In the 1950s, Chanticleer is a rooster whose singing raises the sun every morning. However, one morning, an evil owl-like Magician (fantasy) named the Grand Duke of Owls, whose kind hates sunshine, sabotages him to make it look like the sun comes up on its own without Chanticleer's crow by sending a stranger to fight him. Chanticleer defeats his attacker, but forgets to crow, and the sun comes up without him. Detested by the farm animals as a result, Chanticleer is forced to leave the farm and find work in the city. Afterwards, perpetual darkness and rainfall threaten the farm with flooding.