Chicken Run is a 2000 stop-motion animated adventure comedy film produced by Pathé and Aardman Animations in partnership with DreamWorks Animation. Aardman's first feature-length film, it was directed by Peter Lord and Nick Park from a screenplay by Karey Kirkpatrick and based on an original 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. Set in the post-WII Yorkshire in the 1950s, the plot centres on a group of British anthropomorphic chickens who see an American rooster named Rocky Rhodes as their only hope to escape the farm when their owners want to turn them into chicken pies.
Released to critical acclaim, Chicken Run was also a commercial success, grossing over $220 million, becoming the highest-grossing stop-motion animated film in history and the biggest success in DreamWorks Animation history until Shrek in 2001 doubled it.
A sequel, titled Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget, was released on Netflix on 15 December 2023.
Storyline[]
In post-World War II Yorkshire, a flock of chickens live on an egg farm structured like a prisoner-of-war camp. The farm is run by the cruel Mrs. Tweedy and her husband, Mr. Tweedy, who kill and eat any chicken that is no longer able to lay eggs. Led by the rebellious Ginger, the chickens constantly devise new ways to try to escape but are always caught. Mr. Tweedy suspects the chickens are organized and plotting resistance, but his wife dismisses his theories while being frustrated with making minuscule profits.
One day, Ginger witnesses an American rooster named Rocky Rhodes glide over the coop's fences and crash-land; the chickens put his sprained wing in a cast and hide him from the Tweedys, who were promised a handsome reward by Rocky's owner for his return. Inspired by Rocky's apparent flying abilities, Ginger begs him to help teach her and the other chickens to fly, so they can escape. Rocky gives them training lessons. That evening, the Tweedys have strange boxes delivered to them; they contain the parts to a machine that Mrs. Tweedy hopes will turn the farm into a full-scale, automated, and profitable chicken pie factory. When Ginger notices that the Tweedys have increased their food supplies while ignoring that some chickens have stopped laying eggs, she deduces that the Tweedys are planning to kill all of them for meat. After Ginger and Rocky get into an argument, Rocky holds a morale-boosting dance party during which it is revealed that his wing is healed. Ginger insists he demonstrates flying the next day, but Mr. Tweedy finishes assembling the machine and puts Ginger in it for a test run. Rocky saves her and sabotages the machine, buying them time to warn the chickens and plan an escape from the farm.
The next day, Ginger finds Rocky has left, leaving behind part of a poster that shows that he is in fact part of a "chicken cannonball" act with no ability to fly on his own. Ginger is inspired by elderly rooster Fowler's stories of his time in the Royal Air Force to create an aircraft to flee the farm. The chickens assemble parts for the plane, a deckchair as a take-off ramp and a line of Christmas lights for a runway 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 gagged and bound as they finish the plane, which Ginger convinces Fowler to pilot.
Meanwhile, Rocky encounters a billboard advertising Mrs. Tweedy's chicken pies and returns to the farm out of guilt for abandoning the chickens. Mr. Tweedy knocks over the chair before being knocked out, then an alerted Mrs. Tweedy attacks Ginger as she helps the plane take off. She is subdued by Rocky, who leaves with Ginger by holding onto the lights, which have been snagged by the departing plane. Mrs. Tweedy follows by climbing up the lights with an axe; Ginger dodges an axe swipe 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, causing her to growl at him until he pushes the still-standing barn door onto her.
The chickens celebrate their victory while Ginger and Rocky kiss, and they fly to an island bird sanctuary where they make their home. Sometime later, the chickens have settled into their new home, and Rocky and Ginger have started a romantic relationship. Nick and Fetcher, two rats that have been helping the chickens throughout the film decide to start their own egg farm, but they cannot agree on whether the chicken or the egg comes first in starting the farm.
Also See[]
Sound Effects Used[]
- Hollywoodedge, Big Metal Clangthud CRT031903 (A very low pitched and slowed down variant is heard once when the rail feeder that Rocky lands in falls on top of him.)
- Hollywoodedge, Bites Four Wet Muffle PE136701 (The 4th take is heard once before Babs stops biting down on one of the other chickens legs after Ginger yells "Shut up!".)
- Hollywoodedge, Bullet Bounces Off Fr PE115001
- Hollywoodedge, Bulldozer Crane Heav PE197801 (A small portion of this sound is used once for the circus van after it goes over the hill next too the Tweedy's house right before Rocky realizes what van it is.)
- Hollywoodedge, Crane RevIdle CraneI PE271901 (The 2nd rev is heard once in a slightly lower volume when the delivery truck approaches the farm before Rocky says "The circus!".)
