Chicken Run
Dreamworks (2000)
Animation, Comedy, Family
In Collection
#614
8*
Seen It:  Yes
(6/13/2011)
667068645323
IMDB   7.4
85 mins UK/English
DVD  Region 1   G
Phil Daniels Fetcher
Lynn Ferguson Mac
Mel Gibson Rocky
Tony Haygarth Mr. Tweedy
Jane Horrocks Babs
Miranda Richardson Mrs. Tweedy
Julia Sawalha Ginger
Timothy Spall Nick
Imelda Staunton Bunty
Benjamin Whitrow Fowler
John Sharian Circus Man
Director Peter Lord
Nick Park
Producer Peter Lord
Nick Park
David Sproxton
Jacky Chrisp
Jeffrey Katzenberg
Writer Peter Lord
Nick Park
Karey Kirkpatrick

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
Edition Details
Chapters 24
Release Date 11/21/2000
Packaging Keep Case
Screen Ratio 1.85:1
Subtitles English
Audio Tracks ENGLISH: Dolby Digital 5.1 [CC]
ENGLISH: Dolby Digital Surround [CC]
ENGLISH: DTS ES 5.1 [CC]
Layers Single Side, Dual Layer
No. of Disks/Tapes 1
Personal Details
Purchase Date 11/7/2004
Owner Thomas Eisenmann
Store Best Buy
Purchase Price $4.00
Condition Excellent
Reviewed Widescreen Review
Bit Rate 448 KB
Anamophic Yes
Links All Movie Guide
DVD Empire
Amazon US
IMDB

Features
Anamophic
Special features include an audio commentary with directors Peter Lord & Nick Park, two featurettes: “The Hatching Of ‘Chicken Run’” & “Poultry In Motion,” cast & crew bios, production notes, a “Chicken Run” read-along and a TV spot, two trailers & a bonus trailer for DreamWorks’ summer 2001 theatrical release “Shrek”, plus a Panic Button and DVD-ROM enhancements.

Widescreen Review
Story Synopsis:
The Academy Award®-winning creators of Wallace and Gromit, Peter Lord and Nick Park have fashioned their first feature film: Chicken Run. Using the painstaking art of claymation, the story begins at an English chicken farm run by Mrs. Tweedy (Richardson). The farm fowl understand their existence is purely for the inevitiable moment when they will end up gracing the dinner table of some hungry family. But with the arrival of Rocky (Gibson), a cocky rooster, this resignation will soon change as he motivates the flock-especially the lovely Ginger (Sawalha)-into escaping their fate. (Laurie Sevano)

DVD Picture:
The anamorphically enhanced 1.78:1 DVD is an egg-ceptional transfer that exhibits impeccable detail and clarity into backgrounds. Images are sharp with egg-cellent contrast throughout. The clay animation egg-xhibits fully saturated, vibrant colors and deep, pure blacks. I did not notice any major distractions for a picture that will surely please. (Suzanne Hodges)

Soundtrack:
Chicken Run contains two discrete mixes on this DVD, a 5.1-channel Dolby Digital Surround EX track as well a DTS-ES Discrete 6.1 track. When the soundfield is fully engaged as in chapter 15 "Chickens Go In, Pies Come Out," Chicken Run can be an exciting and involving sonic experience. The surrounds and surround back channel are used to great effect to heighten the suspense and comedy of this scene as every cog and gear in the nefarious chicken pie machine is resolved, creating a spatially dramatic surround sound experience. The LFE channel’s impact is felt during this scene as well, providing a substantial augmentation of low frequency content. But throughout much of the movie the surrounds and LFE channels are largely absent, with only occasional surround envelopment and the occasional spot effect placed in the surround back channel. I wish the filmmakers had made more of this soundtrack as exciting as chapter 15. The DTS-ES Discrete 6.1 track is noticeably more involving during the active segments of the soundtrack, with superior low level detail and greater high frequency extension, and a more robust and articulate LFE. The surround back channel is better defined and the surrounds image wider during these sequences with the DTS-ES Discrete, an observation that holds during matrixed playback as well (although not to as high a degree obviously.) The fidelity of Chicken Run’s soundtrack is bright, a condition that’s somewhat exacerbated by to the greater high frequency extension of the DTS-ES Discrete 6.1 track. The DTS-ES Discrete 6.1 track is nevertheless the preferred sonic experience providing a fuller and better defined spatial experience compared to the Dolby Digital Surround EX track. (Shane Buettner)

This Disc Contains The Following WSR-Rated Superb Qualities:
Superb Special Visual Effects Quality
Superb Color Fidelity
Collector Edition