This 2000 Comedy on Netflix Has an Almost Perfect Rotten Tomatoes Score

If you grew up in the 2000s, you might have cherished memories of viewing Chicken Run.

This stop-motion animated feature about rebellious poultry serves as a loose homage to the Steve McQueen classic, The Great Escape. It follows a particularly defiant hen determined to liberate her herd from the clutches of their cruel farm.

The film stands out not only as an engaging children’s movie but also as a true gem for audiences of all ages. Its impressive approval rating of nearly 100 percent on Rotten Tomatoes speaks volumes.

Now that it’s available for streaming on Netflix, Watch With Us highlights why Chicken Run deserves your attention.

An Engaging and Witty Script for All Ages

One of the film’s standout features is its ability to deliver intelligent entertainment that appeals to both children and adults alike. Chicken Run provides a compelling narrative rather than mindless visuals to fill time for kids. The creative team conveys respect for young viewers’ intelligence, steering clear of clichés like crude humor and instead presenting a story that engages with heart and depth, featuring goofy anthropomorphic chickens.

The humor in Chicken Run transcends generations, offering a blend of silly jokes for kids while including clever lines that resonate with adults. This hallmark of quality children’s cinema doesn’t talk down to its audience; it champions a narrative rich with mature themes that entertains parents as much as kids. Ultimately, while the characters are chickens, they embody relatable human emotions, allowing audiences to see a piece of themselves in their struggles.

Stunning Stop-Motion Animation

Chicken Run emerges from the renowned Aardman Animation studio, celebrated as England’s leading animation powerhouse and creator of some of the finest stop-motion claymation works ever (including beloved characters like Wallace and Gromit). The painstaking process of stop-motion animation is not for the faint of heart; during the production of Chicken Run, it took a staggering week to animate just a single minute of the 84-minute feature.

This meticulous craftsmanship shines is evident in the completed film. Stop-motion animation delights young audiences, but it is also a sophisticated art that older viewers can appreciate. This artistry remains intact in the sequel, Dawn of the Nugget, proving that Aardman’s commitment to quality craftsmanship endures.

A Surprisingly Progressive Message

Inspired by the 1963 classic The Great Escape, featuring Steve McQueen as an American soldier who plots a daring escape from a Nazi POW camp during WWII, Chicken Run reimagines this narrative through the character of Ginger (voiced by Julia Sawalha), who leads a movement against her captors, Mr. and Mrs. Tweedy (Tony Haygarth and Miranda Richardson).

Thus, the film conveys a surprisingly progressive message, broaching themes like worker rights, resistance, anti-fascism, and feminism. While it’s a rooster (voiced by Mel Gibson) who offers the hens a semblance of escape (the ultimately illusory freedom to fly), it is the female chickens who employ their traditional “women’s work” skills—like sewing and knitting—to construct their escape mechanism. In the conclusion, Chicken Run leaves children with an empowering itch to question authority.

Catch Chicken Run now on Netflix.