Chicken Run (2000)

Chicken Run is a 2000 British stop-motion animation film made by the Aardman Animations studios, the production studio of the Oscar-winning Who Framed Roger Rabbit film. Set in Yorkshire, England in 1959, the film centers around a smooth-talking Rhode Island Red named Rocky forced to save a clever hen named Ginger and her British hen friends from certain death to becoming chicken pies.

Plot
The Tweedys run a chicken farm in Yorkshire, England, in the manner of a World War II POW camp. One chicken, Ginger, continually tries to get the chickens to escape from the coop using various plans and contraband obtained through two rats, Nick and Fetcher. However, Ginger is always caught by Mr. Tweedy and his dogs, and while she is kept in solitary confinement, she comes to realize their only hope of escape is to fly over the coop's fence.

Mrs. Tweedy, struggling to keep the farm financially viable on dwindling egg production, decides to convert the farm from egg production to chicken pies, and orders a giant pie-making machine. Mr. Tweedy believes the chickens are plotting a big escape, but Mrs. Tweedy dismisses the idea as paranoia and does so in a rude domineering manner. While the Tweedys await delivery, a Rhode Island Red rooster named Rocky Rhodes appears to "fly" into the coop, though harming his wing on landing. While the other chickens fawn over him, Ginger convinces Rocky to help teach them how to fly. Unable to admit that he cannot actually fly, Rocky plays for time by putting the chickens through seemingly-futile training exercises while he tends to his injured wing. At the same time, the Tweedys provide the chickens with more food in order to make them plumper for their pies. The pie-making machine soon arrives, and as Mr. Tweedy begins construction, Ginger realizes what Mrs. Tweedy's plan is, and that they have very limited time to escape. With the machine completed, Mr. Tweedy attempts to put Ginger through the machine, but she is saved by Rocky, and they are able to disable the machine, giving themselves some more time while Mr. Tweedy tends to its repair.

The next day, Ginger finds Rocky has fled, leaving behind part of a poster that explains that he was a circus act, only "flying" after being launched out of a cannon. Ginger and the other chickens lose hope of escape until Ginger recalls that Fowler, the farm's rooster, was once an honorary member of the Royal Air Force. With Fowler's knowledge, they begin working hastily to create an airplane, pedal-powered by the chickens themselves, in secret from Mr. Tweedy, who has become suspect of the chickens' ingenuity. The craft is soon finished at the same time that the repairs on the pie-making machine are completed. As Mr. Tweedy attempts to grab the chickens, he is restrained by the attacking chickens and 'hidden' under one of the coops.

The chickens quickly assemble their plane and attempt to take off, despite Mr. Tweedy's attempt to stop them. Mrs. Tweedy hears the commotion outside, and, armed with a cleaver, is able to grab onto a string of lights from the plane before it takes off. Rocky and Ginger attempt to knock Mrs. Tweedy off, as her weight is too much for the chickens to keep the plane airborne. Ginger eventually tricks Mrs. Tweedy into cutting the light string with her cleaver, causing her to fall right into a vent on the pie-making machine, eventually causing the machine to burst and destroying their barn. Rocky, Ginger, and the other chickens celebrate as they fly off. At the end of the film, the chickens have found themselves a wide open pasture to live in and raise their chicks, with Rocky and Ginger becoming a couple.

Cast

 * Mel Gibson as Rocky
 * Benjamin Whitrow as Fowler
 * Miranda Richardson as Mrs. Tweedy
 * Julia Sawalha as Ginger
 * Timothy Spall as Nick
 * Phil Daniels as Fetcher
 * Jane Horrocks as Babs
 * Imelda Staunton as Bunty
 * Lynn Ferguson as Mac
 * Tony Haygarth as Mr. Tweedy

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.
 * An early storyboard idea was that the plane would breakup in the middle of its flight and that the chickens would suddenly find the ability to fly; the idea being to show that you can do things if you "believe in yourself". This was dropped because the directors thought it was a little far-fetched.
 * Besides the English characters, there are some other characters that live in different countries like Mac the Scottish hen and Rocky the American Rooster. Ginger is described as responsible while Babs is considered to love knitting as her favorite hobby.
 * It was also suggested that Fowler would be a drunk who felt useless and neglected until Ginger convinced him that he was needed. In the final film it is a sober Fowler who is made to believe in himself and fly the plane.
 * During the early stages of production, the film had the working title "A Few Good Hen", a reference to the 1996 film Space Jam.
 * The reason all the chickens wear 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 (this is similar to the reason why Toons in Who Framed Roger Rabbit wore hoods: to hide the seam between the head and the body parts of the suit).

Awards and nominations

 * Emmy Awards:
 * Best Animated Feature
 * Best Individual Achievement in Directing (Nick Park and Peter Lord)
 * Best Individual Achievement in Writing (Steven Spielberg)
 * BAFTA Awards:
 * Best English Film
 * Best Visual Effects
 * Broadcast Film Critics:
 * Best Animated Feature
 * Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics:
 * Best Animated Feature
 * Empire Awards:
 * Best British Director (Nick Park and Peter Lord)
 * Best British Film
 * Best Debut (Nick Park and Peter Lord)
 * America Film Awards:
 * Best Film
 * Florida Film Critics:
 * Best Animated Feature
 * Golden Globe Awards:
 * Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy
 * New York City Film Critics:
 * Best Animated Feature
 * Las Vegas Film Critics:
 * Best Family Film
 * Los Angeles Film Critics:
 * Best Animated Feature
 * National Board of Review:
 * Best Animated Feature
 * New York Film Critics:
 * Best Animated Feature
 * Phoenix Film Critics:
 * Best Animated Feature
 * Best Family Film
 * Best Original Score (Harry Gregson-Williams and Alan Silvestri)
 * Satellite Awards:
 * Best Motion Picture - Animated or Mixed Media
 * Best Sound
 * Southeastern Film Critics:
 * Best Film (3rd place)