Chicken Run

This article is about the film. For the game based on the film, see Chicken Run (video game).

Chicken Run
British theatrical release poster
Directed by	Peter Lord Nick Park
Produced by	Nick Park Peter Lord David Sproxton
Written by	Peter Lord Nick Park Margaret French
Starring	Julia Sawalha Mel Gibson Miranda Richardson Benjamin Whitrow Timothy Spall Phil Daniels Jane Horrocks Tony Haygarth
Music by	John Powell Harry Gregson-Williams
Editing by	Mark Solomon
Studio	Aardman Animations
Distributed by	DreamWorks (USA/UK Television Airings) Pathé (UK/France) 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (UK DVD)
Release date(s)	23 June 2000 (2000-06-23) (United States) 30 June 2000 (2000-06-30) (United Kingdom)
Running time	84 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Budget	$45 million
Box office	$224,834,564

Chicken Run is a 2000 British stop-motion animation film made by the Aardman Animations studios, the production studio of the Oscar-winning Wallace and Gromit films. Set in Yorkshire, England in 1961, the film centres around a band of chickens, who seek a smooth-talking Rhode Island Red named Rocky as their only hope to escape from their certain death when the owners of their farm decide to move from selling eggs to selling chicken pies.

Plot

The Tweedys are a grumpy middle-aged couple who run a chicken farm in Yorkshire, England. The coop is run in the style of a World War II prisoner of war camp, with the chickens accountable for the number of eggs they lay each day or else face being on the chopping block. One chicken, Ginger, has attempted numerous plans to flee the coop, aided by contraband smuggled into the coop by two rats, Nick and Fetcher, but she is always caught by Mr. Tweedy and his dogs, and placed into solitary confinement.

Mrs. Tweedy realises her farm is failing and reads a catalogue on products to increase the profits. Ginger tries to convince the other hens to speed up their efforts to escape, but soon comes to conclude the only escape route is to go over the fence, something chickens cannot do. Soon, a Rhode Island Red rooster appears to fly over the fence and crash into the coop. The hens fawn over the new arrival, Rocky, and keep him hidden from the Tweedys. Ginger finds part of a poster Rocky dropped, claiming that he can fly. She tries to convince Rocky to help them escape by teaching them how to fly, but Rocky's wing was injured and cannot show them immediately. Instead, he puts them through a set of exercises that seem to have no purpose while assuring the chickens they are making progress. Soon, the Tweedys have machinery delivered and begin assembling it. At the same time, Mrs. Tweedy orders food rations doubled- intending to fatten the chickens up. Ginger is the only one to take serious note of this.

Soon, what is revealed to be a pie machine is completed, and Mr. Tweedy grabs Ginger for its first test. Rocky rescues Ginger, and they manage to jam the machine, giving them a more time to work out their escape. Fowler, an older rooster, gives Rocky his respect for saving Ginger, giving him his old RAF badge in tribute. Rocky decides to flee the farm the next day. Ginger finds Fowler's medal and the second part of the poster, showing that Rocky was a stunt rooster, "flying" by being shot out of a cannon. This revelation shocks the chickens, and a fight soon breaks out as morale falls. When Fowler arrives to restore order and begins talking of his days in the Royal Air Force, Ginger realises they can build a plane from Fowler's pictures and personal recollections. The chickens race against time to assemble the aircraft while Mr. Tweedy works to repair the pie machine.

The chickens finish their machine just as Mr. Tweedy completes repairs and enters the coop to grab the chickens. Led by Ginger, the chickens launch an open revolt, tying up and gagging Mr. Tweedy and readying the "crate". As they prepare for take off Mr. Tweedy breaks himself loose and knocks down the ramp. Ginger jumps down while Fowler turns the plane around, knocking Mr. Tweedy unconscious. As Ginger struggles to lift the ramp, Mrs. Tweedy arrives with an axe. Rocky, having had a change of heart, flies in over the fence and hits Mrs. Tweedy. Ginger and Rocky grab onto a string of lights caught on the plane's landing gear- Mrs. Tweedy soon wakes up and grabs onto the lights too, weighing down the crate. Ginger heads down the string to cut it, but after losing the pair of scissors, tricks Mrs. Tweedy into using the hatchet to severe the string. Mrs. Tweedy ends up crashing into the pie machine, plugging up a the safety valve and causing it to explode, destroying the barn. The chickens cheer and continue flying to safety as Mr. Tweedy, who reminds his wife "I told you they was organized", abandons his oppressive wife in the ruins of their farm. In the film's dénouement, the chickens have found an idyllic field where they have set up their new homes and raising their new chicks, while Ginger and Rocky fall into a romantic relationship.

The film ends with the rats Nick and Fetcher talking about starting their own chicken farm so they could have all the eggs they could eat, but arguing over whether the Chicken or the egg should come first.

