A recent issue of The Onion displayed the headline "New Disney Movie Captures, Tortures Imagination." Who would have thought such a frivolous joke would turn out to be acutely relevant to Disney's new visual feast, "Chicken Little?” Undoubtedly visually captivating, "Chicken Little" has enough casual details to elicit initial interest, but in the greater scheme, lacks the substance to please a mature audience. It's all empty calories — good for a snack but hardly a savory dish.

The movie takes place in the anthropomorphic town of Oakley Oaks, known across the galaxy for the quality of its acorns. The introduction to this beautiful, quaint town full of bustling furry creatures is when "Chicken Little" really flaps its wings. Chameleons function as traffic lights, a fish drives around in a bowl of water and puffs up like an airbag when it gets into an accident and, exemplifying the bane of its species, a bird constantly runs into a store window instead of using the door. Oh, how adorable and clever.

The story begins with Chicken Little (Zach Braff, "Garden State") frantically alerting the town that a piece of the sky has fallen and hit him on the head. The alert sets off a series of panic-stricken mishaps that cause more damage than a measly piece of fallen sky. Despite Little's persistence, the towns-animals conclude that the piece of sky was actually an acorn, inciting a debilitating media frenzy that makes Little the laughing stock of the town and an embarrassment to his father (Garry Marshall, "Orange County"). However, Little keeps his head up, looking for new opportunities for redemption with the support of his friends: Abby "the ugly duckling" Mallard (Joan Cusak, "School of Rock"), Fish Out of Water — who wears a helmet filled with water and therefore cannot speak — and Runt of the Litter (Steve Zahn, "Sahara").

Little decides to follow in his father's footsteps by joining the baseball team, and despite his tiny stature, ends up scoring the pennant-winning home run, redeeming himself in the process. But things take a turn for the worse when Little is once again hit by a piece of the sky, this time revealing a hostile alien presence. After exploring an alien ship with his friends, they are chased by kid-friendly versions of the tripods from Spielberg's "War of the Worlds," and Little rushes to alert the town. Little's credibility is questioned when the aliens quickly disappear, but when they return for a full-scale attack, Little finally gets a chance to save the day and patch things up with his father.

Conceptually, Disney puts a clever twist on the traditional "War of the Worlds" premise. But the breakneck pacing and restless plot of "Chicken Little" put one in mind of a decapitated chicken running in circles until it collapses. The baseball sequence functions as plot filler, and would be unnecessary in a movie longer than 90 minutes. The alien sequence is well designed but only serves as a vehicle for Little's ultimate redemption. And unlike the CG powerhouses "The Incredibles" and "Shrek," "Chicken Little" doesn't have the intelligence or wit to appeal to adults.

For some reason, Disney found it appropriate to turn segments of the movie into an after-school special stressing healthy parent-child communication. Ever since the acorn incident, Little has felt unsupported by his father. Abby informs Little of the importance of talking things through and achieving closure. Eventually Little confronts his father and they have a heartfelt moment of reaffirmed unconditional love. Then they take on the aliens as father and son. These contrived scenes subvert the natural flow of the movie like a bad product placement. Disney also crams in the romantic side plot between Little and Mallard in a hackneyed display of feel-good nonsense.

So, here is "Chicken Little" in an eggshell: It has breathtaking animation, credible voice acting and clever, smile-inducing moments. But the plot is too artificial, the humor too reliant on cuteness and slapstick, and the family values seem too contrived. After a series of CG home runs, Disney finally hits a foul ball with "Chicken Little."

Grade: C