Chicken Run 2

[Thomas]

I love Chicken Run. It's funny, lovingly made, really wonderfully scored, and of perfect (chicken) running time. I like the tone, and the fact that it's inconspicuously set in the 1950s. Being of the 'mid twenties' persuasion, I first saw it when I was a child, and it has a mighty rewatch factor.

And now they're doin' a bloody second one!

I always liked Chicken Run as an example of that increasingly rare sort of film - the quality standalone, rebootless and without sequel, but nobody has been loudly hankering for a second one, so I hope this sequel is emerging from a genuinely good idea rather than total cash-in motivation.

Go on, then. Do you like Chicken Run?

[madhair60]

Why are they doing this?

Yes, I like Chicken Run, but why?

They should call it Chicken Two.

[Twed]

The natural lifespan of a chicken is around 8-10 years. I for one won't be watching this unscientific nonsense.

[biggytitbo]

I wonder if they've gone for something 'safe' because of the muted reaction to Early Man?

[Pseudopath]

I wonder if they've gone for something 'safe' because of the muted reaction to Early Man?

This. Although I suppose they would have made a sequel earlier if Mel Gibson hadn't so spectacularly blotted his copybook.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

Gibson being in the original is kind of ironic, given how much the premise looks like the Holocaust.

[mothman]

Getting Mel bloody Gibson was quite a coup at the time. He'd probably be desperate to be in a sequel, now.

[biggytitbo]

Getting Mel bloody Gibson was quite a coup at the time. He'd probably be desperate to be in a sequel, now.

A chicken coup?

[Replies From View]

REALITY CONTROL, HERE IS A FACT:

Chicken Run isn't very good.

[Small Man Big Horse]

I wonder if they've gone for something 'safe' because of the muted reaction to Early Man?

Probably, they've got Shaun The Sheep 2 coming out before this as well. Shan't complain about that though as I enjoyed the first movie.

[itsfredtitmus]

Not as good as the first season of creature comforts

[Soup]

Chicken Run is solid.

That Pirates film they did is the one you wanna rub the sequel cream on (i.e. make a sequel to)

[Small Man Big Horse]

Chicken Run is solid.

That Pirates film they did is the one you wanna rub the sequel cream on (i.e. make a sequel to)

I saw it at the cinema and it's the only time I've enjoyed watching something in 3D. I think it's surprisingly underrated too, with a high gag rate and really likeable characters.

[Replies From View]

Chicken Run may as well be CGI animation for all the good it does with the plasticine or Aardman's own talents.  None of the warmth of the material or the animators' own craft comes through in it at all.  It is a sad, soulless piece.

Sticking Wallace's mouth on everything doesn't instantly create magic, lads.

[biggytitbo]

What kind of mad lad is this ^ Chicken Run is fucking magic.

[mothman]

Chicken Run, Pirates and Were-rabbit were all generally superior films - in a way that Early Man wasn't - and I could stand to see a sequel to any of those three.

[Old Nehamkin]

Yeah Chicken Run is pretty great as far as I can remember. The POW breakout pastiche is played just straight enough to feel genuinely suspenseful, and the period detail feels precise and assured without being laid on too thick. I find the idea that the animation doesn't have a sense of craft or warmth quite baffling, to be honest. I haven't seen the film in years but when I think of certain scenes I can picture the textures, motions and designs of the characters and sets quite vividly. I think the film would feel entirely different if it were computer animated (not that there's anything inherently wrong with computer animation, of course).

[Replies From View]

Well, I can only shake my head at you all in stony disbelief, and assume you'd fancy me if I had a big Wallace mouth glued on and my fingerprints smoothed off.

[mothman]

What you and Biggy get up to with each other is really not our concern.

[Kelvin]

If I might be even more contrary than Replies From View for a second, I would like to suggest that the Wallace and Gromit films are actually even worse than Chicken Run, since they rely not just on obvious, outdated film references, but also on characters very slowly saying the names of biscuits.

They are the kind of films that should only be watched by the very elderly and people with heart defects; the kinds of films that should be given away free with The Daily Mail - and I genuinely hate them.

[Sin Agog]

Whenever I look at family photos from my dad's side, it always creeps me out how much like Chicken Run characters everyone looks, with big bulgy round eyes much too close together, and desperate, effortful smiles.  Ambivalent about a sequel.

