Talk:Chicken Run
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(Section)
[edit]Is it just me, or is the kazoo-theme a bit based on the theme of The Great Escape? I think that it is exactly like the theme the great escape.
- I don't believe that the kazoo theme is *exactly* that in the great escape, but it is reminiscent of it (intentionally, I'm sure). --Umrguy42 07:10, 15 May 2007 (UTC)
The page says: "The plot of Chicken Run is quite similar to George Orwell's Animal Farm" but other than the fact that it's on a farm, I don't see a great deal of similarity. 144.32.128.113 14:07, 31 August 2006 (UTC)
- I have to agree. The chickens aren't trying to take over the farm and there aren't any power struggles among the animals. Elipongo 16:51, 26 September 2006 (UTC)
- Unless you include Mrs.Tweedy as an animal....... IncrediVi
Synopsis Rewrite
[edit]It's a tad confusing and seems to be missing important bits. I think it needs a re-werite, but I'm not very good at it. Could I get some help on it? --Gerkinman TNG 09:08, 20 November 2006 (UTC)
Is it mrs tweedy or miss tweedy?
[edit]Is it Mrs Tweedy or Miss Tweedy? Is this Mr Tweedys sister or husband? The article has one section refering to Miss Tweedy being the sister and another as Mrs Tweedy, being the wife. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 61.88.39.42 (talk) 06:00, 2 March 2007 (UTC).
- I'm pretty sure that it's Mrs. Tweedy, with the assumption that she's the wife of Mr. Tweedy (although that *is* an assumption that I would say is never made explicit in the film). --Umrguy42 07:10, 15 May 2007 (UTC)
- It's more than an assumption; there's a wedding photo in the house, Mr Tweedy calls her "love", which would be rather odd if she was his sister, and in any case he also calls her "Mrs Tweedy" (e.g. when he is being mobbed by the chickens near the end).Riedquat 21:28, 3 July 2007 (UTC)
- I think it's Mrs. too. Actually I know it is-I have this Chicken Run book from the good old days, and it did say Mrs. IncrediVi
- It is common for British to call someone of the opposite sex "love" casually, even strangers, so Mr. Tweedy using that term doesn't necessarily mean they're married or even related. On the other hand, Mr. Tweedy once refers to "my father" which would be an odd way to say it if they were siblings. KevinBTheobald (talk) 06:02, 29 July 2018 (UTC)
- Err... as a native English speaker she's called Mrs Tweedy in the dialogue. Plus the poster declares "Mrs Tweedy's Chicken Pies". 80.6.132.137 (talk) 23:55, 14 December 2023 (UTC)
- I think it's Mrs. too. Actually I know it is-I have this Chicken Run book from the good old days, and it did say Mrs. IncrediVi
- It's more than an assumption; there's a wedding photo in the house, Mr Tweedy calls her "love", which would be rather odd if she was his sister, and in any case he also calls her "Mrs Tweedy" (e.g. when he is being mobbed by the chickens near the end).Riedquat 21:28, 3 July 2007 (UTC)
Pop Culture References
[edit]I'm adding in the nod to "Stalag 17" made by the fact that one of the huts prominently shown in the movie is #17. --Umrguy42 07:10, 15 May 2007 (UTC)
Trivia?
[edit]The 'references to popular culture' section of this article has had a "trivia" tag added by RobJ1981. However, I do not believe this is a "trivia" section at all. Cultural references are an integral and essential part of this film and one of the sources of its humour. Identifying and explaining those references is a useful encyclopedic role. I therefore propose removing the "trivia" tag, but also restructuring this section slightly, combining it with the 'historical references' section and moving it up the document. The new section would begin with an explanation of the role cultural references play in the film, and would then have subsections:
- Film references (I think the many movie references are important enough to deal with separately)
- World War II references (including the current contents of the 'historical references' section
- Music references (identifying some of the music references that are mentioned, but not detailed, elsewhere in the article)
- Other cultural references (people, places, etc)
Comments/suggestions on this would be welcome. Mooncow 12:27, 26 September 2007 (UTC)
- Notable example: Gert and Daisy's Wartime Cookery Book on the wall. 80.6.132.137 (talk) 00:08, 15 December 2023 (UTC)
Errors in plot.
