Chicken Run (2000) User Reviews

Wonderful Animation Packed with Intertexts

[l_rawjalaurence · 8/10 · 30 December 2014]

Watching Peter Lord and Nick Park's glorious animation story of a group of chickens escaping from a repressive farm in 1950s Britain, one comes to understand how the script draws on a whole raft of classic war films of the period, including THE COLDITZ STORY (1955), STALAG 17 (1953), and most obviously THE GREAT ESCAPE (1963).

All of the elements are there, treated with a tongue-in-cheek reverence that makes the film a memorable experience. Ginger (voiced by Julia Sawalha) is the lead chicken, desperately trying to devise escape plans from the farm policed by Mr. Tweedy (Tony Haygarth) and his shrewish spouse (Miranda Richardson). The need to escape is paramount; all the chickens have to hope for instead is a life dedicated to laying eggs and a violent death by strangulation, as the Tweedies cook yet another tasty Sunday dinner. The only problem is that Ginger's task is hampered by the well-meaning yet rather clueless inmates, led by Babs (Jane Horrocks) and Mac (Lynn Ferguson). The entire group are 'supervised' (?) by the Brigadier Fowler (Benjamin Whitrow), using the kind of Fifties Received Pronunciation accent that immediately recalls the war films of that period.

Enter Rocky the Rooster (Mel Gibson), a self-assured refugee from the circus, with a cockiness (pun intended) recalling Steve McQueen in THE GREAT ESCAPE. Although eventually helping to create a successful escape, Rocky has to learn how to co-exist with a group of Brits, that requires both races to become more accommodating, and less xenophobic. The script allows for some jokes familiar to viewers acquainted with World War II history (all Americans are "overpaid, oversexed, and over here."

Although only just over eighty minutes long, the film is packed with incident as well as some really funny jokes. CHICKEN RUN is a joyous experience, a tribute both to the talents of animators and script-writers alike.

Escape or Die Frying.

[Lady_Targaryen · 7/10 · 17 March 2006]

I wasn't very excited about watching ''Chicken Run'' in the beginning. A friend of mine, Aluísio, told me the story was good and worthwhile, so, since I have the movie in my house I decided to watch it to see if it was really nice.It is not my favorite animation, but the movie is quite good actually!Until I saw the credits running, I would never say that Mel Gibson was Rocky's voice. And I found the characters very, very expressive,specially in their facial expressions.

It was funny to see a reference to Braveheart in this movie, since I watched Mel Gibson's performance as William Wallace yesterday. (When Rocky says he's from "The land of the free, the home of the brave", Mac immediately says, "Scotland!" This is a reference to the Mel Gibson-directed film Braveheart)

The plot of the story is simple: The chicken from Tweedy's farm are horrified with the idea of becoming the next meal of the day. Ginger, the leader of all chickens,with the help of Mac, is always trying to scape from the farm with her ideas and plans. One day, she met Rocky, a rooster that apparently can fly and is escaping from his circus ' owner. They make a deal and she agrees to hide him if he helps all of the chickens to escape. Their relationship starts to progress, but the art of flying doesn't. And Mrs Twwedy starts to have more and more strange ideas of what to do with the chickens and make her profits higher...

aka "A Fuga das Galinhas" - Brazil

One radical cartoon

[RobT-2 · 7/10 · 10 July 2000]

The great animation director Chuck Jones has often stated that his cartoons "weren't made for children. Neither were they made for adults. They were made for me." Jones's seven-minute shorts were made on a far lower budget than the animated features of today. With features, much more money is at stake, as well as the livelihoods of more people. Because of the pressure to make back the investment, animated features can give an impression of being created by committee, as though tailored to fit some committee's idea of a prefabricated audience segment. It's remarkable, then, that Aardman Animation's "Chicken Run" shows off so much personality, the mark of a film made not for an imagined mass audience, but because it satisfied some need for the filmmakers-besides the need to put food on the table, that is.

The story revolves around an English egg farm designed a lot like a WWII-era prison camp, with overtones of the Nazi concentration camps as well, in that chickens that don't produce end up as dinner. While most of the chickens are resigned to their fate, one plucky hen named Ginger keeps leading escape attempts and keeps getting locked in "solitary" for her pains. Her task takes on new urgency when the Tweedys (the couple who run the farm) prepare to convert their operation into a chicken-pie factory. Hope arrives in the form of an American known (amusingly, in view of the recent "Rocky & Bullwinkle" film) as "Rocky the Flying Rooster", whom Ginger thinks can teach the chickens how to fly. Naturally, Rocky isn't really what he seems to be, and the revelation of his secret threatens to dash all hope of escape, because everyone knows chickens can't fly-or can they?

Unlike most cartoon films, "Chicken Run" is animated using clay figures in stop-motion. While this process involves much more labor than drawn animation, it also makes easier the use of many of the tools of live-action filmmaking, such as dramatic lighting and moving camera work. Directors Peter Lord and Nick Park both have considerable experience in this field, Park with "Creature Comforts" and the "Wallace & Gromit" series (perhaps the most popular animated shorts of the 1990's) and Lord as a co-founder (with David Sproxton) of Aardman and director of such shorts as "Adam", "Wat's Pig", and "Early Bird".

