Our spy known only as The Prickle, do not even begin to contemplate the depths at which the thought processes went to come up with that name, has been doing his/her job by attending Art Openings and the what not. And she/he found out that the coolest possible thing in the world was in the planning stages!!!!!!!
David Sproxton of Aardman Animation spoke at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston last week to officially open the "Wallace and Gromit" exhibit there (which I highly recommend - great storyboards!). When asked about future projects at Aardman he mentioned they were in the midst of a large rewrite of "Chicken Run" and that there were long term plans (sometime after the millenium) to produce a fourth Wallace and Gromit film. No word on what the story is about, other than Nick Park thought of something which inspired him to bring these two back to the screen.
And here our spy known only as the Fred Fondler dug up the following on CHICKEN RUN....
CHICKEN RUN. Nick Park and Peter Lord are currently at work on this exciting project, named CHICKEN RUN. I first read about Aardman's next masterpiece in the latter '97 and have been waiting for it since. Katzenberg, a man ahead of the game, caught word of this project and did not hesitate in his pursuit to obtain the rights to distribute this exciting project. He succeeded in getting the American rights, and is extending a helping hand to Aardman to make this the best it can be. Why is Katz so pumped? Its DreamWorks' second answer to Disney's Pixar deal.
The Premise. Centered around a flock of chickens desperate to escape a doom known as the american bbq, Ginger, a British 'chick' and her partner Rocky, the rooster from the Red White and Blue, make a break, and Rocky summons his Harley powers as has been heard. If Aardman's creativity and prodigal crew remain in tact, expect a masterful block buster.
The Filmmakers. A crew to be reckoned with: Jake Eberts, EXECUTIVE (Dances W/ Wolves, Driving Ms. Daisy, Name of the Rose, Hope & Glory, A River Runs Through it, James & the Giant Peach) PRODUCER, and PRODUCERS David Sproxton, Peter Lord and Nick Park, and authors of the screenplay Karey Kirkpatrick and Jack Rosenthal. Ooooohhh. Distribution will be split by SKG for US & non-European territories, and Pathe will cover Europe. All parties are excited. As Chicken Run has been in production for over two years now, they expect to deliver by christmas '98/ first quarter '99.
