History YMMV / ChickenRun

* MoralEventHorizon: She had been imprisoning them in her farm since day one and killing them when they can't lay any more eggs, but Mrs. Tweedy crosses it when she decides to cook each of them into chicken pies. Alternately (since this much can be put down to ObliviouslyEvil until she finds out for sure that the chickens really are as intelligent as her husband suspected), she crosses it by trying to thwart their escape in the crate.
* OvershadowedByControversy: Fan's delight at the greenlighting of a sequel quickly turned to anger due to casting issues. Dropping Creator/MelGibson as Rocky ruffled a few die hard fans feathers but was largely seen as inevitable due to the very controversial reputation he's developed since the first film came out. However dropping Creator/JuliaSawalha as Ginger for being "too old" (despite her pointedly demonstrating that she could easily reproduce the same voice she used in the original film) in a callously worded email ignited a firestorm of controversy due to the blatant ageism, implied sexism and tone deaf way the decision was handled and communicated. It remains to be seen how this will affect the sequels reception.

** Likewise, Mrs. Tweedy's greed, lack of concern for animal welfare, and decidedly short fuse lend easy comparisons to [[WesternAnimation/OneHundredAndOneDalmatians Cruella de Vil]].

* UnfortunateCharacterDesign: The chickens' bodies consist of [[HartmanHips two bulbous hips]] and cylindrical torsos. If you only look at their bodies from the shoulders down, they look like, well, let's just say, [[{{Pun}} a cock]]. Even the female ones.

* ShoutOut: Fowler is very much [[WesternAnimation/TheJungleBook Colonel Hathi]] as a chicken, with his long-winded war anecdotes and his pomposity.

* WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids: Subverted. It's for ''families'', just not ones with very young children.

** As mentioned above, the movie has a lot of {{applicability}} regarding just who, if anyone, the farmers and chickens are meant to represent. As Aardman's films are generally apolitical, MST3KMantra is probably the way to go.

* ShoutOut: Fowler is very much a dead-ringer for [[WesternAnimation/TheJungleBook Colonel Hathi]], with his long-winded war anecdotes and his pomposity.

%%** [[ItMakesSenseInContext "You are going to be a pie!"]]

** Ginger and Rocky's argument of motivating people the American way ("Don't mention death") versus the implied English way ("Always tell the truth"), however, is a much less ambiguous dig against American politics' [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment alleged]] lack of transparency.

* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotPolitical: As mentioned above, the movie has a lot of {{applicability}} regarding just who, if anyone, the farmers and chickens are meant to represent. As Aardman's films are generally apolitical, MST3KMantra is probably the way to go.

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsEsoJn9trI Flip, Flop and Fly]], heard during the dance scene, also counts.
** [[https://youtu.be/4YfX_ubhVK8 The Chickens Are Revolting]] is magnificent.

* OvershadowedByControversy: Fan's delight at the greenlighting of a sequel quickly turned to anger due to casting issues. Dropping Creator/MelGibson as Rocky ruffled a few die hard fans feathers but was largely seen as inevitable due to the very controversial reputation he's developed since the first film came out. However dropping Creator/JuliaSawalha as Ginger for being "too old" (despite her pointedly demonstrating that she could easily reproduce the same voice she used in the original film) in a callous email ignited a firestorm of controversy due to the blatant ageism, implied sexism and tone deaf way the decision was handled and communicated. It remains to be seen how this will affect the sequels reception.

** [[WesternAnimation/DangerMouse This wouldn't be the last cartoon Miranda Richardson would appear in that included a Scottish bespectacled smart hen.]]

* MemeticMutation

** ''(Scared)'' "I don't want to be a pie! ''({{Beat}}, then smiles)'' I don't like gravy!"

** In the shot of Ginger on the roof just before she looks up at the passing flock of birds, there's a noticeable amount of "chatter"[[note]]animation speak for when something that's meant to be still is moving too much from frame-to-frame[[/note]] on her brow.