[edit]I have seen the film but parts of the plot in this article are incorrect. I tried correcting it myself but they were changed back by someone else. Is it possible to correct those errors without interruptions? (Tk420 (talk) 18:14, 27 November 2008 (UTC))
Trivia
[edit]| Historical and cultural references |
|---|
* The conditions and mood of the chicken farm is similar to that of the German camps for Allied Prisoners of war during World War II and The Extermination camps in The holocaust.
|
I have removed trivia from the article and placed it here. Please integrate them into sections if you are going to re-include them. BOVINEBOY2008 18:36, 6 June 2009 (UTC)
- And the parody of McQueen's bike jump over the wire. Smuggling dirt in trousers.
- Reverse parody... Timothy Spall plays rat, and goes on to play a character (Wormtail) who assumes the form of a rat (Scabbers) in the Harry Potter movies. 80.6.132.137 (talk) 00:05, 15 December 2023 (UTC)
How did you miss this? 180.200.149.128 (talk) 04:44, 22 September 2012 (UTC)
Parody of The Great Escape?
[edit]Wasn't this movie one giant parody of that book/movie? Cid SilverWing —Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.166.178.16 (talk) 08:01, 13 August 2009 (UTC)
- I'm pretty sure its mostly an adaptation of "Logan's Run" yuowin tawk 21:58, 23 April 2010 (UTC)
- !? Apart from one word, where is the connection?91.111.14.86 (talk) 21:58, 5 September 2010 (UTC)
- Logans run is about people who live in a society where after a certain age, they kill you, and the main characters try to escape. Chicken run is about chickens who live in a society where after a certain age, they kill you, and the main characters try to escape.
- !? Apart from one word, where is the connection?91.111.14.86 (talk) 21:58, 5 September 2010 (UTC)
- The parodies of The Great Escape are numerous: some obvious, some more subtle. Shouldn't there be a section on this in the article, not just these discussions in the Talk page?Pete unseth (talk) 20:07, 15 April 2012 (UTC)
- Ask and you shall receive. (OK, 6 years later...) In the BBC interview I found (and added to the refs), the producers said the movie started out as a spoof of The Great Escape, but they added other references too. So I added "... and other films" to the title. KevinBTheobald (talk) 05:23, 27 July 2018 (UTC)
- Yes many references. The coal bunker is the "cooler". Fowler's trousers full of nuts. The bike jump over the wire by Rocky. And many minor elements. 80.6.132.137 (talk) 23:59, 14 December 2023 (UTC)
- The film is a parody of prison camp movies in general and WW2 prison camp movies in particular. I believe the creators said as much, and the critical reception to the movie focused on this point. That the current "Reception" section make zero mention of this, while referencing dubious links to "feminism, revolution, Marxism, [and] veganism" per citation to two articles published 20 years after the movie was released suggests this article needs some work. 2601:C2:1600:5E0:8C46:FA55:5E7:C3CF (talk) 15:04, 29 July 2024 (UTC)
- Clearly The Great Escape is a major inspiration... the Rocky is clearly Steve McQueen turning up at the Stalag.. but maybe a hint of Bridge over the River Kwai... he turns out to not be quite who he says he was (like the American Character there)... Making the plane... straight from Flight of the Phoenix. 91.84.189.190 (talk) 20:14, 27 December 2024 (UTC)
Sweeney?
[edit]Could the last name of Tweedy and the fact that the chickens were being made into pies have anything to do with the musical "Sweeney Todd?" —Preceding unsigned comment added by 207.118.115.82 (talk) 19:21, 10 June 2010 (UTC)
- We don't have a source discussing the last name. Anything else we might say on it would be speculation, which is not what Wikipedia is for. - SummerPhD (talk) 20:37, 10 June 2010 (UTC)
Unnecesary Repetitions
[edit]There are some very unnecessary repetitions of various things in this article, most notably the fact that Babs like to knit, mentioned at least twice in the the plot section. Can someone fix this? I don't have time. Thank you.Hawkrawkr (talk) 23:55, 10 March 2011 (UTC)
Animation Oscar
[edit]A BBc article from 2000 claims that negotiation for that new category began 3 or 4 years before Chicken Run [1]. Rmhermen (talk) 19:11, 27 April 2012 (UTC)
- ^ audio commentary by the directors on the DVD release
- ^ Tarrant Rushton Airfield retrospective
- ^ History of 644 Squadron
QuentinUK (talk) 18:13, 21 April 2013 (UTC)
British?
