Chicken Run
Short description
Chicken Run is set on a British poultry farm run by the formidable Mrs. Tweedy, where hens that stop producing eggs are destined for the dinner table. Led by the defiant Ginger, the flock has tried repeatedly to escape, only to be thwarted each time by the farm's owners and their dogs. Their fortunes shift with the arrival of Rocky, an American rooster who lands on the farm and claims he can fly. Ginger seizes on the idea that the whole flock might take to the air and leave for good, and she persuades Rocky to teach the hens what he knows. What follows is a collective effort to turn a barnyard of earthbound birds into a means of escape before Mrs. Tweedy's plans catch up with them.
The film was directed by Nick Park and Peter Lord and written by Karey Kirkpatrick and Mark Burton, with Park, Lord and David Sproxton producing. It was the first feature from Aardman, made with DreamWorks and Pathé, and it followed Park's short films about Wallace and Gromit, after A Grand Day Out, The Wrong Trousers and A Close Shave. The voice cast includes Julia Sawalha as Ginger, Mel Gibson as Rocky, Imelda Staunton, Jane Horrocks and Lynn Ferguson as hens, and Miranda Richardson as Mrs. Tweedy.
Made for about 45 million dollars, it took roughly 225 million worldwide, a strong return for a stop-motion release. On IMDb it holds 7.1/10 from around 224,000 votes; on TMDB it sits at 6.9/10 from over 5,500 votes, and a critics' rating of 8.5/10 from 172 reviews places it above both audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- Mel Gibson recorded all of his lines in the United States, while the rest of the voice actors recorded in Bristol, England.
- The chicken pie baking machine was meant to symbolize the threat posed by mechanization. 50 people worked on its design.
- This is the first feature-length film from 'Aardman Animations.' It parodies the famous film 'The Great Escape' (1963), only instead of prisoners of war, it features chickens.
- By the middle of the film's production, the animators had used one and a half tons of plasticine.
- A full-scale campaign was organized to nominate the film for an “Oscar” in the “Best Picture” category. The campaign’s failure to secure a nomination and the film’s popularity among Academy members (referring to the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences) led to its inclusion in the “Best Animated Feature” category for the following year’s awards (2002).
- Edwina is named after Edwina Curry, a member of parliament for the Conservative Party, whose political career ended in 1988 after a statement about salmonella, following which egg sales in the country fell by 60%.
- The filmmakers were very concerned about the kissing scene between Rocky and Ginger, believing that the kiss (beaks touching) would look unconvincing. This gave rise to the idea that every time they were about to kiss, something would interfere. When they finally managed to kiss, the beak-to-beak contact is not visible to the viewer.
- The courses were created in two sizes – full-size and reduced size for scenes with the Tweedy family and general shots with altered perspective.
- Creating the scene with Rocky and Ginger on the roof took 5 months.
- A full-scale campaign was organized to nominate the film for an 'Oscar' in the 'Best Picture' category. The failure of the nomination campaign and the film's popularity among Academy members (referring to the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences) led to the inclusion of a 'Best Animated Feature' category in the nominations for the following year (2002). The award was given to the animated film 'Shrek' (2001), also produced by DreamWorks Studios.
- The characters' bodies were made of silicone with a latex coating, and the heads and hands (or wings) were made of plasticine. Collars or lacy ruffled collars on the chicks conceal the boundary between the plasticine heads and wings on one side and the latex-covered bodies on the other.
- It took a week to create 3-4 chickens. Each of them contained an armature acting as a skeleton, and rods were used when any of the chickens ran or flew. After that, the puppets were manipulated and photographed at 24 frames per second of film. Several puppets were created because plasticine turned out to be not a very strong or reliable material. More reliable silicone was also used. Creating one puppet chicken involved 100 separate stages.
- A significant role in Mel Gibson voicing the main character was played by his children. They convinced him to take on the voice acting after watching the short animated films about Wallace and Gromit.
- Ginger and Rocky were named after the favorite chicks of one of the scriptwriters and director Nick Park, who had them as a child.
- Babs really does knit, but she uses toothpicks instead of knitting needles.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
