My Thoughts on the Film, Chicken Run (2000), 2/28/2026….

It’s not often that an animated film comes along that celebrates several films before it while entertaining the audience to the highest degree. Chicken Run (2000) is that very film.

Peter Lord and Nick Park, animators and founders of Aardman Animation (Wallace & Gromit), provide the story and direct this romp. Their tactile, handcrafted stop-motion "claymation" animation highlights Plasticine puppets that display delightfully rounded and expressive character designs. This technique was used to such great effect here.

Firstly, it serves as a playful homage to WWII prison escape films like The Great Escape (1963). Other acknowledgements are taken from other movies such as The Wooden Horse (1950), Psycho (1960), and The Wizard of Oz (1939).

Chicken Run tells the story of a band of chickens, doomed to a life of egg-laying on a chicken farm—a farm that cleverly resembles a prison camp—who scheme, plot, and risk their lives to escape their lives of captivity and bondage. When Rocky (Mel Gibson, Lethal Weapon), a smart-alec rooster, flies into the chicken farm, he inspires the hens, led by Ginger (Julie Sawalha, Pride and Prejudice), into literally taking flight. The chicken farm owners, Mrs. and Mr. Tweedy (Miranda Richardson of The Hours and Tony Haygarth of Ghostboat), after years of subsisting, finally develop a plan to make real money on their farm—by slaughtering the chickens faster.

The rest of the cast is rounded out by British character actors like Phil Daniels (House of the Dragon), Jane Horrocks (Absolutely Fabulous), Timothy Spall (Goodbye June), and Imelda Staunton (Vera Drake).

Some of the lines are quite memorable: “Overpaid, oversexed, and over here!” by Fowler (Benjamin Whitrow of Pride and Prejudice); "I don't want to be a pie. I don't like gravy," by Babs (Jane Horrocks); and "Eggs from Heaven!/No, from her bum!" by Nick (Timothy Spall), and Fetcher (Phil Daniels). Even the music in the film pays tribute to movies of old. The main theme, an anthemic, inspirational march, bears a strong resemblance to the theme from The Great Escape.

I loved this film the first time I saw it (when it was first released), I loved it this time, and I will love it when I see it again. And I will see it again. I highly recommend this movie.