What the HELL is Regue Chicken? (this movie HATES fat chicks apparently)

[Music] reggae chicken an animated movie from 2015 that hails from the lands of Colombia and let me tell you this film is bursting at the seams with character designs and plot points no not like that we got chicken UFC fighting we got convoluted drama we got Easter eggs that range from Mordecai to Big Bird to Neon Genesis Evangelion and we got fat shaming lots and lots of fat shaming needless to say I was confused in my opinion this character isn't fat so why the constant shaming is this a cultural thing am I missing something here I have to know more now it did not help that this movie was only in Spanish and does not have an English sub so I took to Twitter or guess x.com now which totally does not sound like a degenerate website ugh I feel dirty I asked my Twitter about reggae chicken and a bunch of people from Latin America were like oh that movie uh Gringo you don't want this stay away from it with a 1.8 on IMDb and hearing the death rattles of Spanish-speaking YouTubers who came before me I made it my mission to understand the full context of this movie and I did so by paying a professional translator to provide an English sub for reggae chicken now I could finally have my questions answered why does Latin America fear this movie Why does it have such low ratings from critics why was this character fat shamed and why does Latin America have such an affinity for this particular type of character design well let's just say that I got way more than I bargained for but before we answer these questions I want to give a quick shout out to this video sponsor Factor what is Factor you ask well it makes meeting your nutrition goals easier than ever by delivering fresh never Frozen dietitian approved meals right to your doorstep for me I am crazy busy and with fall around the corner I know it's only going to get busier holidays and end of your videos are on the horizon so I barely have time to eat lunch but that's where Factor has my back I don't have to worry about running to the grocery store or doing food prep or spending a stupid amount of money on ordering in instead I grab a tasty Factor meal pop it right into my toaster oven and in just two minutes I'm chowing down and getting on with my day also I am trying to do keto again and factor is helping me on that front they offer keto options that are loaded with meats and veggies but are calories smart with around 550 calories or less per serving I got the black pepper and sage pork chop I got the chicken piccata I got the garlic and herb chicken breast all tasty curated around my keto goals so head to factor75.com or click the link below and use code saberspark50 to get 50 off your first Factor box that is once again factor75.com or click the link below and use code saber spark50 to get 50 off again I legit love factor and I appreciate them sponsoring this video so go hit them up today and on that note Mac into Colombian chicken Madness so what are the origins of Reggae chicken well the movie comes from director screenwriter and producer Dario Armando Garcia granados AKA Garcia he's best known for his work in the Colombian film and television industry and serving as the vice president of production at Caracol television guys I did my homework on Annunciation for this video I'm trying I really am if I can pronounce Ukrainian words then by God Almighty I can say Spanish too has an extensive history in filmmaking dating back to the 1990s pending more than 30 telenovelas and series such as it's better to be rich than poor I'm going to teach you to love and the past does not forgive telenovelas ordego's bread and butter winning him several awards for his work in the early 2000s and through his company Garcia Productions he developed many more including what is essentially an animated telenovela yep reggae chicken now many of us have heard of telenovelas before but for those who don't know they are Latin American soap operas famously consisting of melodramatic storylines with major focuses on romance suspense betrayal family conflict and lots and lots of twists [Music] so I guess stuck with what he knew and ran with the soap opera genre while squaring up with his first animated production the melodrama the flat archetypal characters The Twist upon twist and feeling the dramas and all animated by connexion creativa whose portfolio mainly consists of very crude TV animation work with their most well-known being Betty Toons now it doesn't take much in comparison to realize reggae chicken is much more refined and detailed though the rough edges in terms of consistency and design and motion definitely rear its face everywhere in the film and many Loops are blatantly about it's an insanely confused and uneven ride but does that make reggae chicken worth a watch uh you'll find out [Music] hello and welcome to the Los Pollos Hermanos family but before we get into the movie I want to give a shout out to Miko from the YouTube channel mikko's trash can Mikko here is a Colombian YouTuber and provided additional information about the animated movie industry in Latin America and the series of events that led to the creation of Reggae chicken long story short there were two Mexican animated movies that inspired Diego to pursue his own animated feature film una pelicula de juevos in 2006 and Ultra pelicula de juevos in 2009 got my Spanish is like Peggy Hill I'm trying I really am both were considered critical and financial hits in Latin America and inspired others to follow with their own respective films for he didn't want to stray too far from the egg formula which is why his movie prominently features chickens also the music genre of reggaetown which is why you guessed it this movie is called Ray gay chicken according to Mikko the film was a hit in Colombia but has also looked down