Chicken Run: A Claymation Escape
Two-time Oscar nominees Lord (“Wat’s Pig,” “Adam”) and three-time winner Park (“Creature Comforts,” “The Wrong Trousers,” “A Close Shave”) have joined forces to create their first full-length stop-motion film. Over 400 models were crafted from a special “Aardman mix” plasticine. The plot is reminiscent of a blend of “The Gulag Archipelago,” “Animal Farm,” the Pentateuch, Pelevin’s short story “The Hermit and Six-Fingered,” “Rambo: First Blood Part II,” “Promised Heavens,” and classic Soviet jokes.
Ginger, a spirited hen, is plotting a collective exodus, or rather, a flight from this Egyptian captivity (a fusion of Moses and Pelevin). A rooster named Rocky, voiced by Mel Gibson (“Rambo: First Blood Part II”), agrees to teach them how to fly. However, Ginger soon discovers that the American hero can only fly with the aid of a circus catapult, leading him to vanish in shame. The chicken community’s hopes are dashed. The situation turns dire when the owners acquire a terrifying machine that turns live chickens into chicken pies.
During a test run of the machine, Mr. Tweedy grabs the troublemaker, Ginger. A classic Chaplin-esque gag ensues, where the hero(ine) is fed through the machine. She would have ended up as pie filling if not for Rocky’s return. He tosses her a wrench, much like the anecdote about Siberian men who shoved a crowbar into a Finnish sawmill.
An Aeroplane to Freedom
The story’s ending draws from a joke about a collective farm meeting where they debate whether to build a club or a cowshed from the delivered plywood. An old man suggests, “Let’s build an aeroplane and fly away to hell!”: The chickens construct a wooden plane and soar into the sky (a nod to Ryazanov), aiming to land in earthly paradise and praise the Lord.
Lord and Park wisely remain silent about the fate of the domestic fowl in the wild, refraining from proclaiming that freedom is more precious than life and that it’s better to die free than live in captivity.
Final Thoughts
However, all of this is just metaphysics. The film is excellently made and a joy to watch. If you take your children, you won’t regret it yourself. Just don’t think about ordering them a “McChicken” afterward. It’s said that after the film’s opening weekend, chicken consumption in the United States dropped significantly, and broiler producers considered suing its creators.