The look of "Chicken Run" displays a harmonious blending of Park's and Lord's strengths; the character designs have the cartoony look of Park's work, while the more realistic settings and backdrops (which appear subject to grime and weathering) are typical of those in Lord's films. All the major characters are distinctive and believable on their own terms; even the numerous chickens have their own distinct looks and voices. The only times the illusion of believability fails are when a clay chicken collides with a metal fence; I half expect to see the clay figure sliced up on the way through. (This may be a personal reaction, conditioned by years of exposure to "Tom & Jerry" and "Roadrunner/Coyote" cartoons.) The story moves efficiently and contains much humor and detail that reward close attention, as well as bravura set-pieces such as Rocky and Ginger's dramatic encounter with the Tweedys' pie machine.

While it has justifiably been compared with military prison-camp escape movies such as "Stalag 17" and "The Great Escape", as well as with the revisionist farm-animal melodrama "Babe", the movie "Chicken Run" resembles most is Pixar's computer-animated "A Bug's Life". The resemblence lies partly in certain details of plot (such as the hero[es] who isn't/aren't what he/they seem to be) but mostly in the nature of the story itself. While human prisoners have a life before prison upon which to look back upon, the chickens in this movie have never known such freedom. Thus, when Ginger talks of escape, she not only urges them to change their location but their entire way of thinking. In chicken terms, this is a radical message, the same one put forth by all the great human radical organizers: that those who are exploited have a right to expect a better life. Though the species and the methods of exploitation are different, "A Bug's Life" shares this revolutionary message (with Flik playing the radical visionary part). Both movies also stress the importance of banding together against oppressors whose power turns out to be more apparent than real.

While one could quibble about such commonalities, I'm impressed that two such films exist at all, that they were funded by major Hollywood studios (Disney for "A Bug's Life", Dreamworks for "Chicken Run"), and that kids love them and parents don't mind watching them more than once. One wonders if the parents know exactly what it is they're watching, and letting their kids watch. Then again, maybe they, too, believe they and their children deserve better lives, and enjoy seeing fellow victims of exploitation get such a life in the end.

Chicken Fun

[Chrysanthepop · 28 February 2008]

'Chicken Run' is a delighted little film about...well, chickens. I've always loved the claymation of Aardman. 'Creature Comforts' and 'Wallace and Gromit' are among many of my favorites. Aardman Studios have come up with a brilliant cast, a funny and smart script, fine cinematography and production design. The inspiration of films like 'The Great Escape' shows. The female characters are so strong and yet they have their own sense of humour and Brit-wit. Aardman's claymation is splendid. The large eyes, body size and shape and movements create this a unique class of comedy. The writing is very sharp and crisp but I disliked the obvious symbolism (of British and America joining hands to save the world and fight evil) which looked a little forced. I don't see the need to make the Rocky character an American rooster (as if it's an ingredient to have an American on board). Yet, that does not take away the sheer pleasure and entertainment one derives from the film. The voice cast is suitably chosen. Gibson plays the typical hero with charisma but it's the Brit cast, which includes names like Imelda Staunton, Lynn Ferguson, Jane Horrocks and Julia Sawalha that did it for me. Their sharp witty humour and strong will just put them on a league of their own. 'Chicken Run' is a cute, heartwarming, uplifting and hilarious little film. To quote another user, it is eggcellent!

You'll believe chicken can fly, once you watch Chicken Run! Chicken Run is awesome!

[ironhorse_iv · 7/10 · 17 December 2015]

