Chicken Run is a 2000 stop-motion animated adventure comedy film produced by Pathé, Aardman Animations, and DreamWorks Animation. Aardman’s first feature-length film, it was directed by Peter Lord and Nick Park from a screenplay by Karey Kirkpatrick and story by Lord and Park. The film stars the voices of Julia Sawalha, Mel Gibson, Tony Haygarth, Miranda Richardson, Phil Daniels, Lynn Ferguson, Timothy Spall, Imelda Staunton, and Benjamin Whitrow. The plot centres on a group of anthropomorphic chickens who see a rooster named Rocky as their only hope to evacuate the farm when their owners prepare to turn them into chicken meat pies.
Released to critical acclaim, Chicken Run was also a commercial success, grossing over $224 million, becoming the highest-grossing stop-motion animated film in history. A sequel titled Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget is scheduled to be released in 2023 on Netflix.
Plot
A group of anthropomorphic chickens live on an egg farm run by the evil Mrs. Tweedy and her oafish husband Mr. Tweedy, who kill any chicken that is no longer able to lay eggs. The chickens try to escape frequently, but are always caught. Frustrated at the minuscule and declining profits that the farm generates, Mrs. Tweedy gets a better idea of converting the farm to automated production and having a pie machine to turn the chickens into meat pies. A suspicious Mr. Tweedy wonders if the chickens are plotting, but Mrs. Tweedy dismisses his beliefs.
One day, the chickens' leader, Ginger, sees and witnesses an American rooster named Rocky Rhodes crash-land in the farm's coop; the chickens put a cast on his damaged wing and hide him from the Tweedys. Interested in Rocky's apparent flying abilities, Ginger begs him to help teach her and the chickens to fly. Rocky gives them training lessons while Mr. Tweedy builds the pie machine. Later, Rocky holds a party when his wing is healed, and Ginger insists he demonstrates flying the next day, but Mr. Tweedy finishes making the pie machine and puts Ginger in it for a test run. Rocky saves her and inadvertently sabotages the machine, giving them time to warn the others of the Tweedys' plans and only a short time to escape.
The next day, Ginger finds Rocky has left, leaving behind part of a poster that reveals he was a stunt rooster, fired from a cannon and unable to fly himself, depressing her and the others. Elderly rooster Fowler tries to cheer them up by telling stories of his time as a mascot in the Royal Air Force, giving Ginger the idea to create a plane to flee the farm.
The chickens - with help from Nick and Fetcher (two rats who smuggle contraband) - assemble parts for the plane as Mr. Tweedy fixes the machine. Mrs. Tweedy orders Mr. Tweedy to gather all the chickens for the machine, but the chickens attack him, leaving him bound and gagged as they finish the plane. Meanwhile, Rocky, still on the run, encounters a billboard advertising Mrs. Tweedy’s chicken pies and returns to the farm out of guilt for abandoning the chickens. An alerted Mrs. Tweedy attacks Ginger as she helps the plane take off but is subdued by Rocky, who leaves with Ginger by holding onto a line of Christmas Lights snagged by the departing plane. Mrs. Tweedy follows by climbing up the line to defeat Ginger with an axe. As Mrs. Tweedy reaches her, Ginger dodges the ax blade which cuts through the line, sending Mrs. Tweedy falling into the safety valve of the pie machine and causing it to explode. Having freed himself, Mr. Tweedy reminds Mrs. Tweedy of his warning that the chickens were organized, much to her frustration. The barn door then falls on Mrs. Tweedy, crushing her.
The chickens fly to an island that they make their home and celebrate their victory while Ginger and Rocky kiss. During the credits, Nick and Fetcher discuss starting their own chicken farm so they can have all the eggs they could eat, but then end up arguing over whether or not the chicken or the egg came first.
Production
Chicken Run was first conceived in 1995 by Aardman co-founder Peter Lord and Wallace and Gromit creator Nick Park. According to Park, the project started as a spoof on the 1963 film The Great Escape. Chicken Run was Aardman Animations' first feature-length production, which would be executive produced by Jake Eberts. Nick Park and Peter Lord, who run Aardman, directed the film,[11] while Karey Kirkpatrick scripted the film with additional input from Mark Burton and John O'Farrell.
Pathé agreed to finance the film in 1996, putting their finances into script development and model design. DreamWorks officially came on board in 1997. DreamWorks beat out studios like Disney, 20th Century Fox and Warner Bros. and largely won due to the perseverance of DreamWorks co-chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg; as a company they were eager to make their presence felt in the animation market in an attempt to compete with Disney's dominance of the field. Katzenberg explained that he had "been chasing these guys for five or six years, ever since I first saw Creature Comforts." DreamWorks secured their first animated feature with the film, and they handled distribution in all territories except Europe, which Pathé handled. The two studios co-financed the film. DreamWorks also retains rights to worldwide merchandising. Principal photography began on 29 January 1998, during the production of the film, 30 sets were used with 80 animators working along with 180 people working overall. Despite this, one minute of film was completed with each week of filming, production wrapped on 18 June 1999.
John Powell and Harry Gregson-Williams composed and produced the music for the film, which was released on 20 June 2000 under the RCA Victor label.
Release/Reception/Box Office
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 97% approval rating and an average rating of 8.1/10, based on 172 reviews. The website's critics consensus reads: "Chicken Run has all the charm of Nick Park's Wallace & Gromit, and something for everybody. The voice acting is fabulous, the slapstick is brilliant, and the action sequences are spectacular." At Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 88 out of 100, based on 34 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade "A-" on an A+ to F scale.