upon by many Latin American critics why well you're about to find out [Music] what the hell is even that the story starts on an egg-shaped Earth where there are anthropomorphic birds as far as the eye can see at an orphanage we meet Violetta who is being scolded by her teacher about finishing an essay on what came first the chicken or the egg but Violetta is a free spirit she doesn't care about education she just wants to dance she has a moment of exposition with her teacher as she is put to bed reminiscing about her family and how all the women were chubby which abruptly shifts to her dressing up jumping out of a window and making her way to a party and then we cut to Gabriel a scrawny bird who looks like a teenage Disney's Chicken Little his dadio is giving him a training session on how to be a UFC fighter I got to say the word but I meant chicken we then cut to them by their pool in their mansion where Gabriel asked about why his dad likes a fight positive I'm gonna struggle with this guy's name I oh portfolio can only answer he just likes doing it talking it up to being in his nature and their nature by proxy but as Gabriel brings up his grandfather parfio shuts down the conversation there's that telenovela melodrama in action shame is a key ingredient though it can be stated that the writing between Gabriel and his dad is a melodramatic reskinning of the tired dad disappointed and son for not being what he wants plot which is also a lot like Disney's Chicken Little the two also highlight a rather thoughtful back and forth about Gabriel's mom divorcing his father not gonna lie this was a genuine approach although he is still the stereotypical pushy father as he wants his son to be a fighter the dad still exhibits very fatherly traits that show a lot of respect and dignity or at least more than you would expect especially when later we learn his ex-wife by the way she's not dead it's an ex-wife leaves him for nothing short of the best or maybe the most cartoonish Donald Trump analog but I guess with like Red Dawn King clown hair it's an interesting combo oh we're coming back to violetta's plot by the way get used to the choppy facing so we see her dancing up a storm at a club amongst the looping dancers and getting checked out by her guy friend who won't make a move the club scene showcases some of the reggaeton music but for a movie called reggae chicken it strangely has very little to do with like reggaeton music like at all it's just used as a poorly 80 yard background music track and nothing more okay fittingly and abruptly enough a biker gang then appears to crash the party and says that they don't like the reggaeton music of this reggaeton music Club they went rock who are they why are they here does this matter at all nah it doesn't the movie doesn't care Violetta just gets right up in their faces until them off but this no-nonsense gal is set off when the biker calls her look she's got a pear-shaped body with a Pencil Thin torso is she curvy yes is she fat I don't think so I even asked Miko if this is a cultural thing in Colombia and she said no that Violetta is not considered fat by their measures either if anything I think it's more about an artist who wanted to design this character in a particular way and also a writer who put too much of a fixation on convioletta fat this is not red shoes with a point to its fat shaming it is simply just fat shamingo regenitas back to Gabriel he sneaks out of the house to play piano for some owls as one does and uh then we see Violetta bailed out of jail and being being told that she's being booted from the orphanage and to go live with her uncle and then with a tearful farewell to her teacher and totally ignoring her guy friend she gets on a bus and takes off to her new life okay back to Gabriel again it's the night of the anticipated cockfight but not before the weigh-in no seriously look at these beefcakes I bet they weigh like 250 pounds at least what yo my lunch weighs more than that while waiting for the fight Gabriel sits with his mom and his stepbrother Emiliano who belittles him and calls him a chicken for not liking to see his dad fight in the ring you know it's truly an unmanly thing deserving of the deepest scorn oh you're you're crying because your dad's being beaten watch him you you're worse also in the context of this reality insulting someone by calling them a chicken like that doesn't make sense wouldn't that be like the same thing as if I saw a person upset in my world and I'm like huh oh little human expressing emotions how human of you yeah maybe I should start doing that for now on being a bully that is Give Me Your Money viewers put it in the bag put in the super chats where they call them I'm just kidding buy my plushie though links in the description all right back to it a melodrama is taking place and the locker room we find that uh Gabriel's father's rival Joe Shalon is talking to his manager Claudio Gabriel's soon-to-be stepfather oh yeah you're about to find out who by the looks of it already has an evil and not well thought out plan so Claudio wants his fighter to murder palicio in the ring by lacing Joe spur with poison the reason why he's doing this is explained in his four-step plan step one kill Gabriel's father using the deadliest poison administered in the middle of a widely televised fight where anyone can see it happen and easily be recorded VSA a telephone or the literal camera filming the event step two set up Gabriel a 14 year old boy to fight against Joe Shalon a 30 year old man where Joe will then poison him the same way he killed Gabriel's father step three uh the sequel for Chicken Little 2 is released a subtitled chicken little dies step four profit now this may seem like a reference to the South Park meme you know uh but honestly that is pretty much the premise of this plan Claudio talks