Cast and characters

• Julia Sawalha as Ginger, the chickens' leader. Ginger is an orange chicken who wears a green knitted hat on her head and a cream-colored bandana around her neck. She is determined to save her fellow chickens from the farm.
• Mel Gibson as Rocky, a rooster.
• Miranda Richardson as Melisha Tweedy, a chicken farmer. Determined to make good money, she decides to turn the farm into a chicken pie factory.
• Benjamin Whitrow as Fowler, an elderly rooster who lives on the farm. He is a former RAF member who was obviously involved in World War 2 and is always talking about his time there.
• Timothy Spall as Nick, an obese rat who, along with his partner, Fetcher, aids the chickens in their quest to freedom, in exchange for eggs. He is the more level-headed of the two.
• Phil Daniels as Fetcher, a slender rat with a knitted sweater and a knitted cap, who, along with his partner, Nick, aids the chickens in their quest to freedom, in exchange for eggs.
• Jane Horrocks as Babs, one of Ginger's friends, who is the fattest of the chickens with a dim-witted personality who loves knitting.
• Imelda Staunton as Bunty, another one of Ginger's friends, who has a tendency for laying eggs and is the most doubtful of Ginger's plans to escape.
• Lynn Ferguson as Mac, Ginger's white-bodied assistant from Scotland, who is extremely brilliant, and who helps in the chickens' big escape as the engineer
• Tony Haygarth as Willard Tweedy, Melisha's husband. He is dimwitted, but still tries to help his wife make money.

Production

Chicken Run was to be Aardman Animations' first feature length production, which would be executive produced by Jake Eberts. Nick Park and Peter Lord, who run Aardman, co-directed the film,^[1] while Margaret French and Jack Rosenthal scripted the film. In December 1997, it was noted that David Sproxton was to also produce. DreamWorks secured their first animated feature with the film, and they handled distribution in all territories except Europe, which Pathé handled. The two studios both co-financed the film. DreamWorks also retains rights to international merchandising. Pathé and Aardman had both been developing the film since 1996, whilst DreamWorks officially came aboard in 1999. DreamWorks beat out studios like Universal Studios and Warner Bros. and largely won due to the perseverance of DreamWorks co-chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg, who as a company were eager to make their presence felt in the animation market in an attempt to compete with Disney's dominance of the field.^[2]

Harry Gregson-Williams and John Powell, composers in the artist pool of Media Ventures, were in talks to compose the film since January 1999.^[3] In January 2000, the release was revealed to be for 23 June 2000.^[4]

Reception

The film has received critical acclaim from critics upon its release and currently garners a 96% "Certified Fresh" rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, based on 140 reviews, with an average rating of 8/10 and the critical consensus: "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."^[5] The film also holds a score of 88 based on 34 reviews on Metacritic, indicating "universal acclaim."^[6]

Awards and nominations

Group	Category (Recipient)	Result
Annie Awards	Best Animated Feature	Nominated
	Best Individual Achievement in Directing (Nick Park and Peter Lord)	Nominated
	Best Individual Achievement in Writing (Margaret French)	Nominated
BAFTA Awards	Best British Film	Nominated
	Best Visual Effects	Nominated
Broadcast Film Critics	Best Animated Feature	Won
Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics	Best Animated Feature	Won
Empire Awards	Best British Director (Nick Park and Peter Lord)	Nominated
	Best British Film	Nominated
	Best Debut (Nick Park and Peter Lord)	Nominated
European Film Awards	Best Film	Nominated
Florida Film Critics	Best Animated Feature	Won
Golden Globe Awards	Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy	Nominated
Kansas City Film Critics	Best Animated Feature	Won
Las Vegas Film Critics	Best Family Film	Won
Los Angeles Film Critics	Best Animated Feature	Won
National Board of Review:	Best Animated Feature	Won
New York Film Critics:	Best Animated Feature	Won
Phoenix Film Critics:	Best Animated Feature	Won
	Best Family Film	Won
	Best Original Score (Harry Gregson-Williams and Alan Silvestri)	Nominated
Satellite Awards	Best Motion Picture - Animated or Mixed Media	Won
	Best Sound	Nominated
Southeastern Film Critics	Best Film	Nominated

Box office

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 theaters and finishing in fourth place. The film's widest release was 2,953 theaters and it closed on November 2, 2000, 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.

Marketing

Reel.com received exclusive right to hosting the official site for the film and designing, for which Canned Entertainment were chosen.^[7]

Video game

Main article: Chicken Run (video game)

Chicken Run is a stealth-based 3-D platformer based on the movie. The game is a loose parody of the film The Great Escape, which is set during World War II.

See also

• Nick Park
• Aardman Animations
• Wallace and Gromit
• List of animated feature-length films
• List of stop-motion films
• Colditz Cock, a glider built by British prisoners of war for an escape attempt during World War II

References

1. ^ Rex Weiner (10 April 1997). "Aardman on 'Run'". Variety. http://www.variety.com/vstory/VR1117435154.html. Retrieved 2010-02-18. 
2. ^ Dan Cox (4 December 1997). "D'Works' feat of clay". Variety. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1116678798.html. Retrieved 2010-02-18. 
3. ^ Robert Koehler (21 January 1999). "Zimmer's Ventures in music is a factory in the (tune) making". Variety. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117490444.html. Retrieved 2010-02-18. 
4. ^ Christian Moerk (21 January 2000). "Showbiz was schiz in 1999". Variety. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117760429.html. Retrieved 2010-02-18. 
5. ^ "Chicken Run Movie Reviews, Pictures". Rotten Tomatoes. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/chicken_run/. Retrieved 2011-02-07. 
6. ^ "Chicken Run Movie Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More". Metacritic. http://www.metacritic.com/movie/chicken-run. Retrieved 2011-02-07. 
7. ^ Marc Graser (3 April 2000). "D'Works hands Reel 'Chicken'". Variety. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117780113.html. Retrieved 2010-02-18. 

External links

• Official website
• Chicken Run at the Internet Movie Database
• Chicken Run at the Big Cartoon DataBase
• Chicken Run at Box Office Mojo
• Chicken Run at AllRovi
• Chicken Run at Rotten Tomatoes