Being a huge fan of Wallace & Gromit film series & old school WWII Prison films like 1963's "Great Escape" & 1953's 'Stalag 17", I was really looking forward to this movie, when it came out. It had a unique look to it, with its stop motion clay animation style. Directed by Nick Park & Peter Lord, and animated by Aardman Animations as the studio's first feature-length film; Chicken Run tells the story of a band of chickens lead by Ginger (Voiced by Julia Sawalha) trying to escape from certain death, when the owners of their farm, Mr. & Mrs. Tweedy (Voiced by Tony Haygarth & Miranda Richardson) decide to move from selling eggs to selling chicken pot pies. Can the smooth-talking Rhode Island Red named Rocky (Voiced by Mel Gibson) teach them to fly or will they end up, being the main course when Mrs. Tweedy get her hands on them? Watch the movie to find out! Without spoiling the movie, too much, I have to say, this movie was amazing that it even got finished. After all, Aardman weren't really sure at first, if they could pull off making clay figure of chickens moving in a set, because how awkward, they might had look, but somehow, they were able to make them look enchantingly believable. For a stop-motion animation film, this is some of the best work, I have saw. It was poultry in motion. The exceptional British voice-acting from the cast add to the unique characters in this film. The chickens are highly individual, completely believable, and wildly funny side characters. My favorite character in the film had to be Babs (Voiced by Jane Horrocks). Her posh-like speaking voice, matches so well with her character, very air-headed and spacy, jumping to strange conclusions and not fully grasping what's going on, behavior. Lots of laughs from her. However, there was a little language barrier with some of the Cockney and Scottish accents from other supporting characters like Mac (Voiced by Lynn Ferguson) & Nick (Voiced by Timothy Spall), that made me, scratching my head, due to them, being hard to understand. For the leads, Mel Gibson really stood out as the cocky American playboy here with the tone of his voice. He was really literally a chick magnet, back then. I also like, how his Australian accent wasn't showing at all. He really did sound like, he was from show business with his Hollywood-like attitude. Still, there was one thing that bug me, about his portrayal. I really, didn't like, that he didn't sound like he was from Rhode Island, in which his character is supposedly from. You would think, the movie would hint at that, a little more. Anyways, while the trailers, make it might seem like Mel Gibson is the main hero, it's Julia Sawalia as Ginger, who really stands out in this film. She really sounds like a woman with a plan. You really sense, the urgency within the tone of her voice. The villains were also well-played by Tony Haygarth & Miranda Richardson. They really do stand out, with their over-paranoia and axe-crazy personality. The humor is a mixed bag for me. There were a lot of moments that really did hit my funny bone, mostly in the British style of slapstick humor; yet some of the dry humor needed some more work. Then, there are some U.K pop-culture references that clearly went over my head, like the spoof sequence from 1951's Ace in the Hole or 1971's And Now for Something Completely Different. It didn't make a lick of sense, to us, Americans, but for the most part, I understood, most of the jokes. Some of the jokes could be a little too complex for children, but for the most part, it works within its means. Despite, being stuck in one-location, the movie is full of action and adventure. I love every minute of it, from escaping pie-making machines to the climatic airplane chase. The music score from Harry Gregson-Williams and John Powell really add to the epic scope of these scenes. One scene, that really bug me, was any of the scenes with the rats. I really thought, they would had been cut out. The whole scene where they're debating on, what came first, the chicken or the egg was somewhat annoying and drawn out. It was the only problem, within what might seem, like a very well-paced film. Still, the story was mostly 'alright' category for me. Mainly because the story wasn't really anything new and often full of clichés. The whole third act, "liar revealed" cliché wasn't really needed with its gloom. Regardless, I'm still glad, that Nick Park and Peter Ford cut some of the darker sequences from the film such as like; Fowler (Voiced by Benjamin Whitrow) being an abusive alcoholic & a chicken eaten by the watchdogs in an escape attempt. That would be way too grim for a children film. Overall: I like this, incredibly creative, highly detailed, animated film. Memorable characters and a cool prison escape plot, made this, a must-watch. So don't be a chicken, go run and see this movie.

Eggselant

[Gordon McVey · 9/10 · 12 December 2000]

Hailing from the animation house that brought us such jems as Morph, the Wallace and Gromit series and Rex the Runt, Chicken Run is the first ever feature length claymation ever attempted.

Set on a chicken farm in Yorkshire some time in the middle of the century, our plucky (sorry) heroines face a lifetime of hard labor laying for the farmers, and if their performance is not up to par they quite literally face the chop. Ginger, making her way to the top of the pecking order (sorry again) attempts jailbreak after farcical jailbreak, but success is less than forthcoming.

Enter Rocky The Rhode Island Red, (Rocky Rhodes for short, and you can't blame me for that one, the writers came up with it) apparently able to fly, the chickens look to him to help them bust this chicken coup, but Rocky is not what he may appear to be.

That's the plot in a nut (egg?) shell, and as you can imagine the subject matter made for perfect "salutes" to the classic world war 2 escape movies, references to which abound throughout. From Ginger tossing a baseball (actually a sprout) in the "cooler" (coal bunker), to Fowler's incessant ramblings about his old RAF days.

The lead characters are deep and endearing enough for you to care about what happens to them, if a little stereotypical at times. The interaction between them is fluid and believable, all the more amazing considering that Mel Gibson never even set foot in the same recording studio as the other actors, reading his lines in a studio in America instead. The supporting cast provide plenty of humour and Mrs. Tweedy substitutes quite nicely for the Nazi camp commandant.

The animation is lively and colourful the characters wonderfully expressive in that unmistakable style developed in the Wallace and Gromit shorts, and thanks to the fact the sets are real models there is plenty of scope for dramatic lighting effects.

The only real fault I could find in the film was that it just seemed a little too... American at times. Hollywood's involvement showed through the English setting to some degree, especially as you get to the movie's climax which seems to go a bit overboard, especially compared to the utterly hysterical ending to The Wrong Trousers. But all in all I have to say I really enjoyed this movie. Now all we need is a Wallace and Gromit movie.

Not As Good As Expected

[ccthemovieman-1 · 6/10 · 27 April 2006]

The makers of the British "Wallace & Gromit" animated films put together this full-length movie, a takeoff on the early '60s war blockbuster, "The Great Escape."

