Chicken Run (2000)

Chicken Run is a 2000 British stop-motion animation film made by the Aardman Animations studios and directed by Peter Lord and Nick Park and was the first feature-length film by Aardman. The film centers 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.

The film features the voices of Julia Sawalha, Mel Gibson, Timothy Spall, Phil Daniels, Tony Haygarthand Miranda Richardson. It received very positive reviews, and was a box office hit.

Parodies

 * Chicken Run/Captain Underpants
 * Chicken Run/Homeward Bound
 * Chicken Run/As Told By Ginger
 * Chicken Run/Codename: Kids Next Door
 * Chicken Run/Cyberchase
 * Chicken Run/Disney
 * Chicken Run/TUGS
 * Chicken Run/Alvin and the Chipmunks
 * Chicken Run/The Incredibles
 * Chicken Run/The Simpsons
 * Chicken Run/Thomas
 * Chicken Run/Thomas & Friends
 * Chicken Run/Toy Story
 * Chicken Run/Home (2015)
 * Chicken Run/South Park and Codename: Kids Next Door
 * Chicken Run/Saludos Amigos
 * Chicken Run/Little Bill
 * Chicken Run/Peter Pan

Plot
The Tweedys are a middle-aged couple who run their chicken farm somewhere in Yorkshire, England. Mrs. Tweedy (voiced by Miranda Richardson) serves as the genius and temper, while Mr. Tweedy (voiced by Tony Haygarth) is rather slow and timid, but handles his manual work. The coop is run in the style of a World War II POW camp, with the chickens accountable for the number of eggs they lay daily. One chicken, Ginger (voiced by Julia Sawalha), has attempted numerous plans to flee the coop, aided by contraband smuggled into the coop by two rats, Nick and Fetcher (voiced by Timothy Spall and Phil Daniels respectively). However, she is routinely captured by Mr. Tweedy and his dogs, and as a result, is thrown into a coal bin for solitary confinement numerous times.

Ginger is then released from the coal bin just in time for roll call. Mrs Tweedy finds on her clipboard, that a chicken named Edwina hadn't laid any eggs. With that, Edwina is taken to :"the chop": Mrs. Tweedy beheads her with a hatchet and cooks her for dinner. Ginger becomes increasingly desperate to find a plan of escape which will work. Ginger then tells Nick and Fetcher to get things for the catapult but they are tired of being paid with chicken feed so they want eggs instead.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Tweedy realizes that the couple's farm is failing, and reads a catalogue on an ambiguous method of increasing profits at the couple's farm. Ginger, realizing something is wrong, attempts to convince herself and the other hens to speed up their efforts to escape. However, Ginger soon comes to the conclusion that the only escape route is to go over the fence, something Ginger and the other chickens cannot do. Later that same night, as Ginger sits outside, she sees a Rhode Island Red rooster flies over the fence and accidentally crashes into the coop. Ginger and the other hens fawn over the new arrival, who introduces himself as Rocky (voiced by Mel Gibson), and keep him hidden from the Tweedys, except for Ginger, who is initially suspicious. Ginger finds the first half of a poster with a picture of Rocky on it; showing it to the other hens and explaining how Rocky came in, Ginger claims that Rocky can fly. She attempts to convince Rocky to help her and the other hens escape by teaching them how to fly. However, Rocky's wing was injured, and Rocky cannot show them immediately. Instead, Rocky puts Ginger and the other hens through a set of exercises that seem to have no purpose while assuring them that all the chickens are making progress.

Meanwhile, a large pie-making machine arrives, which Mr. Tweedy begins assembling. At the same time, Mrs. Tweedy orders food rations doubled. Ginger proclaims that her intent is to fatten them up for something, causing a panic. Once the machine is now complete, Mr. Tweedy seizes Ginger for its first test. Rocky follows Ginger into the machine and eventually rescues her, damaging the machine and giving Rocky and Ginger more time to work on their escape. Fowler (voiced by Benjamin Whitrow), an older rooster, gives Rocky his respect for rescuing Ginger and his old Royal Air Force (RAF) badge in tribute. Rocky decides to flee the farm the next day, leaving behind Fowler's medal and the second half of his poster, showing that Rocky was actually a stunt rooster, only "flying" by being shot out of a cannon. This revelation outrages the other chickens, and a fight soon breaks out as morale falls. When Fowler arrives to restore order, he begins talking of his days in the RAF, leading Ginger to realize that she and the other chickens can build a plane made from Fowler's pictures and personal recollections. Supplied by Nick and Fetcher, the chickens race against time to assemble their plane as the Tweedys works to repair the pie machine.

The chickens finally finish their plane just as Mr. Tweedy unexpectedly completes the repairs of the pie machine and enters the coop to grab all the chickens. The chickens launch an open revolt, tying up and gagging Mr. Tweedy and readying the plane. As the chickens prepare for take-off, Mr. Tweedy ends up freeing himself 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 and attacks Ginger with her earlier used hatchet. However, Rocky, having had a change of heart, jumps over the fence aboard his tricycle and hits Mrs. Tweedy in the face, briefly knocking her senseless. Rocky and Ginger grab onto the string of lights caught on the plane's landing gear as the plane takes off; unfortunately, Mrs. Tweedy awakens and also grabs hold, weighing down the plane. Ginger heads down the string to cut it, but accidentally loses her scissors. Realizing her only way to cut the lights, Ginger manages to trick Mrs. Tweedy by using the hatchet to sever the string, which causes Mrs. Tweedy to fall, crash into the pie machine, and plugging her into the safety valve. This causes the pie machine to build-up pressure and explode in a Mushroom cloud of gravy, destroying the barn and covering the entire farm with gravy leaving just the barn door standing. Mr. Tweedy then berates his wife for not listening to him about the chickens being intelligent in the first, but this only makes Mrs. Tweedy growl in fury. Having enough, Mr. Tweedy pushes the door on top of her before she can lash out on him. The film ends when the chickens find their idyllic setting in a bird sanctuary, where they can live in comfort and raise their new chicks. Rocky and Ginger, having fallen in love with each other, become a couple. Meanwhile, Nick and Fetcher discuss their plans of starting their own chicken farm, so they can have all the eggs they could eat. However, Nick and Fetcher ends up arguing with each other over whether the chicken or the egg came first. Their argument ultimately continues throughout the credits and even involves Rocky breaking it up in a post-credits scene.

Cast

 * Julia Sawalha as Ginger
 * Mel Gibson as Rocky
 * Benjamin Whitrow as Fowler
 * Jane Horrocks as Babs
 * Imelda Staunton as Bunty
 * Lynn Ferguson as Mac
 * Timothy Spall as Nick
 * Phil Daniels as Fetcher
 * Tony Haygarth as Willard Tweedy
 * John Sharian as Circus Man
 * Miranda Richardson as Melisha Tweedy

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, 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.

Music
Harry Gregson-Williams and John Powell composed the music for the film, which was released on 20 June 2000 under the RCA Victor label.

Critical response
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."

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.