Stars: Mel Gibson, Miranda Richardson, Julia Sawalha, Phil Daniels, Jane Horrocks, Timothy Spall, Imelda Staunton, John Sharian, Lisa Kay, Laura Strachan

Director: Nick Park

Summary: Set on a Yorkshire farm in the 1950's, this is the story of a group of repressed chickens who are owned by the evil Mr and Mrs Tweedy. Things start to happen when an American chicken, Rocky, arrives on the farm, he finds romance with a hen called Ginger and together they hatch a plan to escape to freedom...

Facing imminent death while laying eggs at Tweedy's English farm, a group of chickens led by the determined Ginger (Julia Sawahla, BBC-TV's ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS) plan to escape their prisonlike coop. The situation goes from bad to worse when the sinister Mrs. Tweedy (Miranda Richardson) decides to stop selling eggs and use the hens as the main ingredient in chicken pot pies. However, some hope literally falls from the sky in the form of Rocky (Mel Gibson), an American rooster who promises to teach the chickens how to fly. As the hens begin their struggle to get airborne, the monstrous pie-making machine arrives, giving the chickens precious little time to make their great escape.
Aardman Studios' first full-length feature film is a stunning showcase of stop-motion animation. Utilizing the unique Plasticine designs of the acclaimed WALLACE & GROMIT and CREATURE COMFORT shorts, CHICKEN RUN features vibrant visuals and colorful characters that are immediately endearing. (The naive and constantly knitting Babs, voiced by Jane Horrocks, is particularly hilarious.) With its clever writing, witty film references, and pitch-perfect combination of comedy, drama, and romance, CHICKEN RUN is one of those rare movies that genuinely appeals to viewers of every age.

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Reviewed by: mcdermot7@aol.com
Posted on May 21, 2006 11:33 PM

Mel Gibson provides the voice of Hero Rocky the Rooster. Julia Sawahla voices Ginger the chicken. This is a wisecracking animated send-up of the Great Escape. Mr. and Mrs. Tweedy, the chicken farm's owners are both evil & comedic. Chicken nuggets are of the menu, but this film is just full of wise-cracking nuggets with eggstra appeal.

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As warming as a nice cup of tea on a cloudy day, Chicken Runis that charming singularity, a commercially successful British family movie that has near-universal appeal without compromising its inherent British pluckiness (that will be the first and last poultry-pun in this review). It invites us into the Plasticine-world of Tweedy's farm, a far-from-free-range egg factory ruled with an axe of iron by greedy Mrs.Tweedy. One intrepid chicken, Ginger (voiced by Julia Sawalha) sets her sights on breaking out the whole flock, a cast of beautifully individuated chicken characters including ditsy Babs (voiced by Jane Horrocks), matronly Bunty (Imelda Staunton) and practical-minded Mac (Lynn Ferguson). Each effort is thwarted, and Ginger repeatedly reaps a spell in the coal bunker for her troubles, prompting the first of many allusions to The Great Escape, one of several World War II films name-checked throughout. (Grown-ups will have a ball playing Spot-the-Allusion Game here.) When an American rooster named Rocky (Mel Gibson) literally drops in from the air, the hens are set all a-flutter with excitement thinking he'll help teach them to fly away at last. But Rocky is not all he seems.

Although the action sags just a fraction around the 40-minute mark, it's the set pieces that really lift this into the realm of cartoon genius: the montage of inept flying attempts, Rocky and Ginger's narrow escape from Mrs Tweedy's new pie machine (an horrific contraption of chomping steel and industrial menace) and the magnificent, soaring climax. Despite the fact British animators (such as the directors, Nick Park and Peter Lord, themselves) regularly scoop Oscars for their short films, our record in full-feature length cartoons has been scrappy at best. There have been a few highlights--Animal Farm(1955), The Yellow Submarine(1968), Watership Down(1978)--and, er, that's about it really, unless you count The Magic Roundabout: Dougal and the Blue Cat. ChickenRun, made by the Aardman production house who produced the delightful Wallace and Gromit shorts among many other treats, has proved that Britain can compete with the most calculated, merchandised and screen-tested Disney production and win. --Leslie Felperin

Aspect Ratio:	1.85 Wide Screen, 16:9 Anamorphic Wide Screen
Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Special Features:	Teaser Trailer, Regular Trailer, Chicken Impossible Trailer, Chicken Run Game Trailer, Fowl Play The Making Of Chicken Run, Chickens Go In Pies Come Out, Aardman Archive Clips, Directors Commentary, Audio Described, DVD ROM Material, Interactive Moving Menus
Subtitles:	None
Year:	2000
Release Date:	December 4, 2000
Runtime:	81 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	P 8990 D V D
Keywords:	Animated, Family, Run, Comedy, General, Wide, Screen, Chicken, Animation
Genre:	Comedy