A Brave Writer's Life in Brief

by Brave Writer student and intern, Finlay Worrallo

The British animation studio, Aardman, is best known for using stop-motion clay animation techniques featuring Plasticine (a soft modeling material) characters. Wallace and Gromit are of course their most beloved characters, but they’ve made many other animations, and Chicken Run is one of the best.

At first glance it simply looks like a comedy about talking chickens, but there’s much more to it than that. This is a story about the bravest, most determined gang of chickens ever, committed to escaping the farm they live on, which is actually more like a prison camp.

Mr. and Mrs. Tweedy, the farmers, might sound like pleasant people, but they’re actually villains of the most fearsome breed. When they build a gigantic machine for turning chickens into pies, all the chickens are in big trouble. It seems their only hope is an American rooster named Rocky, who claims he can fly…

Chicken Run is a funny, warm, and adventurous film. And remember: all of it is done with nothing but plasticine!

Discussion questions

1. Is Mr. Tweedy a bad man, or is he bullied into bad behavior by his wife? Explain.
2. Rocky spends most of the film pretending he can fly. Should he have told the truth from the start? Why?
3. Did the movie change your view on eating chicken?
4. Do you think the film would work in any other form ­­ CGI animation, live action, cartoon? How would it be different to the plasticine animation?
5. Could any scenes be improved? How?
6. Do you feel at all sorry for the Tweedies? Do they deserve to lose their entire livelihood?
7. At one point Babs says, “My whole life flashed before my eyes! It was really boring.” What would you make of your life if you saw it all in one go? What parts were boring (or exciting!)?

Chicken Run is available through Amazon (aff link): Chicken Run

Need help commenting meaningfully on plot, characterization, make-up and costumes, acting, setting and even film editing? Check out our eleven page guide, Brave Writer Goes to the Movies. Also, tell us about a film you and your kids watched together (along with a pic if you have one) and if we share it on the blog you’ll receive a free copy!

Also, check out our online Movie Discussion Club! Kids are so excited about discussing movies that they don’t even realize they’re writing!

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