 |
|
|
|
Chicken Run |
 |
Fowl play threatens the plucky inhabitants of
Tweedy’s Farm as dozens of dowdy hens
must produce a sufficient out-lay or
face an untimely eggs-it. If such puns
drive you mad, Chicken Run may be
hazardous to your mental health. But for
everyone else, this delightful family film shells
out positive messages with the same wit and
stop-motion artistry Aardman popularized with
Wallace & Gromit. Chicken coops
look like the barracks of a German P.O.W.
camp. Vicious dogs patrol fences topped with
razor wire. And after multiple escape attempts
and stretches in solitary confinement, the
irrepressible Ginger still refuses to accept her
poultry fate. She dreams of something more
and urges her British birds of a feather to do
the same and not give up hope ("The fences
aren’t just around the farm; they’re up here in
your heads"). One day a cocky American
rooster named Rocky flies overhead before
crash landing in their pen. He’s on the lam
from a circus. Convinced that Rocky can teach
these chickens to fly to freedom, Ginger
agrees to let Rocky hide out with them in
exchange for his services. But time is running
out. No longer content to earn chicken feed in
the egg business, the diabolical Mrs. Tweedy
has hatched a plan to make chicken pies with
the help of an enormous gravy-spraying,
vegetable-chopping, crust-baking contraption.
Positive Elements: Ginger rallies
her comrades, refusing to give up her quest
for freedom. They work tirelessly as a team to
carry out their plan and rely on one another’s
giftedness to succeed. When Ginger is about
to become a pie, Rocky rushes to her rescue,
putting himself in harm’s way to save his new
friend. A dark secret withheld from the group
leads to pain and disappointment (allowing
parents to discuss trust and the
consequences of selfishly misleading others).
Audiences in the United States may bristle at
Rocky being portrayed as an unreliable
mercenary ("Pushy Americans, always late for
every war") who is more interested in tickling
ears with what others want to hear than in
communicating the truth. Still, there’s an
important lesson in that—including how
Yanks are perceived abroad.
Spiritual Content: Ginger utters a
sincere prayer of "Heaven help us." An
opportunistic rat says, "Ask and you shall
receive," to which his scavenging partner
notes, "That’s biblical."
Sexual Content: None, though all
the hens swoon over Rocky and are eager to
let him bunk with them (he doesn’t).
Americans are referred to as "oversexed."
Violent Content: Following Mrs.
Tweedy’s egg inventory, it is implied that an
unproductive chicken gets the axe. Some
tense moments involve the pie machine (birds
narrowly avoid sharp blades, flames, etc. and
the evil Mrs. Tweedy gets her comeuppance in
a messy—though not fatal—gravy explosion).
Otherwise, physical violence is limited to mild
altercations and slapstick humor.
Fowl Language: None
Drug and Alcohol Content:
None
Other Negative Elements: Mrs.
Tweedy is clearly the villain, but her verbal
abuse of her bumbling husband ("stupid,"
"idiot," "lummox") may still disenchant some
viewers.
Summary: The Academy
Award-winning team responsible for some of
the funniest animated shorts ever to come
across the pond scores big in their first
feature film. A smart script, including clever
nods to WWII flicks such as The Great
Escape and Stalag 17, makes this
a movie sure to entertain adults as well as
children. Chicken Run is also a visual
delight. Park’s signature foamation uses a
stop-motion technique that gives his
characters a distinctly different look from either
traditional hand-drawn or modern computer
animation. Charming. By the way, fans will be
glad to know that, as a result of the positive
response to Chicken Run, Aardman
has inked a four-picture deal with
DreamWorks that will include a full-length
adventure for that cheese-loving inventor and
his dog, Wallace & Gromit.
 eNewsletter
 Mobile
 Magazine
|
|
