Chicken Run

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.

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.

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.

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!

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