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Henny Penny

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The Sky Is Falling, also known as Chicken Little, Chicken Licken or Henny Penny is an old, classical fable of unknown origin about a chicken who believes the sky is falling. The phrase has also become used to indicate a hysterical or mistaken belief that disaster is imminent.

Origin

The origin of this fairy tale is unknown. Sometimes it is listed as one of Aesop's Fables. However, it is not. Also, sometimes it is presented as 'a Bulrovian fairy tale', although the country of Bulrovia doesn't exist.

Basic plot

Template:Spoiler There are many versions of the story, but the basic premise is that a chicken called Chicken Little, Chicken Licken or Henny Penny believes the sky is falling down because an acorn (or in some versions a pebble that falls from a roof) falls on his (or, sometimes, her) head. He decides to tell the King, and on his journey meets other animals who join him in his quest. In most retellings, the other animals have similarly rhyming names (See Characters). Finally, they come across Foxy Loxy, a fox who offers to guide them all with the King, but taking them instead into his cave. At this point, there are many endings. In the most famous one, Foxy Loxy kills all of Chicken Little/Licken's friends, but the last one survives enough to warn him and he escapes. Other endings include Foxy eating them all, them being saved by a squirrel and getting to speak to the King, and even one in which the sky actually falls down and kills Foxy Loxy.

Characters

As it is common in fables, all the characters in this tale are animals. Also, they all have rhyming names.

  • Chicken Little (Or Chicken Licken) (Chicken)
  • Henny Penny (When she is not the main characters, she is one of the animals Chicken finds in his journey) (Chicken)
  • Cocky Locky (Rooster)
  • Ducky Lucky (Or Ducky Daddles) (Duck)
  • Goosey Loosey (Or Goosey Poosey) (Goose)
  • Gander Pander (Goose)
  • Turkey Lurkey (Turkey)
  • Foxy Loxy (Fox)
  • The King (Lion)

Moral

Depending on the version, the Moral changes. In the 'happy ending' version, the moral is not to be a 'Chicken Little' and have courage. In other versions the moral is ussually interpreted as not to believe everything you are told.

Adaptation

The Sky Is Falling has been taken into children books many times, having both Chicken Little and Henny Penny as main characters. Some of those books are in print today.

Walt Disney Studios has adapted this story into animation twice, one in 1943, in the context of the Second World War, and one in 2005, which is yet to open in theatres. This film is intended to be a sequel of the fairy tale, and so it happens 'after the "sky is falling down" incident'. See Editing Chicken Little (1943 film) and Chicken Little (2005 film).

External links

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