences from the film’s original ending and overhead shots of the Earth. The narration isn't the best but this is what I got. Redid the first half of the end credits to remove the song “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” and to align it with the tone of the edit. The end credits are modeled after the credits from War of the Worlds. Specific Changes: Added Starlight Fan Edits logo and the current Disney logo for the beginning. Added John Williams’ score for the opening. Made a new opening montage similar to that of Spielberg's 2005 adaptation of War of the Worlds. This includes footage from events before the start of the edit (this is to provide context, a zooming away shot of the Earth, footage of space, and footage from Zootopia to expand the scale of Earth. Added new narration for the opening based on Morgan Freeman's narration from Spielberg’s adaptation. Open with the scene of Chicken Little celebrating after his baseball victory (which is seen in the opening montage). Rescored some of the music cues with John Williams' score when Chicken Little discovers an alien panel was what hit him. Removed the Spice Girls karaoke scene. Removed the “pea” joke. Added John Williams’ score when Chicken Little’s friends discuss on what to do, Fish flying away with the panel after accidentally activating it, and the group chasing after the panel to rescue fish. Sound effects have been redone to remove John Debney’s original music cues. Added John Williams’ score when the UFO begins to land in the Baseball field (the music is from the scene in War of the Worlds where the Tripods rise up from the ground). Trimmed down Runt’s whimpering. Added Tripod sound effects to the alien fighting machines when they emerge from the UFO (this includes the Tripod start-up sound effect and the harvesting horn). Some alien sound effects from War of the Worlds have been added (subtly) when Chicken Little and his friends go inside the UFO to find Fish. Added a fade-in to the ship rather than a straight cut. Rescored the scene where Runt finds the map room and the subsequent chase scene with John Williams’ score. Removed Runt’s scream after discovering the map room. Added Tripod sound effects throughout the chase scene. Removed and trimmed down jokes (like Chicken Little trying to ask the aliens if “they’ve been to the mall” and Runt’s terrified chewing on corn) to tighten the pacing and make the scene flow better with the music. Redid the many sound effects throughout the chase (like adding cornfield sounds and footsteps on concrete). Removed Runt’s line warning the group that the aliens are coming. Removed the “Chickens gone wild” line. Added John Williams’ score over the scene of Chicken Little walking back home through the cornfield after nobody believes him. Removed the scene of the aliens calling for help. The scene of the UFO flying into space has been repurposed for the ending montage. Replaced Debney’s score with John Williams’ score when Chicken Little and his friends discover that Kirby (who is the son of the aliens) has been left behind and when the aliens begin their invasion. Redid sound effects for the sky “opening” and the people panicking. Removed a brief scene of Morkubine Porcupine (who is now entirely removed from the edit) saying “woah” and a brief scene of one of the Oakey Oaks residents screaming “run!” to keep the pace going with the music. Removed the R.E.M. song “It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)” and replaced it with John Williams’ score. Although the song is fine on its own, it doesn’t fit well with an alien invasion scene which where an orchestral score would usually be and it doesn’t fit with the tone I’m going for. Redid the sound effects for the invasion sequence such as the alien ships and the people panicking. This also goes with the insertion of Tripod sound effects. Removed Abby's line “it's like War of the Worlds out there”. Removed brief scene of Runt thinking Abby has been brainwashed with an alien brain. For the entire sequence of Chicken Little and Cluck Buck trying to get Kirby back to his parents, Tripod sound effects from Spielberg’s War of the Worlds and John Williams’ score are used. Some effects have also been redone. Added a custom sound effect (which uses Tripod sounds) when the aliens are restoring the town). Replaced Debney’s score with John Williams’ score when the aliens apologize for the misunderstanding and explain that they come over to Earth every summer to pick out acorns. Added an alien startup sound effect from Spielberg’s War of the Worlds as the alien ship takes off. Created a new ending montage similar to that of Spielberg's 2005 adaptation of War of the Worlds. This includes footage from the ending of the film, bacteria footage, overhead shots of the Earth, and the final shot of the UFO flying into space. Added new narration for the ending based on Morgan Freeman's narration from Spielberg’s adaptation. Redid the first half of the end credits to remove the song “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” with John Williams’ score and to fit with the new tone of the edit. The credits are modeled after the end credits of Spielberg’s War of the Worlds adaptation. Modified the second half of the end credits to remove the closing scene of the characters dancing. Added closing logos of the current Disney logo and the Starlight Fan Edits logo.

Additional Notes:

The montages from the opening and ending are modeled after the Spielberg adaptation. I also did the narration for this one which are also based from that film.

Other Sources:

Used footage from Zootopia for the opening montage, used the original soundtrack and expanded soundtrack by Intrada of John Williams' score from War of the Worlds, and Tripod sound effects come from various YouTube uploads and from the 2005 Spielberg film itself. Videos of space and the bacteria from YouTube are also used.