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave three and a half stars out of four, writing: "So it truly is a matter of life and death for the chickens to escape from the Tweedy Chicken Farm in Chicken Run, a magical new animated film that looks and sounds like no other. Like the otherwise completely different Babe, this is a movie that uses animals as surrogates for our hopes and fears, and as the chickens run through one failed escape attempt after another, the charm of the movie wins us over."
On opening weekend, the film grossed $17,506,162 for a $7,027 average from 2,491 theatres. Overall, the film placed second behind Me, Myself and Irene. In its second weekend, the film held well as it slipped only 25% to $13,192,897 for a $4,627 average from expanding to 2,851 theatres and finishing in fourth place. The film's widest release was 2,953 theatres, after grossing $106,834,564 domestically with an additional $118,000,000 overseas for a worldwide total of $224,834,564. Produced on a $45 million budget, the film was a huge box office hit. To date, it is still the highest grossing stop motion animated movie.
Budget $45 million
Box office $224.8 million
{Oh god!... And this lady and gentlemen is a reason why you should never pause an Aardman movie}
My Review
{A.k.a The Chicken Version Of 'The Great Escape'}
When I was a kid, I practically ate this movie up as a kid, and watching now as a teenager, it still holds up very well. I've always admired stop-motion, and Aardman has always been quite gifted in crafting delightful characters, worlds and stories through the media. In the case with this film (which is their first feature-length film funny enough), it centres around a pack of chickens in a farm trying to escape said farm and live a peaceful life away from the cruel farmers who want to cook them to earn bigger profits. Along the way, a rooster accidentally lands in the farm, and he teaches them how to fly to escape said farmers. The result is a funny, charming, beautiful and at times emotional POW story that does great service to the likes of The Great Escape.
What's well contrasted about the chicken coup is that it also feels like a prison, creating a sense of terror and suspense for the chickens. Adding on to a well layered story, the jokes are very witty and add some spunk and charm to the characters. However, the film is also not afraid of getting dark, as whenever the farmers are near the chickens, you can only pray that those hens will get out of there alive. The attempts at sentimentality hit very well as we feel for the main hen Ginger and her goal to leave her horrid life and to get out and find a new home, something that many people stuck in horrible lives wish to fulfil.
Most if not all the characters are just delightful. Ginger is the smartest of all the chickens, is always thinking up each plan, and while she does have her disagreements with Rocky the rooster, they do grow more fond of each other and it's very sweet whenever they bond. Speaking of Rocky, while his arch is the typical liar revealed story line you'd find in other films, he does grow a soft side for the hens and his snarky attitude only fits in to how charming he is. As for the other hens, they range from amusing and smart witted like Gabs and Mac to more stubborn like Bunty and Fowler, but that fits in to the contrasting views of what they can do to escape. Oh yeah, and the rats Nick and Fletcher are madly amusing and do help the chickens out, so they're good in my book.
And then there's Mrs. Tweedy, the co-owner of the chicken farm and wife of the absent-minded albeit occasionally demanding Mr. Tweedy. She is so threatening from her appearance that whenever she's on screen, she gives me Goosebumps. Add on her ferocious dogs and you've got a villain who will stop at nothing to get what she wants, and in this case, to turn all her chickens into pies to gain higher salaries...seriously, don't mess with Tweedy.
Technical wise, this movie is marvellous. The sets look well detailed, the characters are in the usual simple yet amusing Aardman style, the effects are superb, and the flying scenes are just...stellar. Even though this was Aardman's first feature film, they went all out in crafting a great setting for where the film's core is, and they never hold back in giving the characters such unique and layered body expressions. Oh, and the gravy machine....pure masterpiece.
And last but certainly not least, the music score. Harry-Gregson Williams and John Powell tangle with an upbeat lively score and a more suspenseful heist score that really add to the tension of each scene.
There are many solid works in England when it comes to animation, and Chicken Run is no exception. While the liar revealed story and the occasional dodgy character play afloat, the film's solid animation, lovable cast of characters, well layered story, and charming score really make it a solid flick worth watching. If you have a kid of your own, pass this film on to them, and maybe then they'll have a favourite of theirs from their childhood that they'll stay forever attached to.
Chicken Run is a hilarious movie, and I will apologise profusely, because there was a long time when I didn't appreciate it as much as I do now. The animation is spot on, and I advice anybody who likes this see anything else from Nick Park like Wallace and Gromit. There are some great British humour like "I don't want to be in a pie- I don't like gravy!" The characters like the two mice are genuinely memorable, and Mrs Tweedy is really evil, especially when voiced by the talented Miranda Richardson. (who they wasted in the animated version of King and I)The voice talents are wonderful- I know people had problems with Mel Gibson as Rocky, but he was not that bad at all. Julia Sawalha, Jane Horrocks, Phil Daniels, Tony Haygarth et al, enthusiastically bring their characters to life, with an irreverent and touching story, that cleverly sends up classics such as The Great Escape. The incidental music was lovely to hear, very dynamic. There are some truly priceless scenes, like Rocky teaching the chickens to fly, the scene with Ginger and Rocky in the pie-making machine and the scene where the chickens are dancing to the song that you hear in the end-credits. I don't have a favourite character as such, but I loved Fowler. All in all, a funny movie, and yet another triumph from Nick Park, that I have started to appreciate a lot more. 10/10
{This cover of Big Joe's 'Flip, Flop and Fly' by Ellis Hall is the one thing about the film that sticks in my mind}
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