about his plan as if he's gonna gain so much Prestige and money from Gabriel's father's death he he has a secret order you can tell it's a secret folder because it says secret printed across the cover you know just in case for the final twist if Claudio wants to leave incriminating evidence you know frankly this scheme makes zero sense Claudio already appears wealthy enough to afford a mansion private tutors and Trainers for his kid he also manages one of the most prolific fighters in fighting and he even somehow and this is never explained mind you a god Gabriel's mom to fall for him and divorce her compassionate supportive husband who's also like a lot more ripped compared to this guy so the question I have to ask is the following what more does Claudio seek to gain with a policio's death it honestly makes more sense if the plot had him killed parifio's previous manager to then recruit the poorly fio to his stable because objectively we can see the fight uh Claudio's fighter is like pretty trash compared to like politifio but then like you know hey uh if you want to make it even more of a melodrama a Claudia could have had like laced policios Spurs without him knowing framing him for the murder of Joe Shalon then come up with a convoluted way to get him to fight his own son you know just spit balling some ideas around but um it would make a lot of sense and Nutella Novella you know plot if it's worth a nonsense but this is the reality of what we're up against uh and it's also what we're watching here so just deal with it so Claudio is like stupid scheme leads into this fight I guess it also like leads into the awful audio mixing of this movie like for a movie touting to Showcase music you'd think they would work out how to record hits that didn't sound so quiet and not impactful listen listen to the the punching here Gabriel actually missed the killing blow since he couldn't stand watching his dad fight only to come back to the arena to see the tragedy unfold then in a smelly locker room all sprawled out and with detailed facial expressions daddy chicken dies we then cut to Violetta being dropped off in the middle of nowhere this is abruptly paired with uh Gabriel's dad's funeral as a Gabriel heartbroken leaves it to sit and cry on his own and even though Violetta was in the uh desert she is now by a beach just so she could run into Gabriel and comment on how men don't usually cry this movie truly has it all body shaming to women emotion shaming to men and possibly some kind of commentary about the selfishness of the wealthy or not I guess we'll find out anyway Violetta apologizes long enough for Gabriel to reveal that the uncle she is looking for is uh Gabriel stepfather it even warns a dramatic Zoom she arrives to meet Claudio I guess Uncle Claudio and Gabriel's mom and she is given a warm welcome by Gabriel's mom yeah Claudio does not give a damn Claudio has no interest in raising his sister's kid at all he doesn't care oh by the way uh the film doesn't explore what happened to the sister apart from Claudio being a bastard to her when she was a kid I guess when they're both kids right maybe we're supposed to infer something but he's such a dark watt anyway so if that was the case it would fit the melodrama like he was a jerk back then he's a jerk now and maybe he killed his sister and we never know a scene later Violetta talks about her dream of being a dancer then eats until she is sick and needs to use the bathroom while walking in the house a Violetta finds herself outside Claudio's office only to hear him talking about how he wants to kick Violetta back to the orphanage luckily Gabriel's mom would not let that happen but like she just kind of like disappears from the movie after this you would think she would put a stop to how cruel Claudio is to get Gabriel and violetza but yeah uh she's gone maybe she ran off with some other guy so Violetta has to fight her own battles and gets into a one-sided Beatdown with Emiliano after he calls her fat which uh Gabriel just watches and does nothing he just stands there after being caught Emiliano lies and Violetta is chastised by Claudio even though Gabriel was there and could have backed her up why did he stay quiet I don't know because he could and then we have a heartfelt moment between Violetta and Gabriel foreign [Music] [Applause] this scene is equal parts tone deaf in equal parts and sensitive and stupid what follows next can only be described as a series of set pieces that don't drive the narrative you have these three step siblings being tutored and the teacher talks down to Violetta insulting her intellect only to have Gabriel come to her defense Now by turning the tables on the Tudor by talking down to him philosophically cut to a brief scene of the trio training with their physical tutor where we need to exert the idea that women can't be Fighters like men basically trying to reassert the notion that somehow women are the inferior sex only to have Gabriel postulate that throughout history there are plenty of examples of women who have challenged that notion he even dropped some names Cleopatra was the queen of Egypt at age 19. Marie Curie was the first person to receive two Nobel Peace prizes in different fields of Science and even as recently as 2001 you decline Schmidt I became the first woman to win the Paris daker rally race while competing alongside men [Music] doesn't have really anything to do with the movie but uh yeah there it is the main plot point is Gabriel trying to change from being a coward to becoming Brave like there isn't really a theme of women compared to men it's just kind of a one-off scene that uh abruptly ends I guess the goal is to try and Lupine violetta's ability to dance and use it as a parallel to being a fighter but it is weakly done firstly by every character blatantly stating that Violetta should