Inventive Tale of Poultry Freedom

Rating: 8/10 (7 December 2000)

Call it Braveheart for poultry, Chicken run is a sweet, goodnatured, nicely-crafted family film about a group of chickens on a Yorkshire farm in the 1950s who dream of freedom beyond the fences. They are headed by spirited hen Ginger, who organizes and rallies her fellow fowl in various failed attempts to escape. Then one night, Rocky Rhodes, a flying rooster, ends up hiding in a chicken coop and promising to teach them how to fly out of the farm.
While the entire thing may sound like a film driven purely at kids, it's surprisingly charming and intelligent, using its English setting to its advantage, creating a group of disarmingly funny and cute, memorable characters that adults can also enjoy. The voiceovers are off-beat and often hilarious, except for Mel Gibson, whose harsh, gratingly annoying voice seems totally out-of-place as the asinine American rooster. Perhaps if a different actor would have been used, the character would see much more likeable.
The claymation in the film is flawless, and the enlarged eyes and overall pudgy look of the hens is very adorable, and a thrilling ride inspired by Indiana Jones through a chicken pot pie machine. All the characters look as if they were delicately, lovingly created and are treated as such.
A truly imaginative animation movie, Chicken Run is fun fare that both kids and families can enjoy.
8 out of 10