Chicken Run is a 2000 stop-motion animation British film made by the Aardman Animations studios (which produced the Oscar-winning Wallace and Gromit films). A film poster for Chicken Run, contended as fair use. ... Peter Lord (born 1953) is co-founder of Aardman Animations, a British animation firm best known for claymation films including those involving the characters Wallace and Gromit, and the 2000 film Chicken Run. ... Nicholas Wulstan Park, CBE (b. ... Nicholas Wulstan Park, CBE (b. ... Peter Lord (born 1953) is co-founder of Aardman Animations, a British animation firm best known for claymation films including those involving the characters Wallace and Gromit, and the 2000 film Chicken Run. ... This article contains information that has not been verified and thus might not be reliable. ... Peter Lord (born 1953) is co-founder of Aardman Animations, a British animation firm best known for claymation films including those involving the characters Wallace and Gromit, and the 2000 film Chicken Run. ... Nicholas Wulstan Park, CBE (b. ... Karey Kirkpatrick is a screenwriter. ... Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson (born January 3, 1956) is an American-born actor, director and producer. ... Julia Sawalha (born 9th September 1968) is a British actress best known for her roles of Lynda Day (editor of The Junior Gazette in Press Gang), Saffron Monsoon in Absolutely Fabulous and Lydia Bennet in the 1995 miniseries of Pride and Prejudice. ... Miranda Jane Richardson (born 3 March 1958) is an Academy Award nominated English actress. ... Jane Horrocks Jane Horrocks (born January 18, 1964) is an English actress and singer. ... Harry Gregson-Williams (born December 13, 1961) is a Grammy-nominated British film score composer. ... For the geologist and U.S. explorer, see John Wesley Powell, for the Mayor of Toronto see John Powell (politician). ... Pathé or Pathé Frères is the name of various businesses founded and originally run by the Pathé Brothers of France. ... This article is about the film studio. ... is the 172nd day of the year (173rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full 2000 Gregorian calendar). ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Ducks amongst other poultry The Poultry-dealer, after Cesare Vecellio Poultry is the category of domesticated birds kept for meat, eggs, and feathers. ... Year 2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full 2000 Gregorian calendar). ... Stop motion is an animation technique which makes things that are static appear to be moving. ... Aardman Animations, Ltd. ... Academy Award The Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars, are the most prominent and most watched film awards ceremony in the world. ... Gromit redirects here. ...

Background

Chicken Run tells the humorous story of a band of chickens who seek escape from their coop before their owners, the unambitious and inconveniently oafish yet suspicious egg farmer Mr. Tweedy and his greedy, overbearing wife, make them all into chicken pies. The film is a homage to the World War II prison films of the 1950s and 1960s (particularly The Great Escape, Stalag 17, and The Birdmen), but it alludes to numerous other films, including Braveheart, the Indiana Jones films, and Star Trek. (Stalag 17 and the latter 3 films or film series were all released by Paramount Pictures, currently sister studio to DreamWorks after Viacom bought the latter in 2005.) This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... The Great Escape, written by James Clavell, W.R. Burnett, and Walter Newman (uncredited), and directed by John Sturges is a popular 1963 World War II film, based on a true story about Allied prisoners of war with a record for escaping from German prisoner-of-war camps. ... Stalag 17 is a 1953 war film which tells the story of a group of American G.I.s held in a German World War II prisoner of war camp who come to believe one of their number is a traitor. ... For the moshing term Braveheart, see Wall of death (moshing). ... Dr. Henry Walden Jones, Jr. ... This article is about the entire Star Trek franchise. ... Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American motion picture production and distribution company, based in Hollywood, California. ... This article is about the film studio. ... Viacom (NYSE: VIA) (NYSE: VIAb) is an American media conglomerate with various worldwide interests in cable and satellite television networks (MTV Networks and BET), and movie production and distribution (the Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks movie studios). ...

