Critical Reaction

This film was received excellently from critics, earning a 97% certified fresh at Rotten Tomatoes.

Production notes

• Chicken Run was the first feature film in Europe to use the Digital Intermediate process, digitally storing and manipulating every frame of the film before recording back to film.

• In early versions of the movie, Ginger had a little brother named Nobby, but the idea was dropped in order to make the film less cute.

• An early storyboard idea was that the plane would breakup in the middle of its flight and that the chickens would suddenly find the ability to fly; the idea being to show that you can do things if you "believe in yourself".

• It was also suggested that Fowler would be a drunk who felt useless and neglected until Ginger convinced him that he was needed. In the final film it is a sober Fowler who is made to believe in himself and fly the plane.

• The reason all the chickens wear scarves is to hide the joint between the head and the body. The scarves hide the 'seam' which is present because the bodies of the chickens are articulated steel frames coated in silicon rubber while the heads are plasticine.

Historical and cultural references

• One of the escape attempts shown in the opening credits is of the chickens tunnelling, and travelling on trolleys down the tunnel. This is a reference to The Great Escape, in which the escapees also travel on trolleys through the tunnel.

• Ginger is seen to bounce a Brussels sprout off the wall of the bin in which she is held in solitary confinement. This is a parody of Hilts (Steve McQueen), in The Great Escape, who does the same with his baseball while in the cooler.

• The coop that Ginger lives in is numbered 17, apparently an homage to Stalag 17^{[citation needed]}.

• Edwina, the chicken who is killed by the Tweedies at the beginning of the film, is a reference to politician Edwina Currie. Currie was a Junior Health Minister under Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher when, in 1988, she issued a warning about salmonella in eggs. This caused a collapse in the British egg market and Currie was forced to resign (or "get the chop" as commentators sometimes refer to ministers who have resigned or been sacked from office).

• Rocky is introduced shouting "Freedooooommm!" in a slightly comedic manner. This alludes to a line of Mel Gibson's portrayal of William Wallace in the movie Braveheart.

• The scene where Ginger tells Rocky that she wants to get all the chickens out at the same time, and he thinks she is mad, is a reference to a similar scene in The Great Escape between Roger Bartlett and Hilts.

• Fetcher's line "It's raining hen" during the scene where Rocky is teaching the chickens how to fly is a reference to the song "It's Raining Men"

• When Rocky enters the barn to find the chicken pie-making machine, he is awed by the size of it and says "Look at the size of that thing". This is a reference to Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope^{[citation needed]}. Wedge Antilles says this when he sees the Death Star for the first time.

• The sequence in which Rocky and Ginger are trapped inside Mrs. Tweedy's pie-making machine and encounter various mechanical dangers is a parody of the three Indiana Jones films' various cliffhanger dangers and subsequent escapes, as well as Ginger rescuing her hat.

• The propeller of the escape plane is made of road signs sharing names with famous RAF bombers of World War II — Stirling Lane, Lancaster Avenue and Blenheim Place. Furthermore, the model aeroplane is of a moderately successful RAF bomber of the early war period, the Whitley.

• Fowler repeatedly refers to his years as a member of the No. 644 Squadron RAF. This was a real squadron; it was formed on February 23, 1944, several months before D-Day. 644 squadron was based at RAF Tarrant Rushton airfield in Dorset,^[1] and exclusively flew Handley Page Halifax heavy bombers. The 644's primary missions were "special operations" over occupied Europe, such as making supply drops to various resistance movements, and towing troop transport gliders.^[2]

• After the plane has been assembled, the order is given: "Chocks Away!!". This refers to the triangular wedges used to hold an aeroplane back once its engines are running, which are then removed. In Chicken Run these are represented by bars of the triangular chocolate Toblerone, hence "Chocs Away".

• During the plane sequence, the Scottish chicken Mac shouts a few quotes from Scotty of Star Trek: The Original Series, such as "I cannot work miracles cap'n", "I'm giving her all she's got!", "A 'cling-on' (Klingon) cap'n," and "The engines can't take it!"

• The Great Escape also includes a Scotsman called "Mac", played by Gordon Jackson, who acts as Bartlett the escape leader's second-in-command, much like this Mac is to Ginger.

• The promo title featured on posters for the film, "C:R-1", was a spoof of the promo title "M:I-2" for the film Mission: Impossible II. A teaser trailer included on the DVD spoofed Mission: Impossible II with scenes from Chicken Run.

• During World War Two a glider was secretly built at Colditz Castle which was then a POW camp. Although it was never used in real life, the concept was fictionalized into the 1971 TV movie The Birdmen starring Doug McClure, Chuck Connors and Richard Basehart.