In 1957, Chanticleer, Glen Campbell a rooster whose singing greets the dawn, faces trouble when a mysterious envoy from the Grand Duke of Owls, Christopher Plummer, arrives because his kind hates sunlight. Chanticleer defeats the intruder but forgets to crow, and yet the sun still rises. The other animals mock him, and he leaves the farm in shame, causing the sun to dip once again as his absence means no crow. The farm finds itself cloaked in perpetual dusk, with rainclouds gathering and the threat of flooding looming over every fence and silo. The tale sets a mood of quiet sorrow and shifting loyalties, where a single moment of doubt can reshape the whole community.
This fairy tale is presented as a bedtime story read by Edmond’s mother, Dory, to her son Edmond. The family on the farm faces a looming storm that could destroy their home, and as Edmond’s mother steps away to help, Edmond calls for Chanticleer’s return. Instead, he confronts the Duke’s dark plans: the Duke uses magical breath to transform Edmond into a kitten, a cruel trick he hopes will make the farm and its residents easier to devour. Edmond is saved by Patou, the loyal basset hound from Chanticleer’s own herd, a moment that rekindles the bond between land and song. With the help of a bright flashlight, Edmond manages to drive off the Duke, and this act becomes a spark that pushes the story beyond the farm’s fences. The rescued Edmond then meets the other animals from the farm—among them Snipes, a cowardly magpie Eddie Deezen, and Peepers, a keen-witted field mouse Sandy Duncan—all of whom hope to find Chanticleer and apologize for their earlier behavior.
Driven by a sense of purpose, Edmond joins Patou, Snipes, and Peepers on a journey toward the city, while the rest of the animals stay behind at Edmond’s house, keeping watch for the Duke’s return. In the city, Chanticleer has reinvented himself as an acclaimed performer known as “The King,” under the management of Pinky Fox, Sorrell Booke. The Duke hopes to keep Chanticleer in the limelight and away from the farm, so Pinky’s arrangement helps seal Chanticleer’s promise to the show, while Goldie Pheasant, Ellen Greene, is introduced as a potential distraction. Goldie quickly finds herself drawn to Chanticleer, and she understands Pinky’s scheming when he uses Edmond and the others as leverage to ensure Chanticleer’s continued presence in the city. The tension thickens as Goldie’s affection for Chanticleer grows, even as she realizes the danger behind Pinky’s manipulations.
The Duke, meanwhile, sends his pygmy nephew Hunch, Charles Nelson Reilly, to thwart Edmond and the others from reaching Chanticleer. The trio—Edmond, Patou, Snipes, and Peepers—narrowly escape Hunch and slip into the city through an aqueduct pipe, entering a world where the beloved rooster’s fame seems to shield him from the friends he left behind. Back on the farm, the remaining animals continue to fend off the Duke’s party, using Edmond’s flashlight to guide and repel intruders as long as the batteries hold out. The tension swells as Goldie confesses her growing love for Chanticleer, and Pinky’s blackmail intensifies the pressure to keep the star in the city.
A rescue finally comes when Hunch unintentionally frees Edmond and the others, and the group races to reunite with Chanticleer. They mount a daring escape in a helicopter, piloted by the same daylight that Chanticleer’s song once summoned, using the helicopter’s spotlight to repel the Duke’s minions as they break toward safety. Yet the adventure is not without peril: the batteries run low, and the Duke stalks their path, threatening to drown the whole flock in darkness. In a moment of quiet courage, Edmond begins chanting Chanticleer’s name, a gesture that inspires the other animals to join in. The Duke, enraged, transforms into a tornado, but Chanticleer’s renewed voice pierces the storm, and he finally crows with enough power to lift the sun once more. The Duke shrinks to a harmless miniature, chased away by a determined Hunch, and the floods begin to subside.
Edmond returns to his world, waking to a sunlit morning where the storm has cleared. His mother believes the adventures were a dream, yet Edmond finds Chanticleer’s book and thanks the rooster for returning the light. In a final, magical twist, he is transported into Chanticleer’s world once more, where he witnesses the rooster’s song raise the sun, a moment that binds the two realities together in memory and hope.