The star roles in the film are those of Ginger (voiced by Julia Sawalha), a hen who has absolute faith that the chickens can fly out of the coop if only they train hard enough, and Rocky Rhodes (voiced by Mel Gibson), a rooster whom Ginger believes can fly, but who keeps the secret of his flightlessness from her for much of the film. Mrs. Tweedy (voiced by Miranda Richardson) is the nefarious, grasping farm wife whose exasperation at low profits from egg sales leads her to reinvent her farm as a chicken pie factory, while her husband does all he can to prevent the chickens from (as he rightly believes they are) escaping. Julia Sawalha (born 9th September 1968) is a British actress best known for her roles of Lynda Day (editor of The Junior Gazette in Press Gang), Saffron Monsoon in Absolutely Fabulous and Lydia Bennet in the 1995 miniseries of Pride and Prejudice. ... Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson (born January 3, 1956) is an American-born actor, director and producer. ... Miranda Jane Richardson (born 3 March 1958) is an Academy Award nominated English actress. ... A pot pie served with salad. ...

The film proved a success with both children and adults, and showed that Peter Lord and Nick Park had the ability to handle the technical and writing challenges posed by a feature film, and thereby serving as a test bed for the 2005 movie outing for Wallace and Gromit, The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. Peter Lord (born 1953) is co-founder of Aardman Animations, a British animation firm best known for claymation films including those involving the characters Wallace and Gromit, and the 2000 film Chicken Run. ... Nicholas Wulstan Park, CBE (b. ...

Soundtrack

Chicken Run features much music from 70s pop culture. The soundtrack was released in February 2001. The infamous main song "Chicken Run Into The Sun", also known as the "The Chicken Run Song", is played both in the middle scene, where Ginger and Rocky go through the pie machine, and over the end credits. Jack Zswimmer, who wrote this song, has gone on to work on Disney projects such as Finding Nemo. Finding Nemo is an Academy Award-winning computer-animated film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released to theaters by Walt Disney Pictures and Buena Vista Distribution. ...

Summary

The film opens in a POW camp-like chicken farm in England. The dull-witted farmer, Mr. Tweedy, is on his watch with his dogs checking the locks, while a small group of chickens stealthily attempt to escape from the enclosure. Unfortunately, Tweedy catches on and a lone chicken. Ginger, the ringleader, is captured and thrown in a coal bin, while Tweedy snarls to Ginger's other friends that "No chicken escapes from Tweedy's farm!" Image File history File links Broom_icon. ... Prisoner of War camps Contents // Categories: Substubs | Prisons and detention centres ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ...

The farm is run by Mr. Tweedy's wife Melisha. Whenever Mr. Tweedy finds and tells that the chickens are well smarter and 'organized', Mrs. Tweedy doesn't believe him. Day and night pass by and the farmer takes the eggs while his nefarious wife checks progress. All the while, Ginger makes new plans to escape which all end in failure (The opening credits are made of subsequent failed escape attempts). A new day begins and all the chickens stand for roll call while Fowler, an elderly rooster and the camp's senior officer, babbles on about "his old RAF days". Mrs. Tweedy checks all the chickens, marking down the eggs they have laid. One chicken, Edwina, hasn't laid any in a week and is taken inside a shed by Mr. Tweedy. Ginger sneaks to see what happens, as Mrs. Tweedy swings up an axe, raises it, and silently ends the tragic ordeal by bringing it down - but the viewers see this only as shadows. For other senses of this term, see roll call (disambiguation). ... RAF redirects here. ...

Ginger prepares a new plan to go over the fence, calling in two rats, Nick and Fetcher, to sneak in new stuff. Inside the house, the humans have eaten Edwina and Mrs. Tweedy angrily looks over the amount of eggs and wants a new way to make money instead of making minuscule profits. An ad catches her eye about a giant pie machine, with a small cartoon character shouting "I'M RICH!". Mr. Tweedy is keeping watch outside and suspects the chickens' plot, but Mrs. Tweedy tells him that all of this notion of the escaping chickens is all in his head. The idea about going over the fence doesn't go well, but Ginger reminds them about Edwina and tells them that life is better outside the farm.

