You gotta be ready to listen to your children, even if they have nothing to say.
„
~ Buck Cluck
Buck Cluck is one of the two deuteragonists (alongside Abby Mallard) in Disney's 46th full-length animated feature film Chicken Little.
He is the father of Chicken Little who often feels ashamed of his son's supposed antics, even though he still loves his child unconditionally. Because of this, the two have developed a complex father-son relationship, one which would culminate into Buck himself realizing the error of his ways and reconciling with his son. He is also the widowed husband of Chloe Cluck.
He was voiced by the late Garry Marshall, who also voiced Bernie from Father of the Pride.
He is first seen when Chicken Little, who says the sky is falling, leads the townspeople to the Oaky Oak's tree where the acorn hits him in the head, claiming that it was the piece of the sky. Buck comes into the scene and tell them that it was a big misunderstanding, causing the town to scoffs off Chicken Little's delusions. One year after the acorn incident while a movie about Chicken Little is in the making, Buck drives Chicken Little to the bus stop, telling him to "lay low."
After the gym incident, Buck is in the principal's office where the principal tells him about the "bad things" Chicken Little has done. After learning that Buck was a high school baseball star, Chicken Little tells Buck that he wants to join baseball.
At the Championship Baseball game, Buck watches Chicken Little play. After two attempts to hit the ball and missing, Chicken Little finally hits the ball on his third attempt and runs laps to the final lap before the players hits him with the ball. Everyone thought Chicken Little has lost until the pile of dirt gets cleaned off, revealing that Chicken Little has his foot touch the tip of the base, declaring him the winner. This makes Buck feel very proud of him.
After Chicken Little discovers a hexagonal object belonging to a UFO that can camouflage everything, Buck is seen along with other citizens following Chicken Little to the baseball field where the UFO was located before it disappears. Chicken Little desperately tries to explain to them how the UFO was there and managed to disappear, but they think that he is back to his delusional self again. This makes an embarrassed Buck refuse to believe Chicken Little.
The next day, when a thousands of aliens in UFOs starts "terrorizing" Oaky Oaks, Buck attempts to get his son into the car for them to evacuate the town. However Chicken Little tries to explain to him that the aliens are actually searching for a young orange alien named Kirby, but Buck doesn't quite understand. Frustrated and fed up with his disbeliefs, Chicken Little leaves Buck to find Kirby, with Buck chasing him down.
At the movie theater, after Chicken Little finally tells him about how he is never supportive of him (except at the baseball game), Buck feels guilty and apologizes to Chicken Little for not being a good father. Later, Chicken Little tells Buck that they need to take Kirby to the top of Oaky Oaks' town hall where the UFO of Kirby's parents are seen above in order to reunite them. While so, the aliens chase after Chicken Little, Buck and Kirby, until Abby, Runt and Fish save them in a firefighter's truck just so they can take them to town hall. After finally making it there, the three finds the elevator is unfortunately out of order, so instead they take the stairs. After making it to the top of town hall, Buck gets stuck in the doorway due to his fatness, so Chicken Little goes to the top of the roof on his own, which Buck is uncomfortable with, but Chicken Little convinces him to trust him this time.
When Chicken Little shows Kirby to his parents and that he wasn't hurt, the aliens still approach him menacingly, motivating Buck to smash out of the doorway to get to the top, where he fights off the aliens to protect Chicken Little. Chicken Little, Buck and Kirby get vaporized and sent to the void where they were encountered by Kirby's father, Melvin, who accuses them of kidnapping his son. Buck tries to explain that he left Kirby behind by accident (albeit calling it "bad parenting"), but Melvin did not believe them. After Chicken Little and Buck let Kirby go, Melvin intimidates the two with weapons, but Kirby stops him and explains to him that they were telling the truth. The aliens then restore everything they vaporized from the town. After the aliens leave, Chicken Little, Buck and his friends, along with the citizens of Oakey Oaks, watch a movie about him, Abby, Runt and Fish fighting off aliens to save the Earth.
Buck is seen dancing along with the characters in the credits while "Don't Go Breaking my Heart" plays.
Personality[]
Buck is a caring, fatherly, kind, thoughtful and well-meaning animal, but struggles to understand and listen to his son, Chicken Little. He tends to be something of an anxious, fearful pessimist and somewhat doubtful, occasionally to the point of being a nervous wreck, but eventually, he becomes more optimistic and confident by the end of the film. Despite his insecurities, he is also a good remarkable fighter when given the proper motivation, such as when he single-handedly defeat the aliens to protect his son.
Appearance[]
Buck is a tall, overweight rooster with orange feathers, a red comb, and dark red bushy eyebrows.
He usually wears a cream, plaid dress shirt, along with a dark brown neck tie and large brown pants. His sleeves are also rolled up.
Quotes[]
“
Oh, Chloe... if only you were here. You'd know what to do.
„
~ Buck when he sadly looks at a picture of his deceased wife Chloe, knowing she was better at handling conflict.
“
It's... it's happening again.
„
~ Buck when Chicken little leads them to see the aliens, knowing that he will be embarrassed again.
“
No son, I don't.
„
~ Buck refusing to believe his son about the alien spaceship, also his most infamous line.
“
I can't tell you how embarrassed I am folks. I... I'm really sorry about this everyone. Looks like this was all just a big, crazy misunderstanding. I...
„
~ Buck apologizing to Oaky Oaks after Chicken Little causes panic again.
“
I... I...didn't... realize, son. I... I never meant to... the... the acorn, the sky. I mean, the whole... (sighs) You're right. You're right. (sighs, then chuckle) Y... Your mom, she was... You know, she was always good with stuff like this. (sighs) Me... (chuckles)... I'm gonna need a lot of work. (sighs) But you need to know that I love you, no matter what. And I'm sorry if I...And I'm sorry if I ever made you feel like that was something...you had to earn.
„
~ Buck apologizing to his son for misunderstanding him in the past.
Trivia[]
Although she never makes a physical appearance in the movie, it is revealed that once he had a wife named Chloe, who died sometime before the events of the movie. It is never revealed how she died.
There was a lot of controversy surrounding the movie for a while that had to do with a number of people hating Buck for his incompetence and negligence as a parent, to the extent of considering him an anti-hero, and even a villain. Despite his embarrassment of Chicken Little's ridiculing, he eventually realizes the error of his ways and resolves to do try his best to support him.
The Mysterious Mr. Enter (or Mr. Enter) is the best example of it.
Ironically, in the introductory scene of the film, one of its references is the opening scene from the 1994 Disney film The Lion King, which also stars Jones.
Buck received minor attention on social media in 2020 when Disney used the character as a positive example of family that is "there for you". They immediately received backlash as Buck is widely regarded as a negative portrayal of parenthood.
It is unknown if Buck knows Foxy Loxy and Goosey Loosey or if he is even aware of their true nature.
Heroes