The first feature film produced by Aardman Animations, creators of the beloved series of Wallace and Gromit shorts, Chicken Run was a fairly significant box office hit in 2000 and, remarkably, still holds the record as the highest-grossing stop-motion animated film of all time. Even that being the case, I feel that the movie didn’t make much cultural impact at the time and, if not for the belated sequel arriving on Netflix, seems to have been largely forgotten over the ensuing years.
Revisiting it today in anticipation of that sequel, Chicken Run carries some additional baggage from the casting of lead voice actor Mel Gibson, who was of course a major movie star at the time but went seriously toxic a few years later and has still not completely rehabilitated his career. That issue (if you consider it as such) is not too difficult to set aside given that you never have to look at Gibson’s face on screen in the movie, and it should go completely over the heads of most kids watching. However, it may prove an unwanted distraction for some viewers regardless.
| Title: | Chicken Run |
| Year of Release: | 2000 |
| Directors: | Peter Lord Nick Park |
| Watched On: | Netflix |
| Also Available On: | Blu-ray Peacock Various VOD rental and purchase platforms |
In retrospect, the extent of Chicken Run‘s success (a $227 million worldwide gross, more than quadruple what The Nightmare Before Christmas earned in 1993) seems rather unlikely. While Aardman built a strong following by playing its short films in animation festivals and on television throughout the 1990s, the studio decided not to showcase its signature Wallace and Gromit characters in its first feature. Moreover, the new, original story chosen to use instead was an homage to World War II prison camp movies such as The Great Escape and Stalag 17 – a genre that very few children in the presumed target audience would have any familiarity with or nostalgia for. What was it about this particular project that resonated with audiences so well at that particular moment? I honestly have no idea.
The narrative is set entirely on a poultry farm in the English countryside ruled with iron-fisted derangement by the sadistic owner Mrs. Tweedy (voiced by Miranda Richardson) and her doltish husband (Tony Hargarth). Conditions there are so bleak that the the egg-laying hens, organized under the leadership of rebellious Ginger (Julia Sawalha from Absolutely Fabulous), have made numerous unsuccessful attempts to escape. They’ve tried climbing over the fence, tunneling under it, knocking it down, and more, but so far nothing has worked. Although the evil guard dogs keep chasing them right back to their hen houses every time, Ginger remains defiant. She knows that salvation will come eventually, somehow.
Just as their situation looks perhaps its bleakest, new hope arrives in the form of a flying – yes, flying! – rooster named Rocky (Gibson), who comes sailing right over their fence and crashes into the yard. Ginger is amazed. She didn’t even know chickens could fly, but there she saw it with her own eyes. Surely, Rocky is exactly the savior they need. All he needs to do is teach them to fly and all the hens can finally escape to freedom! A clever chicken she may be in most respects, Ginger is just a little too naïve in others, and allows the charming American cock (I’m allowed to say that in this context, right?) to bluff her into believing a story she really ought to question more thoroughly. Meanwhile, the vile Mrs. Tweedy schemes to convert her farm from an egg-selling business to a more profitable chicken pie-selling revenue stream, and that means bad news for the main ingredients.
At a brisk 84 minutes (including credits), Chicken Run is a breezy and fleet-footed comedy unmistakably in the Aardman house style. It has endearing characters, clever humor, and adorably hand-crafted stop-motion animation packed with tons of fun details in the production design. In short, it’s loaded with charm, start to finish. Nevertheless, somehow, it also feels like a disposable one-off effort for the studio. (Yes, I say this acknowledging that a sequel has actually now been made, albeit decades later.) Ginger and Rocky simply aren’t as iconic as Wallace and Gromit.
I enjoyed watching the movie in the theater back in 2000, but mostly forgot about it in the meantime. I enjoyed it again rewatching it now. Something tells me I’ll probably forget about it again after a while, though. That’s not a condemnation. Some films just have more staying power than others.
Video Streaming
Universal Pictures (distributing for DreamWorks) released Chicken Run on Blu-ray in early 2019. I thought I had purchased the disc at that time, but apparently not, as it’s not in my collection. While cheap enough to acquire today, the movie’s also currently streaming on Netflix to coincide with the new direct-to-streaming sequel, and that seemed like the path of least resistance. Assuming that Netflix is using the same high-def master that the Blu-ray came from, it’s probably for the best I didn’t spend any money on it (beyond my existing Netflix subscription).
The movie is presented in a full-screen 16:9 aspect ratio, marginally opened up from the original 1.85:1. From the looks of it, the master is quite a bit older than 2019. The 1080p HD picture is generally soft, and motion sometimes smears as though the animation frames are blended incorrectly. Film grain varies from extremely noisy and distracting to not visible at all, with little in between. Colors and contrast are mostly decent, but look strangely blown-out in a few scenes for some reason.
The Dolby 5.1 soundtrack is very dull-sounding and set for a low volume. Even with amplification, I couldn’t get much life out of it. The mix has limited noticeable surround usage, aside from the climactic pie-making machine sequence.
Again, I haven’t seen the Blu-ray. Perhaps Netflix is using an older broadcast syndication master and the disc comes from a different source? I can’t speak to that. Whatever the case, the version available on Netflix may not be unwatchable, but it’s pretty underwhelming. I’m certain the movie has the potential to look and sound a lot better with some remastering.
The Video File Blog 