Outside, a huge blast is heard, a rooster flies over the fence, and crash lands inside the camp. The chickens eagerly hide him and he introduces himself as Rocky Rhodes, a "lone free ranger" from America. (This is a double pun on The Lone Ranger and free range, a method of farming husbandry.) Then Ginger asks him if he can teach them how to fly, but Rocky isn't so thrilled at the idea. Eventually, he reconciles when he sees the circus has come back to take him. For other uses, see Pun (disambiguation). ... The Lone Ranger. ... Free range is a method of farming husbandry where the animals are permitted to roam freely instead of being contained in small sheds. ...

The next day, training begins very bizarrely as Rocky seems to have no idea what he's doing. Eventually the day ends without a single chicken making it off the ground. A huge "Poultry Products" truck appears and unloads vast amounts of equipment. Mrs. Tweedy explains the idea to her husband and the farm will now officially become a full automated factory.

Meanwhile, Mac (a Scottish chicken, who is a bit of an egghead genius) looks over her notes and concludes that chickens simply weren't built for flying. Ginger confronts Rocky about their poor progress and Mac deduces that they require thrust. Ginger warns Rocky that if they do not see progress, the deal is off and they will reveal his presence to the farmers. This article is about the country. ...

The next morning, Rocky gets a cable wire and prepares to sling-shot the chickens over the fence, but that doesn't work out. Roll call begins and Babs (a knitting-obsessed chicken) hasn't laid any eggs, focusing more on the flying. The other chickens realize they haven't either. Instead of chopping Babs, Mrs. Tweedy measures her waistline and orders Mr. Tweedy to double their food rations. Ginger stops them from eating and tells them that the farmers are deliberately fattening them up and kill them all in one stroke. To help out for once, Rocky manages to bring them a radio to cheer them up, which leaves the entire coop dancing. Rocky's bandages fall off, revealing that his injured wing has healed, and Ginger eagerly announces that he can finally show them how to fly tomorrow. But before he can tell her he can't really fly, the power goes out.

Outside, a pie machine has completed construction and Mr. Tweedy brings Ginger in as the first victim for a score to settle with Ginger. Rocky breaks into the barn and rescues her, surviving the innards of the machine and sabotaging it. Fowler gives him a RAF medal and apologizes for doubting him. Both Ginger and Rocky share a tender moment on the roof, overlooking the fields.

The following morning, all the chickens eagerly await the flying demonstration. Ginger goes to wake Rocky, but he's gone, leaving his RAF medal. She finds a torn piece of Rocky's promotional poster and slowly adds it, revealing her horror to everyone. Completed, the poster shows Rocky being shot out of a cannon, implying that Rocky is, in fact, part of the circus and could never fly at all.

Their plans shot and their hopes shattered, Ginger gives up and denies any chance of escaping. The whole farm starts fighting. Ginger finally asks Fowler what the RAF is. Fowler tells them it is the "Royal Air Force" and shows them pictures of the airplane he flew in. Filled with hope again, the chickens still plan to fly, but now by building the huge plane. Even the rats help out as they pull apart their own huts to build the plane, racing against Mr. Tweedy who is rapidly fixing the machine. Rocky is once again on the open road, but stops when he sees a promotional advertisement for "Mrs. Tweedy's Homemade Chicken Pies" (She believes "Mrs." is a woman's touch and makes the public feel comfortable). He thinks about the chickens, and realizes the error of his ways.

