P.S. Don’t come in late–there’s quite a bit of background storytelling that goes on during the opening credits. And make sure you stay for the closing credits–no blooper reel, but a few closing remarks from the rats.
Somebody said, “It’s funnier if you’re familiar with ‘The Great Escape’.” Yes, but it’s not a prerequisite. If you’ve seen any of the WWII POW movies (even the dumb ones), you’ll get it.
Nice to see that Dreamworks has Nick Parks under a protecting wing, so to speak. Nothing’s worse than seeing true talent ignored by Hollywood. Maybe with Dreamworks’ promotional machine behind this, it won’t disappear quite so fast.
A surprisingly short credits list of people who worked on this, not like Disney’s thousands and thousands of animators.
Best line in the movie: “It’s a Klingon!” (but pay attention, it goes past really fast, I almost missed it but the person next to me nearly fell out of his seat laughing and repeated it, so I realized what it was.)
Do not plan on leaving your seat at any point for popcorn. Go potty before you sit down–ditto for small children.
I expect this thing to have great “legs”, like “Bug’s Life”. Don’t be misled by sluggish opening weekend box office–it’s going to have great word of mouth.
Totally agreed. Chicken Run is pure magic. If you skip this, you’re missing out.
I’ll have the full-length review posted on my site this weekend, but here’s a quick nutshell: Part of the film’s magic is that each joke works on multiple levels. If you’re 5, you laugh for one reason; if you’re 85, you laugh at something different. Or, maybe, you laugh at both interpretations simultaneously.
And it’s not just funny; the story is smart, well-constructed, extremely fast-paced, and very warm. The requisite happy ending isn’t just obligatory; it really is earned. If you don’t get even just a little bit choked up, you may want to have your heart checked.
I have some fears about the film’s box-office potential in the US, because American audiences are fairly limited in their understanding of animation. Chicken Run isn’t a kids’ movie, like the wretched Robin Williams “Flubber” movie. It truly is a family film, in the best sense of the word. Unfortunately, based on the cold death of the equally rewarding but somewhat different Iron Giant last year, I worry that Chicken Run will be similarly overlooked.
Don’t let that happen to you. Chicken Run is, flat-out, a must-see. Go, go, go…!
This is my friend, Jessica. We are going to see chicken run tomorrow. I hope she behaves herself this time. I don’t want to be embarassed by her hopping down the stairs of the stadium seating movie theater again. I am so psyched to see this movie. Wallace and Gromit kick ass, and I always liked nick parke’s other shorts. I will give a review when i return tomorrow.
P.S. Welcome back, Kelli–glad to see you went with your REAL name. Too much confusion on the boards these days as it is. [insert trench coat Spy vs. Spy smilie here]
Happy to be of service! I’ve got a 10-year-old who, when it became obvious during the movie that sooner or later Ginger and Rocky were going to have to kiss, was on tenterhooks to find out, “How do chickens kiss?” I thought the moviemakers’ solution was quite ingenious, but La Principessa was rather disappointed; she thought it was a cop-out.
oh hush up tasha. your a nut too. and i didnt hop down the stairs, i tripped up the stairs. see im talented. but the movie was really good. and i was the exact same way 'how do chickens kiss?" great now i feel like a 10 year old. but oh well. they didnt help me figure it out. oh yeah, chickens dont kiss. yeah, your right, i am a nut. im a little coconut…ok, stop before i go too crazy.
Well, I’ll add my voice to the chorus of approval. A very funny movie, and the main (and most determined and courageous) character of the movie is a female! That’s still rare enough to be worth commenting on.
I love Wallace and Grommitt, but I will say that the previews of “Chicken Run” did not fill me with enthusiasm. After seeing the movie, however, I can say that it won me over, and Nick Parks et al. have another success on their hands. In a Los Angeles Times article the author said “the thick english accents may be too hard to understand for american audiences”, but I found that statement to be completely unfounded. The “language barrier” was not there at all as far as I can tell, and I’m glad that our friends at Aardman decided to stick with english characters instead of transporting the story to America (excluding of course the american rooster.)
When you stop to think that each scene is made by moving clay figures a millimetre at a time, you cannot help but be astounded (though some non-clay animation, I believe computer animation, is used as well, for backgrounds.) In the rain scene, were the raindrops clay or computer animation? I thought they were drawings.
Now I am going to rent the Great Escape to see which references I missed. (Ginger bouncing the ball against the wall when in solitary confinement was, of course, a sly nod to Steve McQueen’s character in the Great Escape.)
Yeah, I know. At least you didn’t behave like Dj did yestrday. And at least you’re not singing “joseph” songs.I am disappointed that they didn’t show how chickens kiss also.
I really liked the animation. It was fluid and natural, and the facial expresssions were very true and not obvious like they are in other animated films. The only thing that got me a bit weirded out was the thing that hangs under the old rooster’s [fowler] beak. I see it, and the first thing that comes to mind is “OMG! It’s a neck scrotum.” And, of course, being surrounded by small children and my corrupted but still impressionable friends, i couldn’t point this out immediately. I like the fact that they made a lot of puns pointing towards movies besides the great escape. The village idiot chicken was hillarious, and reminded me of a few people IRL. Well, i am waiting until when i can purchase this movie on video.
how did DJ behave? you mean the sparring in public? and there is nothing wrong with joseph! but who did the village idiot chicken remind you of? hopefully not me. she needed to wait for a bus all the time. i only need to wait for a bus sometimes.
IMO the movie would not have worked with American characters. I wouldn’t have bought it for a minute, that a POW camp full of American chickens wouldn’t have tunneled their way out with the spoon in a New York minute. And what about the thing with the coat hanger and the wire? They could have left at any time.
But with a group of repressed, terribly terribly civilized Brits as characters (does this say something to you about the stereotype of the unimaginative and dull Brit?), it worked.
You were sitting on the other side of Dj. He was really loud the whole time and we got told to tell him to shut up by small children. Other than that, Dj behaved himself. I know demote you from being my loudest friend. That title now belongs to Dj. I never said there was anything wrong with Joseph when it’s sung in key. And yes, the village idiot chicken should have her own personal bench to wait for a bus. And no boxes fo chocolate for her! she’s too dumb for that. But it was extremely funny, and almost essential to the plot to have her there.
My husband and I just spent the day seeing “Chicken Run” and “Titan AE.” We loved them both!
There was a guy sitting behind us that was laughing so loud during Chicken Run. It was hilarious. We would start laughing because of the movie, then we’d be laughing because this guy was laughing so hard. It was really awesome!
And no, we have no kids, but we love the animated stuff.
