Chicken Run

Theatrical Release Date: 2000 06 21 (USA - Limited) / 2000 06 23 (USA)

UPC: 667068645323

Studio: DreamWorks

MPAA Rating: G   Contains:[Excellent For Children]

Summary: 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. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Category: Adventure

Awards: Best Picture - Musical or Comedy – null Best British Film – British Academy of Film and Television Arts Best Visual Effects – British Academy of Film and Television Arts Best Animation – Los Angeles Film Critics Association Best Animated Feature – Broadcast Film Critics Association Best Animated Feature – National Board of Review Best Animated Feature – New York Film Critics Circle Best Picture - Musical or Comedy – Hollywood Foreign Press Association

Features: Director's commentary with Peter Lord and Nick Park
DVD-ROM: two interactive games, desktop icons and pets, calculator, screensavers, and poster sets
Read along to the script
Two behind-the-scenes featurettes
Screaming chicken panic button
Trailers, bios, production notes, and other surprises

Chicken Run

Format: Digital Video Disc (DVD)

Release Date: 11/21/2000

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Theatre Wide-Screen

Audio: 5.1 Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS-ESD Digital Theater 6.1 System

Runtime: 84 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) English

Subtitles: English

Region: USA & territories, Canada

Chapters: Side #1
0. Scene Index
1. No Chicken Escapes From Tweedy's Farm [4:21]
2. Opening Titles [2:49]
3. Eggless Edwina [3:41]
4. Nick and Fetcher At Your Service [1:44]
5. They're Organized [1:48]
6. Operation Cover-Up [3:42]
7. The Lone Free Ranger [4:44]
8. Teach Us To Fly [4:15]
9. Poultry In Motion [4:13]
10. Special Delivery [3:46]
11. We Need More Thrust [4:37]
12. Roll Call [3:57]
13. Shake Those Tail Feathers [4:03]
14. It's A Pie Machine [2:02]
15. Chickens Go In, Pies Come Out [4:26]
16. I Don't Want To Be A Pie [4:00]
17. Rocky's Secret Is Revealed [4:25]
18. Building The Plane [4:15]
19. The Escape [2:37]
20. Ready For Take Off [3:36]
21. We're Flying [2:48]
22. Bombs Away [1:54]
23. Chikin Sanctuary [1:18]
24. The Chicken Or The Egg (End Credits) [5:04]

Karl Williams

This film marked the smashing feature-debut of Aardman Animations, the Oscar-winning model-animation studio from Britain that specializes in "Claymation." Co-directors Nick Park and Peter Lord have eliminated the jerky motion traditionally associated with the process through the use of high-tech models and computer-aided filming methods; the painstaking methodology results in a triumph of a family film, seamlessly blending a sly script, intelligent pacing, memorable visuals, and joyful vocal performances by stars Mel Gibson, Miranda Richardson, and Julia Sawalha. The barometer of a successful "kids picture" is whether there are enough laughs to keep adults entertained, and Chicken Run is Grade A on all counts. A box-office success, the film was also a triumph for the animation division of Dreamworks Pictures, the U.S. studio financing the project, which quickly re-upped with Aardman for another feature project. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Jake Eberts  Executive Producer 
Karey Kirkpatrick  Screenwriter 
Harry Gregson-Williams  Composer (Music Score) 
Nick Park  Director 
Nick Park  Producer 
David Sproxton  Producer 
John Powell  Composer (Music Score) 
Jeffrey Katzenberg  Executive Producer 
Peter Lord  Director 
Peter Lord  Producer 
Michael Rose  Executive Producer 
Mel Gibson  Actor 
Julia Sawalha  Actor 
Miranda Richardson  Actor 
Jane Horrocks  Actor 
Lynn Ferguson  Actor 
Imelda Staunton  Actor 
Benjamin Whitrow  Actor 
Anthony Haygarth  Actor 
Timothy Spall  Actor 
Phil Daniels  Actor 

Country: UK,USA