The chickens finish the plane just as Mr. Tweedy finishes fixing the machine. They attack and tie him under one of the houses and finish construction. Fowler, as pilot, starts up the plane as all the chickens pedal to start the string engines. But Mr. Tweedy escapes from the house, closes the ramp and falls down, and Ginger gets out of the plane to put the ramp back on so that the plane will lift off and fly. Mrs. Tweedy attacks Ginger, but gets knocked out by Rocky, who arrives at the last moment to help Ginger put the ramp back on. The plane takes off and all the chickens cheer, including Ginger and Rocky, who climbed up to the plane by a rope of Christmas lights. Unfortunately, Mrs. Tweedy manages to grab on, and slowly begins climbing up the rope of Christmas lights, holding an axe in her mouth. Ginger tries to cut the rope with Babs' tiny pair of scissors, while Rocky, Nick and Fetcher use the eggs to fire at Mrs. Tweedy. Ginger then loses the scissors, and Mrs. Tweedy, covered in egg, strikes at Ginger with her axe, seemingly decapitating her, much to Rocky's horror.

Luckily, Ginger slowly raises her head to reveal the truth: the blow just missed, and has instead severed the rope. Then, waving an ironic goodbye, Ginger lets go of the other half and Mrs. Tweedy falls right back to the barn into the pie machine, which explodes, covering Mrs. Tweedy in gooey gravy and destroying the barn. As Mr. Tweedy looks upon the wreckage, he reminds her, "I told you they was organized!". As Mrs. Tweedy growls at Mr. Tweedy, he pushes the Barnhouse door down on her.

At long last, the chickens have reached peace in their own small haven. Mac gives some baby chickens some lessons while Fowler tells them some stories. There are several chicks and the rats are still trying to make an egg business.

Critical Reaction

This film was received excellently from critics, earning a 97% certified fresh at Rotten Tomatoes. This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...

Crew

Nicholas Wulstan Park, CBE (b. ... Peter Lord (born 1953) is co-founder of Aardman Animations, a British animation firm best known for claymation films including those involving the characters Wallace and Gromit, and the 2000 film Chicken Run. ... Peter Lord (born 1953) is co-founder of Aardman Animations, a British animation firm best known for claymation films including those involving the characters Wallace and Gromit, and the 2000 film Chicken Run. ... This article contains information that has not been verified and thus might not be reliable. ... Nicholas Wulstan Park, CBE (b. ... Peter Lord (born 1953) is co-founder of Aardman Animations, a British animation firm best known for claymation films including those involving the characters Wallace and Gromit, and the 2000 film Chicken Run. ... Nicholas Wulstan Park, CBE (b. ... Karey Kirkpatrick is a screenwriter. ... Jake Eberts (b. ... Jeffrey Katzenberg (born December 21, 1950 in New York City) is an American film producer and Chief Executive Officer of DreamWorks Animation SKG. He is perhaps most famous for his period as studio chairman at The Walt Disney Company, and for producing the movie Shrek (2001). ... For the fictional character, see Michael Rose (EastEnders). ... Lenny Young is an American film producer. ... Harry Gregson-Williams (born December 13, 1961) is a Grammy-nominated British film score composer. ... For the geologist and U.S. explorer, see John Wesley Powell, for the Mayor of Toronto see John Powell (politician). ... Carla Shelley is a producer for Aardman Animations. ... Dave Alex Riddett is a veteran cinematographer at Aardman Animations. ... Phil Lewis is the current vocalist for American Sleaze Rock band L.A. Guns. ... The following are characters from the American soap opera One Life to Live who are notable for their actions or relationships, but who do not warrant their own articles and are not part of a notable minor family from the series. ... Lloyd Price (born March 9, 1933 in Kenner, Louisiana) was an early rock and roll musician. ...

Annie Awards

Nicholas Wulstan Park, CBE (b. ... Peter Lord (born 1953) is co-founder of Aardman Animations, a British animation firm best known for claymation films including those involving the characters Wallace and Gromit, and the 2000 film Chicken Run. ... Karey Kirkpatrick is a screenwriter. ...

