They may be made out of clay — or to be more accurate, a special molding resin called Plasticine — but the characters in "Chicken Run" have more life, if not more appeal, than the majority of their flesh-and-blood counterparts.

That shouldn't come as a complete surprise, considering the movie is the first full-length feature by Aardman Animation Studios, the folks who brought us the beloved "Wallace and Gromit" shorts and a series of almost-as-adored car ads for a particular brand of gasoline.

The good news here is that Aardman's trademark blend of absurdist slapstick gags, high-brow parodies and childlike whimsy can survive intact when the material is stretched out to feature length.

And even though this enjoyable comedy-adventure may not be quite as inventive as their very best work, and even if it runs on a bit too long, it's certainly head, shoulders and feathers above almost all of the "traditional" animated films out there, especially in terms of story quality.

That said, however, there is one major problem — the film's tone. While the majority of the film is lighthearted and sweetly goofy, there are a couple of scenes that are too frightening for some of the intended audience. (Parents may want to cover their children's eyes during these sequences, which are over fairly quickly.)

As for the story, older filmgoers will recognize many nods to "The Great Escape," as this flock of chickens tries to escape from their tyrannical owner, Mrs. Tweedy (voiced by Miranda Richardson). It seems she has the disturbing habit of eating the less-productive birds.

But it's not easy to get out of the farm. In fact, would-be escape artist Ginger (Julia Sawalha) has spent more time in "the box" than she has in the coop. So trying to smuggle an entire group of chickens out of the farm seems out of the question.

Fortunately, hope seems to arrive in the form of Rocky (Mel Gibson), a Rhode Island Red who claims to be able to fly, and who agrees to train the hens — in exchange for their hiding him from his circus captors.

The fast-talking Rocky quickly wins over the hens, even the initially skeptical Ginger. What they don't know, though, is that he may be lying about his abilities. What's worse, the Tweedys are preparing to change the farm from egg-producing to pie-making, and the crucial ingredient is chicken.

Few filmmakers are better at setting up a sight gag than co-director/co-creators Nick Park and Peter Lord. And the pun-filled script (by Karey Kirkpatrick) allows them to spoof the "Indiana Jones" movies, "Star Trek" and of course, "The Great Escape," along with other genre films.

While some of the film references may go over moviegoers' heads, there's still enough to enjoy here for audiences of all ages and backgrounds.

The film also features very good, distinctive voice work. Gibson's voice is quite recognizable, though he is wisely never allowed to run away with the film. That task falls to Scottish comedienne Lynn Ferguson and British stage actor Benjamin Whitrow, whose characters get the biggest laughs and nearly steal the show.

"Chicken Run" is rated G, though it does contain scenes of clay-animated violence and menace, some of which may be frightening to the very young. Running time: 85 minutes.

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E-mail: jeff@desnews.com