Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3530 in VHS
• Released on: 2000-12-04
• Rating: Universal, suitable for all
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Animated, Closed-captioned, Dolby, PAL, Surround Sound
• Original language: English
• Number of tapes: 1
• Running time: 81 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
As warming as a nice cup of tea on a cloudy day, Chicken Run is 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

Synopsis
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 a 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...

From the Back Cover
Trapped behind barbed wire, fearing for their very lives, Ginger, Bunty, Babs and Fowler are chickens with a mission. Ginger and her fellow flock are determined to make a break for freedom but every escape goes "fowl" when they are caught by the evil Mrs. Tweedy and her oafish husband who want to turn them into chicken pies. When an all-American rooster named Rocky lands in the farm, Ginger sees her chance - these chickens won't cross the road; they'll fly the coop. Together they prove that chickens are anything but, as they escape in a daring and spectacular escape.

Customer Reviews

Clucking Brilliant Fun !
I loved this film when I saw it on holiday in Dublin that I had to take my best friend along to my local as soon as I got back. Tweedy Farm, the setting for this comedy that is anything but plastic, is a typical 50's Yorkshire farm - from the vehicles, to the clothes and dialog. Mr + Mrs Tweedy are branching out into the chicken pie market, and that means trouble for the chickens. Following numerous attempts to escape, including frequent trips to the cooler for Ginger, the head chicken, they start to feel they will never make it out alive. Enter Rocky, a Yankee rooster who uses his charm to get among "the beautiful English chicks". Of course, he's hiding a secret which they eventually discover (not saying what it is) and the scene is set for the funniest climax ever with a few nice twists along the way. The dialogue is more likely to appeal to the adult audience while the kids just enjoy the set pieces, but it's Jane Horrocks (Absolutely Fabulous) who gets the best lines throughout the film including what will hopefully become a catchphrase once the film hits the shops just in time for Christmas;

"BUT I DON'T WANT TO BE IN A PIE. I DON'T LIKE GRAVY"

fantanstic alround entertainment
not just for the kids a good laugh for all, and you don't even have to be a farmer to understand the goings on. We all know someone like a character from this film

THE GREAT EGGSCAPE...
I originally had little interest in seeing this film, but when my daughter returned home from college, she, having already seen it, told me it was terrific and suggested that we watch it together. Since parents of teenagers know that moments of togetherness are somewhat limited by their offspring's desire to be with their friends, I grabbed at the opportunity to have a shared mother/daughter activity, however sedentary.

While I was not overly optimistic about enjoying this film, not withstanding the critical raves, as I am not a devotee of animated films, I looked forward to just hanging with my nineteen year old daughter in the comfort of our home. Yet, as soon as the film began, I became wholeheartedly engaged by it.

What an absolutely delightful film! It is funny, irreverent, and has a coherent plot which revolves around a group of English and Scottish hens trying to escape from a chicken farm owned by a Mr. and Mrs. Tweedy. Mrs. Tweedy, by the way, makes Cruella De Ville look like Mother Theresa.

Anyway, the chickens are being organized by a hen named Ginger and exhorted to make a run for it, before it is too late. You see, they all lay eggs for Tweedy's chicken farm, but the minute a hen has a dry spell, she ends up as the Tweedy's dinner. To keep from ending up as a roaster, they must escape from Tweedy's chicken farm. Time is of the essence, as the Tweedys have decided that, rather than selling eggs, they should just sell chicken pot pies.

Enter Rocky Roads, a so called flying rooster, who ends up in their chicken coop when he unceremoniously crash lands on their turf, after escaping from the circus. Rocky, a brash and cocky American, is inveigled by Ginger to teach them all to fly. He does his best, knowing, however, that it will never happen. Still, this provides for some hilarious scenes. Meanwhile, a spark seems to have been struck between Rocky and Ginger. After saving Ginger from becoming becoming part of the inaugural pot pie, Rocky flies the coop, so to speak.

What happens next is audacious and heartwarming. It is also quite funny. I would recommend this film to anyone who has a heart and a sense of humour. The magic of claymation is a wonder to behold, as it creates three dimensional animated figures that make you want to reach out and touch them. The cast for the voices of these animated creatures is terrific, as they go a long way towards endowing these animated characters with some very human qualities. Watch the film. You will find yourself totally engrossed in the great eggscape!