Chicken Run [Includes Digital Copy] [Blu-ray]

Director: Nick Park, Peter Lord Nick Park

Overview

Aardman Animations, the British clay-animation studio that created a cult sensation (and won three Academy awards) with its short subjects featuring Wallace and Gromit, presents its first feature film, a mixture of comedy and adventure. Mrs. Tweedy (voice of Miranda Richardson) operates a chicken farm, where most of the birds have resigned themselves to a short and uneventful life of producing eggs and ending up as the main course of someone's Sunday dinner. But when Rocky (voice of Mel Gibson), a rooster from America, arrives on the farm, things begin to change. Rocky soon finds romance with a hen named Ginger (voice of Julia Sawalha) who longs for a better life and has been trying to find a way out of the farm for some time; together they devise a plan to escape to freedom. However, Rocky and Ginger soon find themselves racing against the clock when Mrs. Tweedy decides it's time to turn the entire flock into chicken pies. Nick Park, director of the Wallace and Gromit shorts, co-directed Chicken Run with Peter Lord, who produced several Aardman projects and created animation for the TV series Pee-Wee's Playhouse. The voice cast also includes Jane Horrocks, Phil Daniels, and Timothy Spall.

Product Details

Release Date:	01/22/2019
UPC:	0191329085578
Original Release:	2000
Source:	Dreamworks Animated
Language:	English
Time:	1:25:00
Sales rank:	15,106

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Ben Whitrow	Fowler
Lisa Kay	Additional Chicken
John Sharian	Circus Man
Laura Strachan	Additional Chicken,Voices
Jo Allen	Additional Chicken
Peter Sallis	Wallace
Harry Gregson-Williams	Composer
John Powell	Composer

Technical Credits

Karey Kirkpatrick

Jack Rosenthal

Nick Park	Director,Producer
Peter Lord	Director,Producer
Karey Kirkpatrick	Screenwriter
David Sproxton	Producer
Lenny Young	Producer
Jacky Priddle	Producer
Jake Eberts	Executive Producer
Jeffrey Katzenberg	Executive Producer
Danny Hambrook	Sound Effects
Jack Rosenthal	Screenwriter
Aardman Animations	Producer

Editorial Reviews

A coop full of tender chickens attempt to fly for freedom in the newest claymation creation from Nick Park and Peter Lord, whose U.K.-based Aardman Animations is known for its wildly popular Wallace & Gromit series. After several unsuccessful attempts to escape the chicken farm of vicious Mrs. Tweedy (voiced by Miranda Richardson), a snappy hen named Ginger (Julia Sawalha) thinks she finds the answer to her prayers in the form of a Yankee Doodle Dandy named Rocky (Mel Gibson), who can supposedly fly. But can the charming rooster save the hens from their imminent doom -- being diced for pot pies? Intelligent execution of a witty story makes this farmhouse allegory vastly entertaining, and it's enhanced all the more by a colorful cast of characters and clever references to films like The Great Escape. Simultaneously humorous and touching, Chicken Run's visual and technical magic is wholly cinematic in scope, a perfect example of the animation niche Aardman has carved for itself. Although not always the fun-filled children's romp you would expect -- several allusions to the tragedies of World War II are made -- Chicken Run still strikes home on many levels. And after only one viewing, you may think twice before eating another chicken pot pie.