be doing 10 things without explaining what hens do and secondly showing that dancing can be attributed to fighting could be easily summed up with have good footwork which is fair enough but it seems like there could have been an even stronger way to tie this in especially during this scene because after Violetta beats Emiliano again she is booted out by Claudio and since Gabriel's mom no longer longer exist nothing can be done to really stop him and then Claudio recounts his secret plan on his phone in his house with the door open right after talking to Gabriel who just left the room shocking absolutely nobody Gabriel is able to hear every single thing from Claudia's plan from the murder of his father to the planned murder of himself and not once during this entire time does Gabriel ask what did Mom see in Claudio to leave my dad also where's mom so with Gabriel hearing his stepfather's plans and Violetta being thrown out the two decide the next best thing to do is run away and giving how things are like looking it's not the worst option so the two hop on Gabriel's motorcycle yes the the character whose whole everything from body language to design is meant to invoke nerd energy is apparently secretly cool cool as he rides a motorcycle and has an added bonus has a dope ass Aviator jacket so on the Journey of self-discovery we get some scenes of blooming step cousin romance hmm it's not Columbia this film comes from it's Alabama uh it's weird to say the least and they got Gabriel with some flashbacks it's here we learned that Gabriel looked even more like a Disney's Chicken Little and also his Grandpa's falling out with his dad yeah you know uh you know hold on to the chicken little thing because there is a bit of a wrap around towards the end I promise so Gabriel's Grandpa used to be a renowned fighter like his father but also oh a secret composer so yeah uh Gabriel's grandfather once he retired took to writing music and dancing for like plays like Swan Lake which I guess in this universe would be called like human Lake I suppose this is how Gabriel bonded with his grandfather and learned how to play the piano however the two felt that this must be kept a secret because it was so shameful to do I guess not entirely sure why but given he has retired from fighting and moving on to different venues really is isn't out of the ordinary oh an old person playing the piano how how weird what is out of the ordinary is when Gabriel's Grandpa comes out of retirement promoting a comeback to the ring including renting out the space and the literal fighting ring and then doesn't fight he does ballet [Music] thank you [Music] you know what's weird is that the audio mixing is so bad at this point in the movie that it doesn't even sound like the audience is upset because the whistling implies they're enjoying it are you seeing boo boons I was saying balloons although I can't blame them if they're upset I'd be upset too if a prize fighter was marketing a comeback tour only to then show up and do ballet that's false advertising after this stunning uh feat of stupidity a grandpa decides it would be best to become a Hermit completely leaving his family friends and disappearing from society at large never to be seen again and that's why if you're a fighting you can't do anything smart because you'll write a ballet falsely advertise it and no one will like it what's the lesson here after that the two make a DeVille at a city where they meet up with her barely memorable friends it's like roughly an hour into the movie and we see the one boy in the group like still has feelings for Violetta and resentment towards Gabriel because of how close he is to his cousin well step cousin but yellow there it's still weird so they head into town repeat the First Act again but now Gabriel's there they go to a club they booty dance they have some milk and cookies at the bar and then the same punks from before show up but this time the punk leader tries having a showdown with Gabriel who tries to talk his way out and people laugh at him wanting to avoid fighting an idiot over a stupid reason how human of him this pushes Gabriel over the edge leading to a third act falling out with Gabriel and Violetta and then Gabriel while driving the whole night finds a person on the road only to be caught in an ambush by a different pair of punks to steal his bike and then Violetta shows up how did she know where Gabriel was or or better yet how'd she get there she has a helmet but there's no bike I guess you just manifest behind this guy it's an open stretch of road in the middle of nowhere I can teleport there too and also how does she even sneak up on them well then it turns out that Violetta knows this guy where in her past she helped him avoid juvie by taking the fall for him after he stole test answers the movie poses what Violetta did as a like righteous thing truly that was the best move on her part as it can be seen um because the guy is still doing crime and is robbing people such a pointless sacrifice and then after a piece was made and the friend flies off oh by the way apparently the birds can fly in this universe just now finding out this scene but then a Gabriel and Violetta leave once more and perfectly expertly coincidentally run into Gabriel's Grandpa not that dramatic as Gabriel just needs to talk to his grandpa on what he wants and he does that by going to Claudio and uh challenging his guy to a fight wait what okay let me see if I can figure this out Gabriel now wants to be a fighter and get revenge and takes off his glasses like the librarian like being hot cliche uh and now he's like buff and wants to get revenge for his dad by getting into the ring and fighting okay I think he has a plan strapping folks the third Act of this movie is insane Gabriel's plan step one make out with a step cousin it's very important uh