In this tale, the hens try to escape the coop while the owner tries to make chicken pot pies out of them! Meanwhile, an American, voiced by Australian Mel Gibson, enters the picture and gives the hens hope that he can teach them how to fly and escape their predicament.

I was disappointed with the humor, frankly. It just wasn't there, and there were not many references to "The Great Escape" as I was led to believe there were. The previews to this film turned out to be a lot better than the film. Maybe I expected too much.

The claymation artwork is good and the colors are vivid. The sound was a disappointment and the film as a whole was, too. Sorry.

Son of a gun, "Chicken Run" is pure fun!

[SwingBatta · 10/10 · 22 August 2000]

After watching "Chicken Run," you will become a believer of many things.

You will believe that a bunch of talking hens wearing beads and bandanas can speak with British and Scottish accents, practice martial arts, escape from inside a pie machine and secretly plot their getaway from an egg farm in 1955 England. You will believe that chickens can knit, dance, wear glasses and play the harmonica. You will believe that rats can wear bad suits and have an obsession for eggs. You will believe that roosters can fly airplanes, ride a tricycle and sing "The Wanderer."

Most importantly, you will believe that the otherwise Disney-choked world of animated films has life again, and that a tiny British studio can top the big boys from Japan and the U.S. and turn out the smartest, possibly best work of this genre ever. The one point of light in an otherwise lousy summer movie season, "Chicken Run" is something you'll want to watch over and over again. You could sit through it 31 times (like yours truly) and it never gets boring. The audienced applauded at the end during my first 13 viewings.

Aardman Studios has concocted a recipe consisting of a wonderful (albeit portly and feathered) cast, a funny, intelligent script, a gripping score, excellent cinematography and production design, plus great voice work, all mixed with years of labor and love, and the result is what is easily the best film of 2000. When was the last time you saw a movie with a cast – nearly all-female, no less – so determined and believable in their mission for freedom, and whom you cared so strongly about that you were actually cheering for them to be successful?

"Chicken Run" may be the first animated film that is an absolute joy for both children and adults. Children will be tickled by the jocularity of these hens, while adults will find pleasure in discovering homages to classic prison films – "The Great Escape," "Stalag 17" and even "The Shawshank Redemption," among others.

Screenwriter Karey Kirkpatrick has come up with a sharp script, which has all but become a lost art in the movie world these days. The dialogue is loaded with puns that work so well. The British slang is a delight, and makes the chickens' personalities more endearing and – dare I say it – human.

One of the best lines comes from Mrs. Tweedy talking lovingly about her soon-to-be chicken pie enterprise. When Mr. Tweedy asks why she only will be included in the brand name, her reply is: "Woman's touch. Makes the public feel more comfortable." The other is Fowler's immortal "Pushy Americans, always showing up late for every war." That's simply brilliant writing.

The flawless (yes, flawless) voice cast is the heart of this movie. This is one of those rare films in which both the heroes and the villains are fun to watch. You'll find yourself thinking during the end credits, "I liked this character the best…no, wait a minute, I think I like this one more…no, no, I like that one."

Leading the way is Julia Sawalha, playing another character with a spicy name (from "AbFab's" Saffy to CR's Ginger), and providing the ideal heroine we moviegoers have yearned for so long. She's so convincing in this role; you're deeply immensed in Ginger's quest for free range living that you forget she's a Plasticine chicken.

It's safe to say that 2000 has been the summer of one Melvin Gibson. He doesn't disappoint with "The Patriot" or with his role as Rocky, the vagabond flying rooster (listen to his hysterical rendition of Dion's "The Wanderer"), who easily bested his squirrel namesake at the box office. The film pokes fun at him in a good-natured way, from his opening "Braveheart" gag to his nationality.

Rounding out the supporting cast is Lynn Ferguson as the genius Mac, she of the wild hen's comb and odd spectacles. Jane Horrocks is a show-stopper as the innocent yet…well, bubbleheaded, knitter Babs. She doesn't have much dialogue, but definitely does the most with the least as she delivers the funniest lines in the movie with aplomb. Perhaps the film's most famous line is when she bawls "I don't want to be a pie!" Why? "I don't like gravy."

Ben Whitrow's Fowler, the old military rooster, had me in stitches with his constant rambling about his glory days in the Royal Air Force. Seriously, wouldn't we all want to be awakened by a rooster who hollers, "Cock-a-doodle-doo, what what"?

Timothy Spall and Phil Daniels are a hoot as Nick and Fetcher, the Laurel & Hardy-style farm rats. Tony Haygarth and Miranda Richardson (not straying very far from her "evil wife" role in "Sleepy Hollow") are perfect as Willard and Melisha Tweedy, the cruel owners of the prison camp…er, egg farm. The loving couple is an evil version of American Gothic rendered in clay. Mrs. Tweedy is the best animated villain since Maleficent from "Sleeping Beauty."

But my favorite (and this was a tough choice) was Imelda Staunton as the brusque, oversized and argumentative, yet lovable, Bunty. She was the character I related to most because my personality is sometimes like hers…I think I may have finally found my role model! My favorite part in the film was watching Bunty getting down to "Flip Flop and Fly."