-->'''Fetcher:''' ''(practically swooning)'' Wanna dance?\\
'''Nick:''' ''(long, thoughtful pause)'' Yeah, alright.

** (scared) "I don't want to be a pie! (beat, then smiles) I don't like gravy!"

* DesignatedVillain: While Mrs. Tweedy averts this by being a generally unpleasant person [[note]]for example, the [[SlasherSmile evil grin]] on her face just before Edwina gets the chop shows that, yes, Mrs. Tweedy ''[[ForTheEvulz enjoys]]'' [[AxCrazy killing them]][[/note]], Mr. Tweedy counts as one to an extent since he is just simply following his wife's orders rather than being on his own free will (then again, [[HenpeckedHusband it's not like he could have any free will anyway]]).

** Following their triumph with the ''WesternAnimation/{{Antz}}'' score, John Powell and Harry Gregson-Williams made this score, possibly the best score to ever feature a ''kazoo''. Seriously, ''Chicken Run's'' OST is one of the most memorable, entertaining and at times even epic music you'll ever hear in an animated feature, and deserves a listen ''alone'' even if you should never watch the film! Take [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_Hl9Vune6A Main Titles]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apsrbm_PJa8 Building the Crate]] for example.

** Was Mrs. Tweedy truly evil? Or was she just running an honest business and took a little too much pleasure in keeping her chickens in line, but otherwise was just doing what was necessary to supply the populace with eggs, like all other factory farms?

** Following their triumph with the ''WesternAnimation/{{Antz}}'' score, John Powell and Harry Gregson-Williams made this score, possibly the best score to ever feature a ''kazoo''. Seriously, ''Chicken Run's'' OST is one of the most memorable, entertaining and at times epic music you'll ever hear in an animated feature, and deserves a listen ''alone'' even if you should never watch the film! Take [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_Hl9Vune6A Main Titles]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apsrbm_PJa8 Building the Crate]] for example.

* FunnyAneurysmMoment: You know how this movie has a concentration camp metaphor? You know how Creator/MelGibson is in this movie? [[RuleOfThree You know how]] Gibson made anti-Semitic comments that one time?

* BrokenBase: Creator/MelGibson's presence in light of his questionable religious (see: anti-Semitic) beliefs has some people disowning this film as a result, while others are more forgiving because the movie is just so damn good.

* SugarWiki/NoProblemWithLicensedGames: The game based on the movie is a pretty good stealth game (''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'' [[AC:[[RecycledInSpace with chickens!]]]]) with exciting levels and funny mini-games.

* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotPolitical: As mentioned above, the movie has a lot of {{applicability}} regarding just who, if anyone, the oppressors and oppresses are meant to represent. As Aardman's films are generally apolitical, MST3KMantra is probably the way to go.

* MoralEventHorizon: She had been imprisoning them in her farm since day one and killing them when they can't lay any more eggs, but Mrs. Tweedy crosses it when she decides to cook each of them into chicken pies.

** The claymation is practically seamless throughout the film, though there is one particular instance, when Ginger is on the roof mourning the death of Edwina before noticing birds above her where the animation of her "eyebrows" briefly becomes very jittery.

* {{Applicability}}: Ginger's RousingSpeech has been interpreted by libertarians as a metaphor for how states are like farmers and it's citizens are treated like livestock. Others have read it as inherently Marxist, that the chickens are the proletarians to the Tweedy's bourgeoisie, if not a direct criticism on [[CapitalismIsBad the inhumanities of capitalism]] -- the chickens are being led to their deaths in the name of minuscule profits, after all.

** Edwina. Did she not tell anyone because [[DontYouDarePityMe she didn't want them to worry about her]], or did she do it deliberately because she ''wanted'' to die?

** Does Babs truly have some severe lack of understanding of the circumstances she and the other hens are in? Or is she making lighthearted, and sometimes inappropriate jokes about their imprisonment as her coping mechanism?

** "I don't want to be a pie! And I don't like gravy!"