Cocks away! (Chicken Run (DVD))

Member Name: Slim Lee

Product:	Chicken Run (DVD)
Date:	09/02/01 (108 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great animation and funny in places

Disadvantages: A bit short, but hey it took they so many hours to get this together to ask for more is a bit picky

The camera pans over a row of huts, enclosed by a wire mesh fence. The first impression you get of this scene is how reminiscent it is of a prisoner of war camp from a Second World War film. The camera pans upwards and out, and then you realize it is the chicken enclosure, being patrolled by the farmer and his dogs.

Set some time in 1950’s Yorkshire, Chicken Run is a tale in the vein of The Great Escape, but this time with feathers. Ginger is hatching a plan (ouch bad pun!) to get them out of the farm and into the grassy fields where they can escape the oppression of the Tweedy’s. But each time her plans are foiled, mostly due to the clumsy ineptitude of the other chickens, and it’s back to the drawing board (and a few days in “solitary” – the coal scuttle!).

Then one day, Rocky drops in (literally) and Ginger sees a new plan for them all to escape. But time is running out, Mrs Tweedy has run out of patience with their poor daily egg production and has found the perfect machine to make more profit from the chickens. A pie machine!

What follows is a race against time for the chickens, led by ginger, to escape before the machine is running. Can Rocky help them to their freedom? Or will he be left flapping …


• The Animation


Chicken Run is made in the same style as in previous works, such as the Creature Comfort adverts and the Wallace and Gromit short films. This time they have taken the format and expanded it into a full feature length film lasting 80 minutes rather than the usual 30 minute short.

It has taken them over four years to make this film due to the slow nature of the clay animation used here. The level of detail in some of the scenes is astonishing, so much is going on at the same time it is a testament to the expertise of the animators that the scenes were completed. Could be a good candidate for an Oscar.


• Characters
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Ginger – A dreamer at heart, she is constantly trying the escape the farm.
Rocky – The arrogant Yankee rooster, but will he be the saviour of the day?
Babs – Slightly dumb, and forever knitting (yes, a chicken knitting!)
Mr Tweedy – Thinks the chickens are “up to summat” and wonders about his sanity
Mrs Tweedy – Nasty piece of work. Loves money, hates chickens, despises Mr Tweedy!

Even though they are all plasticine and clay models, they manage to convey personality and emotion really well. Painstaking attention to detail to get all of the facial expressions right has really paid off, as sometimes you forget that this isn’t computer generated CGI effects and is actually clay animation.


• Voices


Rocky – Mel Gibson
Ginger – Julia Sawalha
Babs – Jane Horrocks
Mrs Tweedy – Miranda Richardson

The voiceovers run smoothly in synch with the animation. The choice of casting for the voices has also been carefully thought through. Julia Sawalha is the pick of the bunch, giving a commanding performance as the bossy Ginger. Miranda Richardson does a great job as the dominating Mrs Tweedy, a believable tyrant of a woman!


• Verdict


Chicken Run is a great family film, which you will find to be entertaining to both children and adults alike. A few of the scenes may get some of the younger children crying (for the chickens) but you don’t see anything unpalatable. It’s just the image of the chicken who couldn’t lay enough eggs bringing dragged away to be the evening meal …

There are some funny moments in the film, especially with the many botched escape attempts at the start of the film. It’s not a laugh a minute but it’s pretty good fun nonetheless. If you watch it on the DVD then don’t turn off when the credits roll, keep watching, as there is
another scene with the rats debating the age old “which came first … the chicken or the egg?” question.

The DVD is good, without being outstanding. A few reasonable features and it is worth renting out just to see how they put this film together. There is also a collection of the Creature Comfort TV adverts on it too.

One to rent out rather than buy for me. If you’ve got kids it may be worth buying, but I would recommend you rent it out first.