The ending contains the most thrilling action sequence I've seen all year. I won't dare describe it here…go and experience the magic for yourself. What I will say is that I haven't had this much side-splitting fun with an ending since "Mrs. Doubtfire."

I haven't enjoyed a film like this since "Sleepy Hollow" was released 7 months earlier…needless to say, this has been a period of movie ecstasy that is as rare as hens' teeth, so to speak. I'm sure nobody will care, but what I found interesting about "Chicken Run" was that it bore a striking resemblance to SH in terms of the plot: a small citizenry, kept prisoner by a villain who has a fetish for decapitation, pins their hopes of freedom on an outsider who is brash and sure of himself on the outside, yet soft and bewildered on the inside. Both movies are in my personal top 10 of all time.

After watching this, I dare anyone to find another movie that is as heartwarming, witty, suspenseful and funny as "Chicken Run." To those who feel the need to criticize this film for any reason…I deeply sympathize with your lack of soul. 10/10

"Those chickens are up to something."

[classicsoncall · 7/10 · 7 May 2018]

Not being familiar with the creators of Wallace and Gromit, and not knowing anything about Aardman Productions, the biggest surprise for me was that the story takes place in England with a hen house full of British chickens and an American interloper by way of the circus named Rocky Rhodes. I thought this was a fun picture with a quite noticeable plot familiar to movie fans who've seen "The Great Escape". I liked the RAF guy Fowler; if someone had thought of it, the connection to the RAF might have been translated as the Royal Air Fowl, but who's to second guess? I even noticed something of a tribute to the world of Star Trek when Mrs. Tweedy grabbed the string of lights dangling from the escape plane, and one of the chickens sounded the alarm by saying 'it's a cling-on Cap'n'. Non-Trekkies wouldn't catch the reference. All in all a colorful and action packed, family friendly animated feature that's sure to please. I always come by these flicks so much later after their original run, but was glad to catch it before it flew the coop altogether.

Something for everyone

[AdRager · 10/10 · 20 June 2000]

Chicken Run is a wonderfully entertaining movie for EVERYONE! Kids will love the eye-candy of chickens doing absurd things and tossing off silly one-liners. Adults will enjoy the brilliantly funny dialogue and the sweet, engaging story. Parents will enjoy taking their kids to a movie that does not have the Disneyesque product tie-ins and must-buy soundtrack. Movie buffs can try to count the references to The Great Escape, Stalg 17, Star Trek and Braveheart and may be pleasantly surprised at the quality of the camera work.

Nick Park, Peter Lord & Co. succeeded (where so many other have failed recently) in making an animated movie whose story, plot and dialogue are equal to the brilliant animation. In the wordless opening minutes we are engaged and in invited to care about these silly chickens. By the time the snappy dialogue gets rolling we've already identified with the chickens' plight. It may be a bit slow through the middle for the younger moviegoers. But the sound of laughter, cheers and applause from the whole audience as the chickens make their final bid for freedom is well worth the wait. The only sad part is we may have to wait another five years for another Aardman Animations to produce another picture of the quality.

Good fun

[grantss · 7/10 · 14 April 2020]

The chickens on the Tweedys' farm are getting restless. Led by Ginger, they are trying to find a way to escape but every plan they have hatched is thwarted. Help comes unexpectedly in the form of Rocky, the flying rooster.

Fun animated movie, produced, written and directed by Nick Park and Peter Lord, who also gave us the Wallace and Gromit films. A rollicking plot with good action sequences, some very funny moments, and a touch of sentimentality make it difficult to dislike. The nods to classic WW2 prisoner of war movies, especially The Great Escape, add to the charm.

Will mostly appeal to kids but adults will enjoy it too.

Engaging and delightful!

[cal-33 · 10/10 · 17 June 2000]

This movie is all you could hope for in summer film fare. It had action, suspense, romance and a large helping of comedy. I was predisposed to love the movie, being a great fan of Wallace and Gromit, and the movie lived up to those other award-winning works. The movie works on every level, and was fun for all ages viewing it. Even my husband, who disdains children's movies, was truly enjoying himself. Needless to say, the children loved it, despite one rather gruesome off-screen moment, but that seemed not to matter too much. All in all, I can't recommend this movie too highly, it was incredibly entertaining and well-done.

More suspense than humor

[cherold · 6/10 · 8 July 2000]

I was rather disappointed in Chicken Run, hoping for a film as funny as Park's "The Wrong Trousers." I actually think it worked better in its dramatic and suspenseful scenes than in it's rather mild humourous ones. It's the kind of movie one describes as "cute."

It was heartbreaking

[fae90 · 4/10 · 5 March 2007]

My son and I watched this, he was so upset because the chicken was killed in the beginning of the movie, he cried the entire length of the movie, I wasn't sure what to say or do, but I wondered if other children were bothered by it. I encouraged him to watch the rest of the movie to see that the other chickens did get away. I know that it's life for farm animals but could not get him to understand this. For this reason the movie was not a smash hit with me or my son.

