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Chicken Run Details

2000 Certificate U
  • Rated:
  • 70
  • from 10,375 members

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 .. Read more

Starring Mel Gibson, Miranda Richardson, Julia Sawalha, Phil Daniels
Director Peter Lord, Nick Park
Genres Animated, Audio Descriptive, Children, Comedy

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Chicken Run

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.

Starring Mel Gibson, Miranda Richardson, Julia Sawalha, Phil Daniels, Jane Horrocks, Timothy Spall, Imelda Staunton, John Sharian, Lisa Kay, Laura Strachan
Director Peter Lord, Nick Park
Studio PATHE DISTRIBUTION
Run time DVD: 1 hr 21 mins
Certificate Certificate U
Genres Animated, Audio Descriptive, Children, Comedy
Language DVD: English, English Audio Description
Hearing-impaired English
Subtitles DVD: None
Released DVD: 04 Dec 2000
Production year: 2000
Format DVD
  • Critics' reviews (6) of Chicken Run

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  • 4 stars out of 5

    Four years in the making and easily the most ambitious project yet undertaken by the award-laden Aardman Animation unit, this feathered pastiche of PoW classics such as The Great Escape and Stalag 17 is an awesome achievement by consummate film-makers. Rocky, a “lone free-ranger” rooster, promises to help the hens in Mr and Mrs Tweedy's high-security egg farm find a way to freedom. The nods to classic film moments are funny and plentiful, the largely British voice cast (Julia Sawalha, Jane Horrocks, Miranda Richardson, Timothy Spall) lends moments of humour and pathos, and the set pieces are exhilarating in their ingenuity and comic élan. The need to justify Mel Gibson's vocal presence as Rocky slows the pace occasionally, but this is still a soaring flight of fancy.

    • Radio Times
  • 3 stars out of 4

    In part a parody of prisoner-of-war films such as The Great Escape, which will mean little to its intended audience, this gradually develops a comic momentum and absurdity all of its own, with a quaint handmade charm that proves irrestible.

    • Halliwell's Film Guide
  • Most helpful member's review of Chicken Run

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  • 3 out of 4 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 5 stars

    Second time of seeing this film and it's just as good as i remembered, hired it for my boyfriend to see and he loved it to.Great entertainment for all the family. I think the people who have written bad reviews of this animation/film musn't have a sense of humour as it is very witty, give it a go im sure you won't be dissapointed.

      • Am from Liverpool, England
  • Most recent members' review of Chicken Run

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  • 2 out of 2 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 5 stars

    Eggscellent!

    When you consider most animated films these days are digital, this one shows the skill and expertise of plastic animation can be just as good and sometimes better when the characters and story are as compelling as 'chicken run'.

    Admittedly it did take them around five years to complete but is one of the great animated films of our time!

    The plot is set in a chicken farm in Yorkshire where the chickens are styled as if in a POW camp and are trying to escape the evil couple that own the farm, lead by the only male chicken who is well past his sell by date. One day after many failed attempts at escape, a new male chicken arrives who is young and dashing and is given the role of heading the escape to freedom.

    This film will have you smiling and laughing out loud the whole way through, its fantastic!!

      • A customer from Jersey
  • News and features

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    International Cricket Captain 2007

    Gibson returns for Edge

    • 29 Apr 2008

    Mel Gibson is to return to acting by taking his first leading role in six years, it has been reported. The Guardian says the actor and director, whose credits include the Lethal Weapon series, Braveheart and Chicken Run, has signed up to play a detective in the big-screen adaptation of Edge Of Darkness. It will be his first starring role since he appeared in M Night Shyamalan's Signs and, perhaps more importantly, his 2006 arrest for drink-driving in California when he reportedly shouted a " Read more

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Rating breakdown

10,375 Member ratings
  • 100
965
  • 90
835
  • 80
1,908
  • 70
1,817
  • 60
2,234
  • 50
1,180
  • 40
705
  • 30
399
  • 20
240
  • 10
92

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    • 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. ...