[edit]if this is a british movie, what does "domestic" mean? does it mean American like most movies mean when they say that, or does it mean actually domestic, british in this case? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Bumblebritches57 (talk • contribs) 00:36, 25 October 2013 (UTC)
- The usage here meant United States and Canada even though for a British film it does not make sense to use. I have changed to make it more specific as that terminology should not be used on Wikipedia. Sudiani (talk) 23:11, 21 December 2023 (UTC)
Mac is a GIRL?
[edit]Mac is a GIRL?Trisha Gaurav (talk) 08:11, 22 December 2015 (UTC)
- Mac is voiced by a woman and is depicted as a hen, not a rooster. - SummerPhDv2.0 15:32, 5 June 2016 (UTC)
- Aren't roosters a separate species from chickens? --Trisha Gaurav (talk) 20:03, 10 September 2016 (UTC)
- Are you being serious?--3family6 (Talk to me | See what I have done) 04:06, 11 September 2016 (UTC)
- But... but... Hens are from Venus, roosters are from Mars! KevinBTheobald (talk) 05:28, 27 July 2018 (UTC)
- Are you being serious?--3family6 (Talk to me | See what I have done) 04:06, 11 September 2016 (UTC)
- Aren't roosters a separate species from chickens? --Trisha Gaurav (talk) 20:03, 10 September 2016 (UTC)
mac
[edit]Mac is Ginger's civil engineer and designer. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.162.93.130 (talk) 17:31, 23 February 2017 (UTC)
Semi-protected edit request on 25 February 2017
[edit]I want to edit Chicken Run source by changing it to Chicken Run is a 2000 British stop-motion animated film.
etc — Preceding unsigned comment added by Readerofmanga80 (talk • contribs) 19:31, 25 February 2017 (UTC)
- We've already got a source that says it's an American-British co-production. NinjaRobotPirate (talk) 19:56, 25 February 2017 (UTC)
POW camp vs concentration camp
[edit]The prose states that the chickens are caged in the style of a Nazi concentration camp, but I always believed it to be based more on a POW camp, especially as the film is essentially an analogy of The Great Escape. Thoughts? Wikibenboy94 (talk) 17:12, 16 July 2018 (UTC)
- I had the same thought, and changed it before seeing your post (GMTA). I also mentioned The Great Escape. While I wouldn't go so far as to call the cartoon "an analogy of The Great Escape," the opening scenes clearly reference the latter. (Of course, someone might quibble and say there's not much difference between a concentration camp and a POW camp...) KevinBTheobald (talk) 05:16, 26 July 2018 (UTC)
- "Not much difference": Are you serious? Or just in denial? Swanny18 (talk) 19:18, 6 September 2020 (UTC)
- See Chicken run in the German wikipedia --Stephanie Do (talk) 17:42, 5 February 2021 (UTC)
- "Not much difference": Are you serious? Or just in denial? Swanny18 (talk) 19:18, 6 September 2020 (UTC)
Genre
[edit]What genre is the film considered? I feel that it is so conflicting here.2605:6000:1526:450B:BD13:6FE7:BE7B:ACBA (talk) 23:32, 8 September 2020 (UTC)
Mel Gibson's replacement successor for Rocky's second voice actor in the Chicken Run sequel?
[edit]Ever since Mel Gibson was fired from his original voice role as Rocky in the Chicken Run sequel, who do think is available for his replacement successor for Rocky's second voice actor, Zachary Levi --Thomas Wiencek (talk) 20:02, 18 May 2021 (UTC)
Yes, there are themes of class struggle in Chicken Run
[edit]As any viewing of the movie should tell you, these themes are present. I have provided three reliable sources that directly invoke Karl Marx as well as one now-removed "non-reliable" source Zavvi (retailer)[1] which generally discusses revolution. As to why Zavvi is non reliable but something like IGN (which is chock full of affiliate links these days) is fine I suppose I'll have to learn sometime. The assertion that alleged Marxism is "extraordinary" is itself an extraordinary claim. A movie whose objective, undeniable plot involves a group of chickens trying to escape their farm to avoid being killed by their literal owners for profit may end up with some class politics. There are also some YouTube videos which argue the same - where a YouTube video with a million views, or by someone with a million subscribers, fits on the WP:RS spectrum, a few quick ctrl-Fs couldn't tell me.
