Ginger is the main protagonist of Chicken Run. She is a young intelligent hen who all the farm British chickens view effectively as their leader and boss.
Appearance[]
Ginger is an orange, average-sized hen with light-yellow & dark brown tips on her hackle, fluff, and tail feathers. Her irises are olive-green.
She wears a dark-green woolly beanie hat, and the red comb on her head sticks out into two. She also wears a cream-coloured chiffon neck scarf decorated with dark floral patterns.
Personality[]
Ginger is a headstrong, level-headed, natural born leader who would stop at nothing to get what she wants. Having reasonably more common sense and intelligence compared to the other chickens, she had came up with the majority of plans to escape the dystopian farm; which she pursues with relentless persistence. Although initially failing plan after plan, she had kept her head held high to the sky and stuck by her vision of paradise, despite all the contradiction and unsuccessful efforts.
Determined and optimistic; the miserable life at the chicken farm hadn't crushed her spirit. She works hard not only for herself, but for others too. Ginger knows she is perfectly capable of escaping the farm for herself easily but she chooses to escape with her friends by her side.
As well as her caring nature she is also quite sassy and possesses a no-nonsense attitude. She doesn't take flak from anyone, shown especially when she initially meets Rocky. Her assertiveness makes her an excellent leader and coordinator to the hens.
In Dawn of the Nugget, it's shown that Ginger still has a lot of trauma from her time at Mrs. Tweedy's farm. This, combined with her being a mother to Molly now, has caused her to become overprotective of Molly, so much so that she orders the chickens to hide the Chikin Sanctuary island when she finds a reason to fear that the humans may find it. However, Ginger proves that she is still as strong-willed as ever, as she goes to rescue Molly after she gets taken to Fun-Land Farms. As the movie progresses, Ginger regains her former bravery and proactiveness and learns to trust Molly to handle herself a bit more, even allowing her to leave the island to look for other chickens in trouble at the end.
Relationships[]
Rocky[]
Ginger is currently in a loving relationship with Rocky.
Chicken Run[]
Rocky telling Ginger he dislikes her, with Ginger not caring.
Initially, Ginger was very excited to be meeting Rocky because she had been feeling down about all her failed escape attempts. Once she saw him "fly" over the farm fence she gained her motivation back immediately. She saw him as a "miracle" and wholeheartedly believed he would help her greatly. On the other hand, Rocky did not show Ginger much respect at first. When asked nicely if he could help train the hens how to "fly", he flat-out kept refusing and showed a sudden switch in personality. While everyone else had fallen for his charms and good looks, Ginger saw his more rude and selfish nature. After learning he was from the circus, Ginger began behaving more snarky towards him in response to his constant wisecracks.
Progressing through the story, Rocky was shown to slack off a lot much to Ginger's annoyance. He was taking advantage of the deal she had made with him and wasn't at all worried about the hens' life or death situation. He was also shown to be a excellent liar, seen when negotiating with Nick and Fetcher while promising them eggs in return. His lying nature mirrors Ginger's value for honesty and trust. Rocky sees Ginger as too serious and a big stick-in-a-mud, while Ginger sees Rocky as careless and selfish. They grew a disliking for each other.
Ginger questioning why Rocky isn't participating in the training.
When Ginger gets captured by Mr. Tweedy to be put into the pie machine, all of the hens go nuts as their main source of ease and control is suddenly gone. They immediately look to Rocky to save her. He infiltrates the machine and chases after Ginger, who is massively relieved that he had arrived. After helping her escape, Ginger praises him greatly and gives all the credit to him for stopping the machine, even though she also briefly saved him too in the process.
Ginger's small but significant talk with Rocky on the roof.
The roof scene is where Ginger and Rocky's relationship kindles. After the party and rescue, Ginger feels more open around Rocky and is comfortable with sharing her feelings. She mentions that she thanks him for saving her and everyone's lives by simply being here, and talks about her dreams of going over the fence. Rocky feels nervous about sharing his feelings and is flustered with his words, which is very different to how he talked to Ginger initially. He grows a heart for her and all the hens and had stopped calling her derogatory nicknames like he had previously done.
Later, Ginger eventually discovers he cannot fly but rather the act he saw before was only him being shot out of a cannon. Rocky had quickly left beforehand to avoid facing her and breaking her heart. Ginger feels utter betrayal and is frustrated at him for being a traitor, but she is also frustrated at herself for not finding out sooner and being blinded by his charms just like everyone else. She loses all hope and wants to forget about Rocky entirely.
Ginger and Rocky's reconciliation and the bloom of their new relationship.
She gets reminded of him again in the midst of everyone building the escape plane, with Babs uttering in response to her, "No problem, Doll-face.". At this point, she realises she misses him greatly.
Rocky returns miraculously to the farm to which Ginger is extremely grateful for. On the plane, Ginger slaps him across the face for leaving the farm, as "payback" but proceeds to directly kiss him afterwards, now securing their romantic relationship. They now live in paradise/the chicken sanctuary in peace and harmony.
Dawn of the Nugget[]
Dawn of the Nugget expands on Rocky's and Ginger's relationship after the events of the first movie. It's shown that Rocky admires Ginger's bravery during her time at Mrs. Tweedy's farm and also that her influence has noticeably softened him. Rocky now calls Ginger by her name or by "Ginge" rather than any of the belittling and condescending nicknames he gave her in the original movie and the two are shown to have a playful water splash fight during the montage of Molly growing up.
