The Escape

After Ginger and Rocky narrowly avoid being sliced, diced and baked into a chicken pie, she relates their harrowing story to the other chickens. As Ginger describes in eggacting detail the menacing apocalyptic pie machine, a new plan is hatched.

Under cover of night Ginger sneaks into the pie factory. She climbs into the dormant pie making machine carrying detailed engineering plans developed by Mac. Working diligently deep inside the metal behemoth Ginger's plan begins to take shape.

With each passing day the chickens move closer to becoming poultry pastry. The only reason they are able to stay common is they are sure Ginger will be able to disable the pie machine and lead them to freedom before baking day.

But on the last day before the chicken's fate will be sealed in pie, Ginger is nowhere to be found. They look desperately for their fearless feathered leader.

Suddenly a loud scream emanates from a corner of the coup. It's Babs, she has made a gruesome discovery. Outside the fence the guard dogs are sitting contentedly among a pile of chicken feathers, Ginger's hat firmly clenched in the feather encrusted mouth of the biggest dog. The chicken coup is in a panic ... running around like a bunch of chickens that are about to get their heads cut off.

The gates to the coup swing open and rubber gloved Mrs. Tweedy enters with Mr. Tweedy close behind. They mercilessly round up all the chickens and carry them off to the factory. One by one the screaming chickens are stuffed into the pie machine, one by one they fall silent. The machine works flawlessly.

A vile silence descends over the factory as the last pie is loaded onto the delivery truck and like a hearse, the truck heads out to deliver the mournful cargo to the market. Gray clouds hang low in the sky as rain falls, the truck slowly disappears over the horizon.

Just then chickens begin to burst out of the pies, filling the back of the truck with jubilant chickens. The truck screeches to a stop and the driver jumps up...it's Ginger.

She hadn't disabled the pie machine, she had used it to hide the chickens, then faked her own death so she could drive the truck.

2nd Place Winner: Chistopher S.
Prize: Animation Artist T-Shirt

3rd Place Winner: Sheree L.
Prize: Animation Artist Tote Bag

The chickens fix the chicken pot pie machine to not cook. The oven will never turn on, the chickens would be inside the pies, boxed up, and sent away. Once they are out of the farm, they break out of the pies and are free!

Contest #2: Create a New Chicken

1st Place Winner: Hennie Blaauw
Prize: Signed book by the directors of Chicken Run - "Creating 3D Animation"

Hi guys. Herewith my Chicken Run Character, Impi.

Impi does not feature too highly in the IQ stakes. He therefore tries to dazzle the other chickens with brilliance, resorting to obviously made up "tribal sayings" when they are facing adversity, sort of like Mel in Braveheart... the whole freedom bit, but he is the kind of chicken who will be waxing lyrical about theancient rituals and myths of Africa, and in mid sentence will give a "what the hell am I really talking about look" and rush off to fight.

He relates to other chickens in a way that it is obvious that he thinks they are his inferiors, both physically and intellectually, likes the fact that he has some kind of foreign ancient thing going, but he really is quite a softy at heart - he just can't show it - it really is not in his African warrior heritage to do so.

His closest friend is an early worm who speaks from it's hole in the ground and is slowly but surely getting to trust him....

His favoroute colour ties into his waxings about Africa - something like Mid autumn Baobab bark shade or Kenyan plaid green. Something really contrived to make him sound more exotic and poetic - to balance out the beef.

Impi quite clearly believes the chicken came first - or he would be an egg...

To his few close friends he is known as "Nkuku" with a silent N. Unlike other African characters he prefers not to be ruled by rhythm, because as we know, drums are beaten with drumsticks!

His favourite weapon is his anciently crafted and generationally correct assegai(spear).The bone in his hair also has significance - it is the femur of one of the lion elders from back home, and as such he believes he has a "devine right of kings" thing going for himself, and that the lion bone, being so close to his thought processes guides him in times of need.

His favourite hiding place? What's that? Impi chicken knows no fear. He does have the ability though to curl up under his afro and do an incredible impersonation of a hair ball, when the going gets really tough!

2nd Place Winner: Artgoon
Prize: Animation Artist T-Shirt

Name: Fieldweb Schulz

Relationships: The new chicken in the batch, Schulz believes that the Tweedys are a loving big brother type family. He acts like a poorly effective watchman on guard and only causes sleep loss with Mr Tweedy when he thinks someone is escaping the 'paradise'.

Best Friend: Basically he believes he's very good friends with Babs and thinks Rocky and Ginger are just 'silly twits' who think too much.

Favorite Color: brown

Logic: Schulz personally thinks the Chicken was made by the Tweedys and that he is the eternal watchman.

Favorite Item: Billy Club, mostly the cause of most personal injuries

Favorite Hiding Spot: Right out in the open where it's safe!

3rd Place Winner: Andrew K.
Prize: Animation Artist Tote Bag

This new chicken's name is Dina. She is rememebered as the chicken who laid the most eggs in the history of Tweedy's Farm, ever. Her chief duty is to record all the news and events that happened each day (plans of escape, opinions, etc) and her hobby is writing stories. She is always alert (though, not as alert as Ginger) and never distorts true stories! Her best friend is Babs because she is her cousin and they both have hobbies they are constantly doing. She gets along very well with the other chickens, though only fairly well with the rats. Her favorite color is blue. She thinks the egg came first because, as said, she laid the most eggs. Her favorite tool or weapon is the pen (it's mightier than the sword!). She likes to hide in her private lair under one of the coops, where she can write in peace.