- ^ "Chicken Run At 20: Ginger, Female Empowerment And Revolutionary Spirit". Zavvi. 23 June 2020.
Anonymous-232 (talk) 01:42, 3 September 2022 (UTC)
- Note also, the official tie-in Chicken pies for the soul : grade-A parody opens with a quote attributed to Che Guevara. Quite an odd coincidence for a movie with no Marxist themes. The quote, in part: "Ginger ... join[] the socialist cause[.] Property is theft. Long live the glorious struggle against capitalist pie-makers!" https://archive.org/details/chickenrun00jayf/page/n3/mode/2up Anonymous-232 (talk) 20:56, 3 September 2022 (UTC)
Country
[edit]Because of recent changes to sourced content, I loaded up all the sources to see what they say. The country of origin was fairly different across them, so I looked up what a few other sources said, too:
- British Film Institute (link): UK, US
- American Film Institute (link): UK, France, US
- The Numbers (link): US
- Lumiere (link): UK, US
- Allmovie (link): France, United Kingdom, Netherlands, United States
- Variety (link): US, UK
The template suggests to "list only the common published nations". Maybe we should just call it a UK-US co-production. I can see an argument for including France, but it seems like an outlier. NinjaRobotPirate (talk) 14:59, 16 June 2023 (UTC)
Additional Plot Description
[edit]After the explosion of the machine:
Mr. Tweedy opens the door of the destroyed building and says to Mrs. Tweedy this quote "I told you they was organized", then Mrs. Tweedy gets angry before the door with no walls supporting it, falls on top of her. 124.190.12.234 (talk) 01:11, 5 July 2023 (UTC)
- I think that is just unneeded in the plot summary. Not to mention it would be plot bloating. --82.1.70.56 (talk) 06:52, 5 July 2023 (UTC)
- The quote "I told you they was organized" has been listed in the quotes. 220.240.180.166 (talk) 08:01, 17 August 2023 (UTC)
Change the year the film is set
[edit]The current page explains the film is set in the 1950s but i dont believe it is though. Rocky sings and listens to The Wanderer by Dion DiMucci which wasnt released until 1961 and the trailer for the sequel shows the farm has gained new technologies far beyond the 50s. I do not believe the film takes place in the 50s but rather the late 80s/early 90s. LuckTheWolf (talk) 10:01, 11 September 2023 (UTC)
- If a year is not defined in the film, it needs to be removed altogether. Mike Allen 11:44, 11 September 2023 (UTC)
British English topic
[edit]There has been many edits from users adding in periods after Mr and Mrs as this page is supposed to be written in British English. Shouldn't we add a template on the page to remind users that the page is written in British English? TPercival (talk) 06:28, 12 September 2023 (UTC)
- That would be helpful. Mike Allen 14:24, 12 September 2023 (UTC)
- The template
{{Use British English}}was added June 2020 and added the article to the hidden category Category:Use British English from June 2020. Geraldo Perez (talk) 15:39, 12 September 2023 (UTC)- Oh, I see. I didn't notice that, but thank you for pointing that out for me. TPercival (talk) 17:48, 12 September 2023 (UTC)
Zionism
[edit]Is that source claiming that there is a "Zionist" analysis to this movie actually a cogent analysis? Since I cannot access its content, I cannot confirm, but I am extremely doubtful that it holds any water, given that there is nothing in the movie that is specifically analogous to the creation of an ethnonationalist homeland, or anything unique to Zionism for that matter (the only connection I can find is that both Zionism and this movie incorporate "freedom from bondage" narratives, but that narrative is clearly not unique or specific to Zionism), especially given that no elaboration for this claim is included in the article. I do not think that being "sourced" makes it valid, any kind of nonsensical artistic analysis can have a source, but that doesn't make it good analysis. AnyGuy (talk) 17:33, 2 October 2025 (UTC)
- It doesn't matter whether it's a good or cogent analysis. I completely agree that it isn't. But the article doesn't claim that it is, it simply says that The Islamic Republic of Iran News Network made that argument, which is true. CodeTalker (talk) 03:27, 4 October 2025 (UTC)
- @CodeTalker I don't think that just because someone made the argument that it deserves to be added to a critical analysis section on Wikipedia—otherwise, we can add everything everyone has said about the movie so long as it's sourced. Your Movie Sucks once said that Citizen Kane invented narrative cinema, a braindead statement that obviously should not be added to the critical analysis section of that movie. Doug Walker once reduced The Wall's music to being overly dramatic songs about how High School sucks, should that be added?