Production notes

• Chicken Run was the first feature film in Europe to use the Digital Intermediate process, Digitally storing and manipulating every frame of the film before recording back to film.
• In early versions of the movie, Ginger had a little brother named Nobby, but the idea was dropped in order to make the film less cute.
• The reason all the chickens are wearing scarves is to hide the joint between the head and the body. The scarves hide the 'seam' which is present because the bodies of the chickens are articulated steel frames coated in silicon rubber while the heads are plasticine.

Digital intermediate (often abbreviated as DI) describes the process of digitizing a motion picture and manipulating color and other image characteristics to change the look, and is usually the final creative adjustment to a movie before distribution in theaters. ... Not to be confused with the Pleistocene epoch which is part of the geologic timescale. ...

References to popular culture

• In the opening credits, Ginger is seen to bounce a Brussels sprout off the wall of the bin in which she is held in solitary confinement. This is a parody of Hilts, in The Great Escape, who does the same with his baseball while in the cooler.

• The escape attempt shown in the opening credits of the Chickens tunneling, and traveling on trolleys down the tunnel, is a reference to The Great Escape, which is how people traveled down the tunnel in that film.

• The scene where Ginger tells Rocky that she wants to get all the chickens out at the same time, and he thinks she is mad, is a reference to a similar scene in The Great Escape between Roger and Hilts.

• Rocky is introduced shouting "Freedooooommm!" in a slightly comedic manner. This alludes to the memorable line of Mel Gibson's portrayal of William Wallace in the movie Braveheart.

• Edwina, the chicken who is killed by the Tweedies at the beginning of the film, is a reference to politician Edwina Currie. Currie was a Junior Health Minister under Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher when, in 1988, she issued a warning about salmonella in eggs. This caused a collapse in the British egg market and Currie was forced to resign (or "get the chop" as commentators sometimes refer to ministers who have resigned or been sacked from office).

• The sequence in which Rocky and Ginger are trapped inside Mrs. Tweedy's pie-making machine and encounter various mechanical dangers is a parody of the three Indiana Jones films' various cliffhanger dangers and subsequent escapes, as well as Ginger rescuing her hat.

• The promo title featured on posters for the film, "C:R-1", was spoof of the promo title "M:I-2" for the film Mission: Impossible II.

• When Rocky enters the barn to find the chicken pie-making machine, he is awed by the size of it and says "Look at the size of that thing". This is a reference to Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. Wedge Antilles says this when he sees the Death Star for the first time.

• During the plane sequence, the Scottish chicken Mac shouts a few quotes from Scotty of Star Trek: The Original Series, such as "I cannot work miracles cap'n", "I'm giving her all she's got!", "A 'cling-on' (Klingon) cap'n," and "the engines can't take it!"

• After the plane has been assembled, the order is given: "Chocks Away!!". This refers to the triangular wedges used to hold an aeroplane back once its engines are running, which are then removed. In Chicken Run these are represented by bars of the triangular chocolate Toblerone, hence "Chocs Away".

• The coop that Ginger lives in is numbered 17, apparently an homage to Stalag 17.

• Fetcher's line "It's raining hen" during the scene where Rocky is teaching the chickens how to fly is a reference to the song "It's Raining Men"

