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"I told ya they was organized!"

- Mr. Tweedy[1]

Mr. Willard Tweedy is the secondary antagonist of DreamWorks' 4th full-length animated feature film Chicken Run.

He is Mrs. Tweedy's ex-husband and former henchman who helps her run the farm and is often sent to check on the chickens. He suspects the chickens are planning to escape the farm, but Mrs. Tweedy refuses to believe it, calling him stupid and insane.

Appearance[]

Mr. Tweedy is an obese man with light brown eyes, a chubby, round face, and wears a dark green shirt and pants, a brown vest, yellow dress shirt, and blue scarf around his neck. He is often seen with a flat cap, black workman's boots, a trusty pitchfork, shotgun, and his vicious attack dogs with him.

Biography[]

In Chicken Run[]

"I'll teach YOU to make a fool out of me!"

- Mr. Tweedy before throwing Ginger in the Coal Bin

Mr. Tweedy married his wife while beginning his career as a poultry farmer then his chickens grew and layed more eggs until it was a bell call day when the Tweedy's count all the eggs layed per week and Edwina got killed because she did not lay enough eggs and was helping Ginger and the other chickens escape. In the end, he opens the door noticing his wife stuck on the broken pipe of chicken pie machine withba full of grave. He replies "I told you they was organized" and pushes the door.

Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget[]

Despite not making any physical appearance in the film, he does appear in flashbacks via stock footage from the first movie, particularly in the opening monologue from Rocky.

It is also implied that sometime between the first and second film, he divorced his wife (although the circumstances are unknown as to why), his wife would later go onto marrying Dr. Fry.

Personality[]

Mr. Tweedy is a bumbling, clumsy, obstinate, pertinacious and ill-tempered individual. He is dominated by his wife, Mrs. Tweedy, whom he is in terror of due to her verbal abuse and sometimes physical outrages against him. Mrs. Tweedy treats him more as if a servant than an equal partner and repeatedly undermines his self-worth, as well as references to his ancestors as poor worthless nothings.

While he is generally absentminded, oblivious and dull, Tweedy is rather "simple, not stupid" instead of outwardly dumb. It was this lack of wits that allowed him to understand that the chickens were actually very plotting and organised whereas his more intelligent wife disregarded them as "the most stupid creatures on this planet". He appears to have more mechanical skills, as he was able to rebuild the pie machine himself, albeit with some complications initially.

He also appears to have a genuine dislike for the chickens that he usually farms, as he shouted aggressively towards the onlooking hens after he trapped Ginger in a coal bin, similar to a prison warden demoralizing his inmates who attempted an escape. He is also especially disparaging and contemptuous towards Ginger, the leader of the flock as she repeatedly embarrassed him in front of his wife. This grudge was evident when he vengefully chose her to demonstrate the pie machine, claiming, "I've got a score to settle with you." Despite his obnoxious and abusive nature, he eventually turned happy and calm.

Relationships[]

Mrs. Tweedy[]

Mr. Tweedy has a very toxic relationship with his wife. He is constantly being belittled and physical abused (at times) by her, althought, he occasionally calls her "love", indicating that he was actually in love with her. His wife doesn't return the feeling. The reason for their marriage is currently a mystery (though it's possibly she only married him for the farm). He is more than afraid to stand up to her due to her overpowering personality and so he lets himself become manipulated beyond his control. He purposely goes on nightly patrols around the farm to avoid being with her at the house. When suspicions about the chickens arise, his attempts to get her to notice has only given her greater annoyance. At the end of the movie, after seeing his wife stuck in the machine, backs away slowly, and leaves her to her fate. Afterwards, he finds his wife in the rubble of their barn. Appearing to finally be fed up with her abuse, Mr. Tweedy cheekily points out that he was right about the chickens and pushes the barn door down on her; possibly as an act of getting back at her, injuring her.

During the end of Chicken Run, he left because Mrs. Tweedy acted like he was her personal servant

By the time of the sequel, Mr. Tweedy is nowhere to be found and the former Mrs. Tweedy is now married to Dr. Fry, implying they have all but divorced since the events of the last film. However, Melisha does make a subtle reference to him, keeping her (former) married name to him and proclaiming her disdain for both “husbands and chickens” after her current husband bungles up the job in similar manner to him.

Ginger[]

Mr. Tweedy showed a great deal of contempt to all the chickens, yelling at them much like a warden demoralizing inmates trying to escape, but the one he had the biggest vendetta on was Ginger. This was not only because he saw her as their (de facto) leader, but also because he caught her on another escape attempt. Mrs.. Tweedy showed up at their front door, demanding to know why she was outside the fence, and orders him to deal with her. He then throws Ginger in the coal bin and swears to make her pay for humiliating him. He would later act on this threat when he takes her to the pie machine. Deleted scenes and director’s cuts would eventually reveal that his suspicion of chickens stems from his childhood, where he witnessed his uncle dying at what was supposedly the beaks of chickens.

Trivia[]

  • At the end of the film, it is shown that Mr. Tweedy had seemingly pushed the barn door onto Mrs. Tweedy, possibly as revenge. He walks away shortly after.
  • He is the first DreamWorks antagonist character to start up as the central antagonist and later to cause the defeat of the titular main antagonist (Mrs. Tweedy).
  • Tony Haygarth, Mr. Tweedy's voice actor, had passed away in early 2017.
  • John Cleese, Eric Idle, Rowan Atkinson, Danny DeVito and Joe Pesci were all considered to voice Mr. Tweedy before Tony Haygarth was cast.
  • Unlike the first film, he does not appear in the second film due to his voice actor (Tony Haygarth) died in early 2017 (He only appeared in the flashback from the first film, in this sequel in the opening of the film.), instead, he has been replaced by Reginald Smith and Dr. Fry. He also appears in flashbacks from the first movie.
  • Despite lacking intelligence compared to Dr. Fry, he is physically competent and more experienced in dealing with the chickens as he had foiled Ginger and the Chicken's escapes multiple times.

Gallery[]

Mt54

Mr. Tweedy image gallery

  1. Chicken Run
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