However, this doesn't mean that their relationship is completely flawless, as Rocky at one point tells Molly about how he and Ginger used to live outside of Chikin Sanctuary, which leads to Molly leaving the island. On the way to the mainland, Ginger and Rocky have a small argument about the incident, with Ginger being angry at Rocky for telling Molly about being a "Lone Free Ranger" and Rocky calling Ginger out for being so overprotective of Molly. It's also shown that while Ginger prefers to be cautious and have things planned out, Rocky prefers to leap into action without any plan; this leads to him getting sucked down the Fun-Land Farms garbage chute, much to Ginger's annoyance.
In spite of that, Rocky and Ginger have a loving and trusting relationship and are willing to protect each other when it comes to it, with Rocky being just as concerned for Ginger as he is for Molly. When the three reunite and Ginger admits that she is scared that Molly is too much like her, Rocky claims that to him, there is nothing wrong with being like her, calling her "the best". Rocky also happily returns to the Fun-Land Farms to rescue Frizzle and all of the chickens when he sees that Ginger and Molly want to do it and Ginger learns to trust Rocky with his leaps of faith.
Mac[]
Chicken Run[]
Ginger commemorating Mac after the completion of the plane.
Mac is Ginger's right-hand hen and seemingly the most intelligent after her. Together they make an excellent duo, with Ginger thinking up all the escape plans and Mac figuring out the mechanics. Ginger trusts Mac greatly as without her, her plans wouldn't become reality.
Mac also supports her a ton; she even goes along with her most ludicrous of plans because she knows that Ginger cares deeply about escaping and would not want to let her down.
Babs[]
Ginger comforting Babs when she is about to be confronted by Mrs Tweedy.
Chicken Run[]
Ginger is good friends with Babs. She looks out for her especially since she's a slow-thinker and a bit naive. Despite Babs' senselessness which tires Ginger most times, Ginger knows inside that she is a very soft-hearted hen and would do anything to protect her.
Bunty[]
Chicken Run[]
Bunty telling Ginger her dreams of paradise are ridiculous and utterly impossible to reach.
Ginger is also good friends with Bunty, but to a lesser extent due to their clashing beliefs. Since Bunty is a more cynical character she often criticises Ginger's ideal look in life and is very blunt with her words towards her; this gives her a slight antagonistic vibe. She represents the doubt in Ginger; the pessimism to her optimism. Bunty is more of a realist and tells things how they are, unlike Ginger, who is a big dreamer and longs for change. Otherwise, they are good friends. Bunty knows at heart that Ginger wants the absolute best in everyone, and respects this.
Fowler[]
Ginger salutes Fowler after convincing him to fly the plane.
Chicken Run[]
Ginger views Fowler as sort of a father-type figure. As with everybody else, she reluctantly puts up with his constant ramblings about his RAF days; however his stories did eventually give her the inspiration to build the escape plane at the end. Fowler respects Ginger as a leader and follows her orders, despite being the eldest character present.
Nick & Fetcher[]
Chicken Run[]
Nick & Fetcher negotiating with Ginger.
Ginger generally sees Nick and Fetcher as a pair of thieving crooks, who only think about themselves and what they gain when making a negotiation. Despite being distasteful of their behaviour, she works in association with them when conducting escape plans, requesting them to fetch various items for her in exchange for eggs. They aren't exactly friends but are in partnership with each other at the most.
Mr. Tweedy & Mrs. Tweedy[]
Chicken Run[]
Ginger is sworn enemies with both the farmers, particularly Mrs. Tweedy. She despises their actions and how they treat her and everyone else. Their mistreatment of the farm is the sole reason she wants to escape in the first place.
Ginger after getting let out of the coal box by Mr. Tweedy.
Ginger always gets caught in the midst of her escapes by Mr. Tweedy, and in return he isolates her in a coal box overnight as punishment. They have a mutual disliking for each other. Mr. Tweedy is always very suspicious of Ginger as he has seen her escape multiple times while constantly showing mysterious, non-chicken like behaviour. He suspects the chickens are always "...up to something" and is quite obsessed with trying to catch them out in the act, which greatly annoys his wife.
Mrs. Tweedy trying to attack Ginger mid-air.
Ginger rivals with Mrs. Tweedy. Although not having much interaction with each other until later in the film, Ginger knows she is ultimately cruel and heartless by the way she treats the other chickens; and even her own husband. Mrs. Tweedy sees Ginger as just another "stupid, worthless creature...", and a mere tool for her own profits. At the end of the film, Ginger cuts Mrs. Tweedy off the fairy lights in revenge for all the horrible things she had done.
Trivia[]
- Ginger, along with Rocky, were named after co-Director Nick Park's childhood pet chickens.
- In an early version of Chicken Run, Ginger was going to have a little brother named Nobby. He was removed in an attempt to make the film "less cute."
- Julia Sawalha, the voice actress for Ginger in Chicken Run, played the character "Saffron" in the British sitcom Absolutely Fabulous (1992).
- Drew Barrymore, Winona Ryder, Brittany Daniel, Linda Cardellini, Edie Falco, Meg Ryan, Jennifer Aniston, Jodi Benson and Jessalyn Gilsig were all considered for the role of Ginger.
- Ginger appears in a Christmas commercial for Google+ where she unwraps a present of a teapot in a video call meeting with multiple other Aardman characters. it is unknown whether this is canon.
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