I just wanted to express my thoughts,which is just mine. I know most kids really enjoyed the movie, however, it really bothered my child. Thanks

Simply delightful viewing

[Bigspend · 22 July 2000]

As an older gentleman with a rather refined taste in flim viewing, I was surprised by how absorbed I got in this elaborate cartoon-like feature. It's no mean trick to create rubber characters that you can really care about. My favorites were Mr & Mrs Tweedy -- especially the latter. Mrs Tweedy was the personification of evil (within the confines of a cartoon of course) and just a thoroughly interesting character. The sets were well done, especially the Stalag 17 camp image (notice the 17 on the meeting hut). Lots of British stereotype stuff which worked pretty well and kept my attention. Fast paced without becoming just another Roger Rabbit.

Recommended!

A fowl love story.

[michaelRokeefe · 6/10 · 15 June 2004]

This is a funny and touching comedic drama set on Mrs. Tweedy's(Miranda Richardson)chicken farm in 1950s England. Ginger(Julia Sawalha)the chicken and the other residents of the Yorkshire farm are tired of laying egg after egg with no reward or real future in sight. Mrs. Tweedy fed up with smaller and smaller profits decides to get rich with a mail order machine to put her and Mr. Tweedy(Tony Haygarth)in the chicken pot pie business.

Ginger has plan after plan of escape to fail. Then dropping in to the rescue is an American Rhode Island Red, Rocky the Rooster(Mel Gibson), to help build up confidence of getting off the farm. Rocky has everyone thinking he can fly, while actually he is an escapee of the circus where he is shot out of a cannon. You will find homage to two great escape movies "Stalag 17" and "The Great Escape" in this creation of directing writers Peter Lord and Nick Park.

Other featured voices are provided by: Benjamin Withrow, Lynn Ferguson, Phil Daniels and Jane Horrocks. If you have not yet seen CHICKEN RUN, shake a tail feather. Take the whole family for there is nothing foul about this fowl flick.

I prefer stop motion than CGI .

[Rectangular_businessman · 9/10 · 10 March 2007]

This movie was great .Directed by Nick Park ,the creator of "Wallace and Gromit " and "Creature Comforts " made a funny ,clever and wonderfully animated . The technique used in this movie it's just fantastic, full of details and a rich visual style in the scenery and the characters . . But that would be nothing if the story wasn't so dynamic and entertaining , something that made this movie very enjoyable for children and adults . The story it's simplistic but the characters are very likable and interesting .The cast of voices it's pretty good ,and that helps very much to the movie . I would wish that all the movies for kids were so good as this . Sure , there are some good ,but are just a few . Meanwhile ,I liked a lot this movie as much as the movie of Wallace and Gromit , that have more heart and life than the recent 3D animated movies .

Entertaining, but disappointing

[AKS-6 · 6/10 · 24 April 2001]

I've done it again! Read too many reviews, too many articles. Basically, I've expected too much from Chicken Run. Don't get me wrong, it's an impressive film and it's thoroughly entertaining (most of the time), but the film should have been at least half an hour shorter, it seemed to move too slowly and repeat itself too many times. The pie machine set piece was brilliant though! (6/10)

Another kind of chick flick!

[ElMaruecan82 · 9/10 · 5 December 2022]

Disney and Pixar held such a firm grip on animation that somehow our expectations seem to have been conditioned by their standards. This is why enjoying a Hayao Miyazaki film or anything outside the 'Dream Factory' is capital to prevent a certain creative monopoly... for the sake of creativity itself. And to call "Chicken Run" creative is an understatement.

I have never been into claymation or stop-motion, "Wallace and Gromit" are household names but I'm not sure I ever watched any of their cartoons, but I admire the legacy, the patience with which Nick Park and Peter Lord gave life to these characters with unmistakable ovoid smile. They made their own style like Parker and Stone did with "South Park", animation starts with style, guts, a touch of zaniness and... a good story. Park and Lord designed it, Karey Kirkpatrick wrote the screenplay.

In 1995, having made names of themselves with two Oscars for Best Animated Shorts, the duo figured it was time to join the big league. After four years, was released "Chicken Run", a tale of chicken trying to escape from a big farm designed like a German POW camp with undertones that recall the darkest chapters of history. That the film maintain a jolly and goofy attitude is admirable because never the gags (and there are plenty of them) conceal what's in jeopardy here; not just freedom but survival.

In what might be the film's most disturbing scene, hens are aligned in the manner of prisoners waiting for the Kommandantur officer to give his orders and then a tall and thin woman almost goose-stepping with long and ominous black boots, checks her notebook and finds that one of her hens hasn't laid eggs in five days. There's a strange contrast between the poor hen's cartoonish gulp and the following scene where Mrs. Tweedy (voiced by Miranda Richardson) becomes the executioner.