step two instantly grow a toned body I'm not joking it's again it's like a cliche he takes off his glasses and boom chicken boy has some muscle mass and definition now you would think there would be a training montage uh but not really again Violetta danced with him and talks about dancing and and feelings and physical skills but it's incredibly brief and doesn't really explain how Gabriel got cut before the fight oh yeah step three to fight the professional 30 year old UFC fighter the very same one who killed Gabriel's father it's a well thought out plan oh also a Violetta gets kidnapped by like the obsessed friend he gets there and calls her fat because that's what happens trying to keep up folks come on we're moving the plot's moving without you oh it's moving all right oh God so Gabriel using the power of dancing that he learned from Violetta for 30 seconds on screen has his opponent pinned down like it was he would have fight he destroys this guy but again confusion I thought the whole point of Gabriel's character was that he did not want to fight look he was dancing up to a certain point but then he just like blows this guy out of the water and has his like claws in his throat and he's like I'm gonna murder you [Applause] and by the way uh more confusion why are they talking about killing as if this is par for the course is this literal cockfighting to the death I thought this was like chicken MMA that's some chicken Hunger Game here I thought the dying at the start was like a fluke but apparently it's often then why the poison so I guess the real problem was that they killed Gabriel's dad with poison and not with their own razor sharp Spurs but hey maybe we're missing the point here or maybe just maybe reggae chicken has like 15 plot points and none of them connect together it has nothing to do with reggaeton music The Narrative is melodramatic but is cut leaving behind narrative build up and giving no flow to the narrative at all several plot points and characters just vanish and reappear with little Rhyme or Reason and you can say the biggest thematic push of the movie is for Gabriel and Violetta to feel okay and not conforming to their societal Norms with like Gabriel being a fighting and Violetta being a hen but reggae chicken never illustrates what that means what being a hen means for violetsa and why dancing doesn't fit with her societal role and for Gabriel he just fully conforms to that societal Norm to make people listen to him disputing out philosophical drivel afterwards to pose like that was the whole point uh-uh doesn't work the only consistent plot points in this movie are violetta's on the dance floor yeah I made my joke and what animated movie would be complete without a dance scene at the end yeah the movie's over I bet you blinked it's over uh Claudio lost um who would have saw that coming and then uh Violetta and Gabriel hook up with their step cousin kiss uh in scene moment seriously movie we did not need this and you know it they did not have to be cousins overall reggae chicken is an uneven movie it has its strongest character moments when Gabriel displays his intellect and thoughtfulness making philosophical talking points in his chicken version of a TED talk but the movie is completely unfocused in terms of all of its other characters and story lines I was waiting for Gabriel to uplift Violetta and validate her values and goals that she can be a dancing hen and doesn't have to be uh normal hen whatever that means that Gabriel listens to her and sees her as a person with potential and not valued for just her body or being a woman the fat shaming though guys I have no idea what to make of that and neither does the movie it served no purpose whatsoever if it was a joke it was a bad joke now for Gabriel I was expecting Violetta to boost his confidence to validate him when it comes to being a strong pacifist one who could use dance you know taught to him over the course of the movie by Violetta as a way to be smart and agile instead of brutish and violent the movie was so close to achieving this but it got distracted with other silly plot points it's like the movie dipped its toe in the water of that plot point but then ran away saying that's enough now as far as the animation goes I dig it it's not perfect but it's competent and oddly hypnotic there's something about these character designs that hold my attention even if they look bizarre and sometimes ugly I also like the variety of character designs that range from buff UFC roosters to uh chicken dancers to anime all of it and Big Bird too there is a genuine charm to this movie despite its confusing story and characters one that isn't nearly as bad as online ratings imply now I've seen some truly terrible animated movies and reggae chicken is far above that trash but I will say this though I need to watch more animated films from Latin America they are so hungry to have their voices heard and are really pushing the needle Mikko told me about the other shape and yeah that is definitely on my radar now I might just make a dedicated video talking about the history of Animation in Latin America Next Year too and hey maybe for other countries on top of that there's more to the animation world than just America and Japan M hey maybe this can be a new series for me a deep dive about the history of animation for other countries that sounds kind of cool but not as cool as Gabriel on a motorbike I'll never be that cool wait that's right it's a step cousin holding on to him never mind I'm cooler than him [Music] thank you [Music] thank you [Music]

Channel: Saberspark

Views: 1,509,100

Keywords: saberspark, saber, animation, what the hell, regue chicken, review, fat shaming, chicken movie, colombia, latin america

Id: 2c8dnCy6xK4

Length: 35min 31sec (2131 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 24 2023