In 2000, the Aardman Animations studios presented their feature film “Chicken Run”, which was a huge success. The animated film is indeed a small revolution, which the Academy of Oscars will record by creating a new statuette…
chicken rungreatest stop-motion animation hit
If Aardman Animations studios are created in 1972 by Peter Lord and David Sproxtonit was not until the year 2000 that they produced their very first feature film: chicken run. After many short films, especially those centered on Wallace and Gromit which gave them worldwide fame, the Aardman studios are finally launching on the big screen, in association with DreamWorks Pictures. And the result will exceed all expectations…
Directed by Peter Lord and Nick Park, chicken run met with worldwide success. This tale of chicken escape set in 1950s England is a triumphant essay for Aardman Studios. In addition to rave reviews, the feature film brings in more than $224 million at the box office, for a budget of 45 million dollars. It is still, to this day, the biggest box office success for a stop-motion animated film (with real objects, editor’s note).
Since then, stop-motion studios have produced 7 other feature films. They will present soon Chicken Run 2entitled Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget and directed by Sam Fell. It is expected on Netflix in 2023.
At the origin of the creation of the Oscar for Best Animated Film
Since their creation in 1929, the Oscars have not distinguished animated productions from those in live action. So, next to the categories Best Original Song and Best Film Scoreanimated productions could hope to be also named in the category Best film. What had only happened once, with The beauty and the Beast in 1992…
In an unprecedented way, the DreamWorks and Aardman studios are notably campaign for the film at the 2001 Oscars in the category Best costumes. Indeed, since these are indeed manufactured objects on screen, why not reward these admirable creations? Despite its acclaim, the film did not receive any Oscar nominations. And disappointed themselves that the film by Peter Lord and Nick Park was not nominated in the Best Picture category, the members of the Academy of Oscars then decided to create, the following year, the Oscar for Best Animated Film.
Thus, it was in 2002 that Shrek, produced by DreamWorks studios, receives the very first statuette in the Best Animated Film category. Thanks, therefore, to chicken run. As for the Aardman studios, they won the Oscar in “their” category in 2006 for Wallace and Gromit: The Mystery of the Were-Rabbit.