That scene doesn't set the tone as much as the stakes. The opening credits treated the heroine's failing escape attempts as a 'running gag' (no pun intended) ending with her being thrown in solitary (a funny nod to "The Great Escape" shows her playing with a Brussels sprout like Steve McQueen's baseball) but when the poor hen is killed off-screen -we do hear the thud and we see the raising axe- we understand that it's a matter of life and death and these hens' lives hang on their capability to lay eggs, in fact, on economical viability to the money-driven owner.

Later she'd rent a new machine designed to make automated pies to increase her profits and so eggs will lose their life values. I guess one who had visited a farm or these industrial complexes where animals are mechanically stuffed and killed, won't find the historical parallels too far-fetched. Park and Lord humanized the hens and gave each one distinct personalities. It's perhaps the one concession to formula that had to be made, but it works. You know you have a leader, a brainiac, a reluctant one and a goofball in a community, but to call these hens archetypal would really diminish the effort pulled in the writing. At the very least they're war film archetypes not cute animated characters.

Ginger (Julia Sawalha) is the intrepid leader and the embodiment of "getting free or die trying", she's the voice of reason and her heroism leaves no doubt since her failing escapes are collective, if it was up to her, she would have been free already. She is supported by Mac, the scientific one (and ever since I watched that "What's My Line" episode, I know chicken can wear glasses), there's the most productive one Bunty (Imelda Stanton) whose skepticism is never overplayed, I actually loved her retort to Ginger's , "what haven't we tried before?" "we haven't tried not trying to escape" and there's Fowler (Benjamin Whitrow), an elderly rooster who keeps rambling about his experience at the RAF and youth's lack of discipline. And there's Babs (Jane Horrocks), the dim-witted champion knitter, one of these you can't help thinking 'God I wish nothing happens to her".

It's interesting that the film is mostly an all-female cast where even the villain 'Mrs Tweedy" illustrates a sort of female power by being so dominant on her hen-pecked (literally) husband Mr Tweedy (Tony Haygart). Female characters are so prevalent that there had to be a reverse 'Smurfette effect', besides the two helpful rats (Phil Daniels and Timothy Spall). There's where the cocky (literally) Rocky Rhodes (Mel Gibson), a rooster with flying powers (so it seems) crashes into the farm. One can imagine how a rooster would feel surrounded by so many groupies, but Ginger has no time for courting, she offers him a shelter in exchange of flying lessons. It's not much the training session or Rocky's morale-boosting actions but his hidden flaws that make him such an endearing character. In a funny coincidence, the same year Gibson played a similar role in "What Women Want". Rocky knows what hens want but will he live up to his premise?

As the plot advances, we understand that heroism is a dish often served with a share of bluff and the two roosters in fact have their shameful secrets. "Chicken Run" never runs out of ideas and gratifies us with great moments: a dancing party, hens trying to hide from Mr. Tweedy, and a spectacular climax. One of the film's greatest momentums is the trip inside the infernal pie-making contraption with some clever nods to Indiana Jones. And just imagine that the creators made four seconds of the film each day, just as if the hens dug a tunnel with toothpicks.

It's a credit to the authors to have made a film with such dark undertones so fun. It is mature but never at the expenses of entertainment. And hens are so believable as characters that we cheer for them not because we're required so but because we want to.

The Scariest Movie I have Ever Seen

[willc1991 · 7/10 · 13 February 2005]

For some reason, probably the woman with the axe who executes the chickens and abuses her husband, Chicken Run is in my opinion the scariest movie I have ever seen. The animation helps make the movie very scary, but that woman, just something about her gave me nightmares for two weeks. I have yet to watch the movie again, due to the severe fright it gave me last time. Over all its a good movie, because i enjoy the horror genre. If you are a fan of decent horror movies, then i suggest Chicken Run to you any day. The plot is very good, and the movie is put together nicely, Kids could be scared though, When I went to see it with my friends, there were many little kids there. MAny children were crying because the movie was hard to watch( beheading, extremely scary villains). If you can bear an unexpected surprise of fright, then Chicken Run is the movie to watch.

Animation at its best, with outstanding characters and a clever story. ***1/2 (out of four)

[Movie-12 · 8/10 · 3 August 2000]

CHICKEN RUN / (2000) ***1/2 (out of four)

"Chicken Run," DreamWorks Picture's newest animation festival, is an old-fashioned fairy tale with more heart and truth than most movies can even imagine about containing. The film's animated style contains state-of-the-art clay-animation techniques, which make it worth the trip to the multiplex just for feasting your eyes on such brilliant special effects. Directors Peter Lord and Nick Park, with co-writer Karey Kirkpatrick, give the characters depth, reason, and dimension-even if the main star is a feathered farm animal that converges with his companions about political matters.

"Chicken Run" details the miserable lives of a clan of chickens being withheld within a sinister dairy farm in 1950's England. Ginger (voiced by Miranda Richardson) is the central character, who, along with her acquaintances, deeply lust for the sweet smell of freedom that lies beyond the constricting boundaries of their pens. The unhappy farm owners, the smart and devious Mrs. Tweedy and the dumb and precarious Mr. Tweedy, brutally dispose of chickens who fail to produce the amount of eggs they require.