- The standard for what is worth adding to the page should be much higher than this—at the very least, outlandish statements made by some national news network should be bolstered by their own argument or by supporting arguments, and not just thrown in there as a non-sequitur.AnyGuy (talk) 06:48, 4 October 2025 (UTC)
- In the context of the "Critical response" section, we should be sampling film critics' assessments, so the whole last paragraph is pretty shoddy, being a mix of bloggish and academic sources. On this point, we need for WP:SECONDARY sources analyzing the film to be reliable. Here, we are indirectly citing a TV documentary by the Islamic Republic of Iran News Network. Reliable sources commenting on the IRINN's documentary touching on Chicken Run does not mean the documentary qualifies as a reliable secondary source to use as part of a criical response. Looking at WP:RSP, while IRINN does not directly show up, WP:PRESSTV does indicate that we should avoid this kind of state-sponsored media.
- It's perhaps possible to touch on this in a different framing, like one of the sources is actually a book review of the book The Queer Art of Failure from Duke University Press which covers Chicken Run and mentions the documentary as part of its coverage. So a "Critical analysis" section summarizing that coverage, among coverage from other reliable sources could be possible, but I don't know how much the documentary is covered compared to other points made about Chicken Run. We would want to look at the book to see how it covers the film. Summarizing that coverage may or may not warrant mentioning the documentary. Regardless, mention of the documentary does not mean qualifying it as a critical response. So we should remove this point and also reassess the rest of that last paragraph. We need to sample more reviews and to have critical analysis be separated out from it, using reliable sources. Erik (talk | contrib) 15:20, 4 October 2025 (UTC)
- @Erik Yeah, I agree. I might go looking for that book in fact.
- AnyGuy (talk) 22:58, 4 October 2025 (UTC)
References to use
[edit]- Clarke, James (2004). "Chicken Run". Animated Films. Virgin Books. ISBN 978-0-7535-0804-6.
- Dyla, Eddie (2010). "End of the decade: Boom or bust? Notting Hill; Chicken Run". Studying British Cinema: The 1990s. Auteur Publishing. ISBN 978-1-906733-03-2.
- Finn, Stephen Marcus (2023). "Animal Rights and Narrative Films". Farmed Animals on Film: A Manifesto for a New Ethic. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 144–145. ISBN 978-3-031-23831-4.
- Lambert, Celia (December 2016). "Flying the Coop: Chicken Run, escape narratives and modern history". Screen Education (80): 40–45. ISSN 1449-857X.
- Quigley, Marian (January 2007). "Poultry in Stop-motion: The Challenge of Technology in Chicken Run". Screen Education (48): 117–123. ISSN 1449-857X.
- Strzelczyk, Florentine (June 2008). "Fascism and Family Entertainment". Quarterly Review of Film and Video. 25 (3): 196–211. doi:10.1080/10509200601091433.
- Wells, Paul (2008). "Which Came First, the Chicken or the Egg? Performance, Philosophy, Tradition". The Animated Bestiary: Animals, Cartoons, and Culture. Rutgers University Press. pp. 164–165. ISBN 978-0-8135-4415-1.
Thanks, Erik (talk | contrib) 15:58, 4 October 2025 (UTC)
Semi-protected edit request on 3 April 2026
[edit]This edit request has been answered. Set the |answered= parameter to no to reactivate your request. |
Here’s a review of the film from The New York Times, that I would like to add to it's critical reception - https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/library/film/062100chicken-film-review.html ~2026-20459-13 (talk) 15:49, 3 April 2026 (UTC)
Not done: If you would like something to be added to the article, please provide the exact text of your proposed addition. Day Creature (talk) 16:05, 3 April 2026 (UTC)
- Here’s a summary of his review - Elvis Mitchell of The New York Times said that the film is visually as depressively earth-toned as Stalag 17. He also called the film a "divinely relaxed and confident film" as well as a film with a "great eggscape from banality".[1] ~2026-20459-13 (talk) 18:22, 3 April 2026 (UTC)
- ^ Mitchell, Elvis (21 June 2000). "On Flying the Coop With Plenty of Yolks". The New York Times.
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