‘Chicken Run’ Flaps Back to Theaters for 25th Anniversary Re-Release

Universal Pictures and DreamWorks Pictures announce the 25th Anniversary nationwide theatrical re-release of the high-flying stop-motion animated adventure comedy, Chicken Run. Created by the brilliant British animation studio Aardman, the film will peck its way back onto screens across the country on November 9 and November 12, for a special limited engagement.

Advance tickets are on sale now and can be purchased here.  

Directed by three-time Oscar nominee Peter Lord (The Pirates! Band Misfits, Wat’s Pig) and four-time Academy Award winner Nick Park — who garnered widespread acclaim for his “Claymation” short films Creature Comforts, followed by the Wallace & Gromit shorts The Wrong Trousers and A Close Shave — Chicken Run represented Aardman Animations’ first full-length feature.

The story opens with plucky heroine Ginger (Absolutely Fabulous’ Julia Sawalha) doing her best to escape the dire confines of the Tweedy Chicken Farm, though her attempts to flee all come to naught. Her yearning for freedom takes on new urgency, however, after the cruel Mrs. Tweedy (Oscar nominee Miranda Richardson) decides to phase out her egg operation in favor of making meat pies. The move spells certain doom for Ginger and the other members of her flock.

It’s just then that an unlikely hero appears in the form of Rocky the Flying Rooster (Oscar winner Mel Gibson). The American daredevil seems perfectly poised to teach Ginger and friends how to take to the skies, but there’s just one problem: Rocky’s aerial skills aren’t quite as impressive as they’re made out to be. With no other choice, the resourceful birds are forced to use their wits to avoid winding up on a dinner plate — if they’re lucky, they might even manage to find happiness in greener pastures far away.

Originally presented by DreamWorks Pictures in association with Pathé International, Chicken Run was released on Jun 21, 2000, grossing more than $100 million in North America and $225 million worldwide. The film also won over critics; in the Chicago Sun-Times, Roger Ebert praised the production as “a magical new animated film that looks and sounds like no other … this is a movie that uses animals as surrogates for our hopes and fears, and as the chickens run through one failed escape attempt after another, the charm of the movie wins us over.”

The Aardman classic spawned a sequel, Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget, in 2023. Ginger and co. also star in a new video game, Chicken Run: Eggstraction, launching this week on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S and PC via Steam and the Microsoft Store.