The Brussels sprout (Brassica oleracea Gemmifera Group) is a cultivar group of Wild Cabbage cultivated for its small (typically 2. ... The Great Escape, written by James Clavell, W.R. Burnett, and Walter Newman (uncredited), and directed by John Sturges is a popular 1963 World War II film, based on a true story about Allied prisoners of war with a record for escaping from German prisoner-of-war camps. ... For other persons named William Wallace, see William Wallace (disambiguation). ... For the moshing term Braveheart, see Wall of death (moshing). ... Edwina Currie Jones née Cohen, (born 13 October 1946) is a former British Member of Parliament. ... The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is, in practice, the political leader of the United Kingdom. ... Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, LG, OM, PC, FRS (née Roberts; born 13 October 1925) served as British Prime Minister from 1979 to 1990 and leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 until 1990, being the first and only woman to hold either post. ... Species S. enterica This article is about the bacteria. ... Dr. Henry Walden Jones, Jr. ... Mission: Impossible II, or M:I-2 as it is also known, is the 2000 John Woo-directed sequel to Brian De Palmas 1996 Mission: Impossible motion picture, based on the TV series of the same name. ... This movie poster for Star Wars depicts many of the films important elements, such as Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Han Solo, X-Wing and Y-Wing fighters Star Wars, retitled Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope in 1981 (see note at Title,) is the original (and in chronological... Wedge Antilles, played by Denis Lawson, is a fictional character in the original Star Wars trilogy and in the Star Wars Expanded Universe. ... For other uses, see Death Star (disambiguation). ... Montgomery Scott, usually known as Scotty, is a character in Star Trek: The Original Series, played by James Doohan. ... The starship Enterprise as it appeared on Star Trek Star Trek is a culturally significant science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry in the 1960s. ... This article is about the fictional race. ... An opened Toblerone Toblerone (IPA pronunciation: ) is a chocolate bar made by Kraft Foods Switzerland. ... Stalag 17 is a 1953 war film which tells the story of a group of American G.I.s held in a German World War II prisoner of war camp who come to believe one of their number is a traitor. ... Its Raining Men is a song written by Paul Jabara and Paul Shaffer in 1979, and originally recorded by The Weather Girls in 1982. ...

Historical references

• Fowler repeatedly refers to his years as a member of the No. 644 Squadron RAF. This was a real squadron; it was formed on February 23, 1944, several months before D-Day. 644 squadron was based at RAF Tarrant Rushton airfield in Dorset,^[1] and exclusively flew Handley Page Halifax heavy bombers. The 644's primary missions were "special operations" over occupied Europe, such as making supply drops to various resistance movements, and towing troop transport gliders.^[2]
• The propeller of the escape plane is made of road signs sharing names with famous RAF bombers of World War II - Stirling Lane, Lancaster Avenue and Blenheim Place. Further, the model aeroplane is of a moderately successful RAF bomber of the early war period, the Whitley.
• There are several references to the Holocaust, including characters, places and technologies.
• The entire plot is very similar to the Colditz Glider attempt

is the 54th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Land on Normandy In military parlance, D-Day is a term often used to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. ... Dorset (pronounced DOR-sit or [dɔ.sət], and sometimes in the past called Dorsetshire) is a county in the south-west of England, on the English Channel coast. ... The Handley Page Halifax was one of the British front-line, four-engine heavy bombers of the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. ... Gliders are un-powered heavier-than-air aircraft. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... The Stirling was a World War II heavy bomber design built by Short Brothers. ... The Avro Lancaster was a British four-engine Second World War bomber aircraft made initially by Avro for the British Royal Air Force (RAF). ... The Bristol Blenheim is also the name of the main model produced by Bristol Cars since 1994. ... The Armstrong Whitworth A.W.38 Whitley was one of three twin-engine, front-line medium bombers in service with the Royal Air Force at the outbreak of World War II. // Developed from the A.W.23 bomber-transport to meet Air Ministry Specification B.3/34 and manufactured by... For other uses, see Holocaust (disambiguation) and Shoah (disambiguation). ... Prisoners made numerous attempts to escape Oflag IV-C, one of the most famous German Army prisoner-of-war camps for officers in World War II. The camp was located in Colditz Castle, situated on a cliff overlooking the town of Colditz in Saxony. ...

See also

• Nick Park
• Aardman Animations
• Wallace and Gromit
• List of animated feature-length films
• List of stop-motion films

Nicholas Wulstan Park, CBE (b. ... Aardman Animations, Ltd. ... Gromit redirects here. ... This is a list of animated feature-length films from around the world organised alphabetically under the year of release (the year during which the completed film was first released to the public). ... This is a list of stop-motion films from around the world organised in order of release date; theatrical releases as well as made-for-TV and direct-to-video movies. ...

References

External links

• Official UK web site
• Chicken Run at the Internet Movie Database