chicken run: dawn of the nugget
2D animated 'Fun-Land Farms commercial' sequence and end credits artwork for Aardman and Netflix's blockbuster sequel.
overview
Like everyone in the world, we’re huge fans of the Oscar winning sensation ‘Chicken Run.’ So when we were asked by animation national treasure Aardman Animations to design & animate a short 2D sequence in the film, we couldn’t wait to get ‘cracking’. Because this film is set in the1960s, the design style needed to lean into that. So working closely with Director Sam Fell & production designer Darren Dubicki we set about creating a style that felt true to the era but made sure was always quintessentially Aardman. This style had to be simple enough to work as an example of animation from that time period, but bold enough to be able to keep the end credits fun and interesting. Easy peasy.
design
After being given the storyboards by Aardman, the first thing to do was create an initial rough design to test the waters. In a film all about chickens, funnily enough the most important thing was… getting the chicken design right. The jagged 1950s- 60s design style isn’t a natural fit for Chicken Run’s more rounded characters so striking a nice balance between the two took some development. But after a bit of back and forth we found a perfect retro cocktail that we could roll out throughout the animation and the end credits.
retrofied
For an authentic feel, we decided early on to animate this as traditionally as possible. Leaning into the economy used in that era's TV animation output for humour, but going all out when the scene required it. (Spoiler: our chicken does a lot of dancing). We wanted to make the film feel as true to the 1960s as possible and as we’re big fans of the retro aesthetic, we already had a few tricks up our sleeves to really sell the era. Mimicking a cel shade drop shadow, slight camera wiggle and film grain were just the tip of the chickeny iceberg to create a look that feels straight out of old Halas And Batchelor or UPA short film.
result
A short animated film within a big animated film was always going to be a fun job, and to make it in a style we’re all passionate about was the icing on the cake. We feel super honoured to have played a part in its creation. It’s been lovely to see the great reception the film and our little sequence and artwork have received. All in all an ‘eggcellent’ project.
