Walt disney enlaces - Alan Tudyk’s chicken nearly got cut from ‘Moana’ 

No, Daniel Craig is not set for a $150 million James Bond payday, and here's why

Game, Set, Match: Stan Lee rips DC, David Ayer in one quick swipe

We just learned something DEVASTATING about Baby Groot

Review: 'Better Things' & 'One Mississippi' show power of autobiographical comedy

Summer Box Office Wrap Up: 7 big lessons from a season full of disappointments

TV (THE BOOK): Why 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' was one of TV's best shows ever

Review: Donald Glover does something very different—and very good—in 'Atlanta'

On this day in pop culture history: Eric Clapton joined The Beatles for a day

Review: 'Halt and Catch Fire' tries to learn 'Rules of Honorable Play'

Is Nicolas Cage's 'USS Indianapolis: Men of Courage' secretly a 'Jaws' prequel?

James Gunn offers life advice, Vin Diesel gets emotional watching 'Guardians Vol. 2'

Marvel's new live-action Ghost Rider gets a costume and 'found footage' tease

Trending Trailers Fandemonium Girls on Film 2 Steps Forward 1 Step Back The Snap 2 Minute History See or Skip Interviews Ask Alan See or Skip The Dartboard

Motion Captured Reviews In Theaters On Demand Film Nerd 2.0 See or Skip The Dartboard

What's Alan Watching Recaps Firewall & Iceberg Reality TV See or Skip TV Critics Poll The Dartboard

Riot Home Riot Videos The Snap The Dartboard

What's Alan Watching Motion Captured The Dartboard Fangirl See or Skip Streaming Genie

Alan Tudyk’s chicken nearly got cut from ‘Moana’

The Disney movie once had Hei Hei bound for the chopping block

The furry friends and scaled sidekicks that accompany animated ladies on their adventures are a Disney staple. Characters like Flounder, Mushu, and Pascal entertain kids and adults alike. The newest Disney princess, Moana, has her puppy-like pet pig, Pua, but she nearly lost out on having a feathered pal.

alum Alan Tudyk, his chicken character, Hei Hei, survived the making of

. It’s “one of the most fun roles I’ve ever done,” the frequent Disney voice actor told HitFix at San Diego Comic-Con.

For a while though, Hei Hei just wasn’t working. As recently as this April, it looked like he wouldn’t make it into the movie, set 2,000 years ago on a fictional Pacific island.

story artist Sunmee Joh told press on a recent visit to Disney Animation’s campus in Burbank, California. “He was kind of like the chief’s watchdog. And he always stayed close by Moana.”

’s directors — Ron Clements and John Musker, the guys who helmed

— wanted to keep Hei Hei in the movie, but he wasn’t fitting in so well as story changes were made.

When story artist David Derrick got really sick, breaking up the story team for a couple days, the directors said they should use that time to figure out how to keep Hei Hei in the movie.

“Save this chicken” was the writers’ mission, Derrick recalled, and they had 48 hours.

The story team realized “we had to think of a way to make [Hei Hei] a complication for Moana and really tie it to the story,” Joh said. 

In the storyboards below, you can see one version of a moment without Hei Hei and one with him added back into the movie. These boards feature the pirate-like, coconut armor-clad creatures called Kakamora who are trying to steal the all-important Heart of the Sea stone from Moana and Maui. Hei Hei, in his incompetence, is no help in this dire situation. When Hei Hei 2.0 swallows the stone, the Kakamora end up dashing away with Hei Hei instead for a comedic sequence.

Derrick recalled pitching this new Hei Hei to John Lasseter in the very room where press gathered for the

“Lasseter was sitting in this chair right here, and he stood up and he’s like, “Yes! Hei Hei has been saved! He\'s in the movie.”  

team celebrate? With a lunch of fried chicken.

An enthusiast of time travel stories, film scores, avocados and Charades, Emily Rome is an alumna of Loyola Marymount University and a native of beautiful Washington State. Emily’s writing has also appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Entertainment Weekly and The Hollywood Reporter. Follow her on Twitter @EmilyNRome.

Keep up with Emily Rome by signing up for the newsletter

Twitter asked Maude about herself, and she answered | Fandemonium

Let's all ask ourselves: What would Ava DuVernay do? | Girls on Film

Will Archie fans recognize Riverdale when it comes to The CW?

For Clint Eastwood, Tom Hanks plays a captain again

Julie Andrews approves of Emily Blunt playing Mary Poppins but do WE?

Here's hoping 'Westworld' is 'Mad Max: Fury Road' meets the wild west

About Us In the News Advertise Partner Careers Contact Terms of Use Privacy Policy

© 2016 HitFix, Inc. All rights reserved.