[Nowhere Man]

If I might be even more contrary than Replies From View for a second, I would like to suggest that the Wallace and Gromit films are actually even worse than Chicken Run, since they rely not just on obvious, outdated film references, but also on characters very slowly saying the names of biscuits.

They are the kind of films that should only be watched by the very elderly and people with heart defects; the kinds of films that should be given away free with The Daily Mail - and I genuinely hate them.

The Wrong Trousers is one of the greatest 30 minutes of anything ever made.

[Old Nehamkin]

What film references do A Grand Day Out or The Wrong Trousers rely on?

Also I'm not sure anyone in any of those films has ever said the name of a biscuit.

[Shit Good Nose]

I didn't think Chicken Run was all that, BUT I saw it at the cinema when it came out and I haven't seen it since.  So I've seen it once, 18 years ago.

I thoroughly enjoyed the Shaun the Sheep film, and feel that Pirates probably deserves a re-visit and is better than I gave it credit for at the time (I was only half watching for most of it).

Was all set to take little Nose to see Early Man the other week, but she was poorly so we didn't go in the end.  Took her to see Duck Duck Goose instead the following weekend.  Fucking hell.

[Kelvin]

What film references do A Grand Day Out or The Wrong Trousers rely on?

Actually, I'm willing to say that those two films aren't too bad. It's the later, more dialogue heavy films that I hate.

Also I'm not sure anyone in any of those films has ever said the name of a biscuit.

They're films that capture the spirit of a person slowly saying the names of biscuits.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

The first three Wallace and Gromit short films are wonderful and I will fight anyone who says otherwise. Curse of the Were Rabbit and A Matter of Loaf and Death are less good. I'm fully willing to admit that is because I saw the first three when I was little, but actually I'm not willing to admit that.

[idunnosomename]

Were-Rabbit is a bit of a slog. It's okay. Grand Day Out is an absolute masterpiece because it's essentially 99% Nick Park's work (well, and Peter Sallis' voice). Wrong Trousers is the best of all. Matter of Loaf and Death and a Close Shave, yes, they're packed with film references and not as good, but somehow even in this post-Family Guy nostalgia-obsessed world, I still really admire a children's Christmas animation set in Lancashire doing blatant references to films like The Terminator: the bit where the newly-defurred robot Preston punches through the door to open in from the inside. I mean really, you don't need to know the reference, but it's a nice nod.

Chicken Run is just too much reference really, relies a lot on a marketable British nostalgia. And of course works in an American lead for reasons entirely of audience accessibility.

[SavageHedgehog]

Took her to see Duck Duck Goose instead the following weekend.  Fucking hell.

This has been out in the UK for over a month, yet if Rotten Tomatoes is to be trusted there hasn't been a single professional review. Has this ever happened before?

[Shit Good Nose]

This has been out in the UK for over a month, yet if Rotten Tomatoes is to be trusted there hasn't been a single professional review. Has this ever happened before?

It's a truly abysmal film.  It's basically one of those rebadged far Eastern animations that normally go straight to DVD, with the only differences being the animation is (slightly) better and it features voices from people you've actually heard of.  Otherwise it's absolute dog shit.

[mothman]

I was looking at the list of Academy Award for Best Animated Feature winners and nominees. And it struck me how all over the place it is. Probably no more than any other category at the Oscars, to be fair...

It's obvious Pixar do very well here. Nine wins from eleven nominations! And the two that didn't win (Cars, Monsters Inc.) aren't any great shakes. By and large I think you can't argue with the winners, it's just unfortunate that, however justified the win, it's often come at the expense of some other truly great works (Triplets of Belleville, Persepolis, Coraline, lots of Studio Ghiblis...). Probably the only one that gives me pause is Brave's win: it's a good movie, but is it better that Wreck-it Ralph or Pirates! In An Adventure With Scientists?

Anyway, the point of my initial research was... would Chicken Run have won in 2000 if the category had existed then? Probably not, it'd have been beaten by Toy Story 2 I suspect. Aardman have only won once from three nominations, and I have to say, sadly, I don't think the win for Were-Rabbit was probably justified, given it was up against Howl's Moving Castle and Corpse Bride.