- Hollywoodedge, Crash Metal Shatter PE110101
- Hollywoodedge, Dog Doberman Growls AT021001
- Hollywoodedge, Dog German Shepherd AT021101 (The 1st bark is heard once on the left channel in a slightly lower volume when one of the dogs bites the head off the garden gnome that Ginger uses against it.)
- Hollywoodedge, Dog Rotweiller Growl AT024101 (One of the snarls is used once sped-up in tempo for one of the dogs right before it bites the head off the garden gnome that Ginger uses against it.)
- Hollywoodedge, Lightning 03 CloseR SIG011101
- Hollywoodedge, Lightning 08 CloseG SIG012601
- Hollywoodedge, Metal Creaks Machine FS015801
- Hollywoodedge, Metal Hits Metal Pipe FS010601
- Hollywoodedge, Metal Hit WwhistleW CRT032001 (1st hit)
- Hollywoodedge, Reverse Ricochet 3 St PE207701 (The 2nd half is heard once shifting from the right to the left channel when Rocky runs by Ginger as he hides from the circus van.)
- Hollywoodedge, Sheep Several Baas Me PE027101 (Heard once in a low volume after the main titles.)
- Hollywoodedge, Shings High PitchedM PE286701
- Hollywoodedge, Single Double Tripl CRT020704 (The 2nd horn is heard once after Mr. Tweedy opens the barn door before he notices Mrs. Tweedy stuck in the pie machine's safety valve.)
- Hollywoodedge, Slap 1 PE104201
- Hollywoodedge, Swish 12 Single PE117101
- Hollywoodedge, Sword Shing Long Clan PE245201
- Hollywoodedge, Truck Brakes Brake Sq TE047902
- SKYWALKER, DOOR - SHORT SQUEAK (Either the 1st squeak from this sound or a near identical sound is heard once when the side to one of the crates containing parts of the pie machine falls after Mr. Tweedy pries it off with a crowbar.)
- SKYWALKER, EXPLOSION - EXPLODING FIRE CRACKER
- SKYWALKER, INDUSTRY - LARGE MACHINERY RATCHETING
- SKYWALKER, METAL - CART WHEELS SQUEAKING (Either a lower pitched variant of the Monsters, Inc. variant of this sound or a nearly identical sound is used for the miniature wheelbarrow that Nick and Fetcher use to steal tools from Mr. Tweedy during the building montage.)
- SKYWALKER, METAL - SHORT HARSH SQUEAL (Either this sound or a near identical sound is heard once when Mr. Tweedy pulls on the lock that's attached to the gate at beginning of the film.)
- SKYWALKER SMALL POPPING SOUND
- Sound Ideas, BIRD, TAWNY OWL - TAWNY OWL, STRIX ALUCO, BIRD, DIGIFFECTS (A very high pitched variant of the 2nd take is heard several times throughout the film in low volumes during the scenes that take place outside at night.)
- Sound Ideas, BLACKSMITH, ANVIL - HAMMERING METAL ON ANVIL 01/02
- Sound Ideas, BRITISH BIRDS - BLACKBIRD (TURDUS MERULA) WITH QUIET TOWN GARDEN, DAWN CHORUS AND OCCASIONAL DISTANT CAR (BRISTOL 4.7.81)
- Sound Ideas, COUPLING - FREIGHT CARS COUPLING IMPACT, TRAIN (The rattling element is heard once in an extremely low volume right after the front wheels of plane hit the ground as the chickens begin to set it up for takeoff.)
- Sound Ideas, DRAWBRIDGE - CHAINS HOISTING BRIDGE OPEN, CASTLE (Heard once when the door to the oven inside the pie machine starts to close before Ginger goes back in to save Rocky.)
- Sound Ideas, HORN, BICYCLE - BULB HORN: SINGLE HONK, TOY (Heard once when Mrs. Tweedy pinches Mr. Tweedy's butt.)
- Sound Ideas, HORROR - HEAD CRUNCH, HUMAN 04
- Sound Ideas, LEVER, RATCHET - LARGE CRANK OR LEVER: RATCHETING, 10 TAKES (The 10th take is heard once.)
- Sound Ideas, ROPE - 2' ROPE: SINGLE CREAK 01
- Sound Ideas, SKID, CARTOON - BROKEN SKID
- Sound Ideas, SQUEAK, METAL - METAL PULLEY: TURNING
- Sound Ideas, SQUISH, SLIME - VARIOUS SLIME SQUISHES AND OOZES, HORROR
Image Gallery[]
Audio Samples[]
(The low pitched and slowed down edited version of Hollywoodedge, Big Metal Clangthud CRT031903 as heard in the film)