When a overzealous circus Rooster named Rocky (voiced by Mel Gibson) stumbles onto the farm one evening, the other chickens blackmail him into teaching them how to escape. This is also when the Tweetys lurch up a devilish new plan to strike it rich by purchasing a machine that will turn innocent chickens into merchandising pot pies.

The film's plot is steady, solid, and knowing; it portrays a series of events that gradually build tension eventually inducing an exciting climax that is both conclusive and satisfying. "Chicken Run" is a precise piece of filmmaking, an inoffensive family adventure that will entertain audiences of all ages.

Regardless of how well crafted it is or how artful the material, the movie is about chickens escaping out of their pen in order to find genuine independence. No, the stakes are not nearly high enough, and with a plot like this, it is only natural for some audiences to expect a shallow, cheap cartoon publicity stunt. However, the filmmakers make this movie feel original, fresh, suspenseful, and involving, regardless if the main characters are chickens with patriotic instincts.

A good film for the family...but not Oscar-winning like Happy Feet

[DocMoc · 7/10 · 20 August 2009]

Slightly based on the 1963 film The Great Escape comes the egg of that chicken and the child appropriation, Chicken Run , starring Julia Sawalha and Mel Gibson as the two main characters. The movie is not a "chick flick", but the directors and writers Peter Lord and Nick Park make it "eggcellent".

The claymation/stop-motion movie is set in Britain in the 1950's and is about a group of chickens in a coop who are being raised and will be killed when they stop laying their eggs. However, the main chicken, Ginger (Julia Sawalha) leads the optimism of the group and believes they can escape. The chooks have attempted to escape their pen a multiple of times, but have always failed. But then Rocky (Mel Gibson), a rooster who accidentally flies into their pen, is forced to help all the chickens to escape the pen because he can fly. It turns out he is actually escaping himself from the circus.

The voice-over performances of the chickens were average. They were not the best, I believe. However I think that's not really the point of a movie like this. Films like Wallace & Gromit, Harvie Krumpet and the famous Russian short, Peter and the Wolf, are not supposed to demonstrate the voice-over talents of the actors, but more importantly, they are meant to show off the clay art and the skillful editing (Robert Francis, Tamsin Parry, Mark Solomon).

The main thing about this movie that made me "crack up" like an egg was Craig Atkinson's modelling of the chickens. All the way through the movie, I could not help but laugh at the chooks' mouths. They are so funny and absolutely ridiculous and to hear a funny female British accent with words like "Is she going' on a holiday?", just make it a lot more hilarious. The cinematography is great, especially the lighting (in my opinion) and so I say "Well done!" to Andy MacCormack and Paul Smith.

I think it's clever that a movie that's a true story revolving around a concentration camp in the Second World War was transformed into a children's' movie about...well...chickens!! Originally, in The Great Escape, the Jews were being controlled by Nazis and in Chicken Run, the chickens are being controlled and killed by a nasty pommy couple. Which is worse, we might ask! I think if you want a great family animation film with a great story, entertaining animation and a good moral, then definitely watch Chicken Run.

Overall, this movie is decent. The story was well adapted, the modelling and animation was funny and very effective. I thought the style was hilarious (especially the mouths). The actors were not especially good, but the female British accents were enjoyable to watch. However, my complaint is clearly contradicted by the film's Golden Globe nomination for best animation/musical.

In conclusion I would say that this movie should be watched by everyone who wants a good laugh.

"I'm the Wanderer"

[UniqueParticle · 10/10 · 19 June 2019]

Among one of the best kids movies ever! Rocky (Mel Gibson) really lightened everything up, so did Ginger (Julia Sawalha)! I've probably seen "Chicken Run" at least 30 times since I was little, although there is some animal cruelty involved which is unfortunate for a G rated kids movie, despite that it's a heartwarming experience and I barely spoiled anything by mentioning the cruelty; you literally find out in the first 10 minutes in. "Grass is always greener on the other side and prickly"!

Prison Break chicken style

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 3 November 2013]

It's a prison escape picture Aardman style for chickens. It's done by people well versed in all those WWII prison escape movies. Movie lovers will understand all the references, but it works just as well for young kids.

Ginger (Julia Sawalha) is constantly trying to escape the chicken egg farm of the Tweedys. She fails every time and yet she keeps trying. One day young Yank rooster Rocky (Mel Gibson) comes flying in. Ginger needs Rocky's help to spring all the chickens from the farm.

Sure it's funny. Sure it's a crazy spoof of those prison escape movies. But it's actually quite thrilling. The movie really builds suspense as we hope that they get away. It's a fine addition to the Aardman family.

Nice, but about 60 minutes too long

[leeconn-2 · 3/10 · 16 July 2000]

Although I appreciate the effort that goes into claymation and have thoroughly enjoyed the adventures of WALLACE & GROMIT, this story would have been better presented as a 30-minute TV episode instead of a full-length movie. Nice try, but it just misses the mark.