Background Information

Some people would say that 'Attila the Hen' is an allegory. An allegory is a story that operates at two levels, telling us about chickens on the one hand but also about how badly we treat animals and our environment. Aesop’s Fables are good examples of allegories: 'The Tortoise and the Hare' – the story about the animals having a race – is also a way of advising people to take life more slowly. 'Animal Farm' by George Orwell is a story about a group of animals that rise up against a cruel farmer and run their own farm, but events and characters in the story match the events and people involved in a major revolution that took place in Russia.

'Attila the Hen' is also an example of anthropomorphism – a word that describes giving human characteristics to animals. It is what everyone does when they talk to their pets, and it is very common in stories and films. Any film or story where an animal talks is anthropomorphic. The 1995 film, 'Babe', is an excellent example where a piglet brought up by a sheepdog saves a farm, and the 'Lassie' films are earlier examples.

'Attila the Hen' is a cartoon to most people but to be more exact, it is an animated film. This has nothing to do with animals – it simply means that the picture moves. To make an animated film a series of illustrations (each with slight changes) or a model (moved slightly between each shot) is photographed and when the film is shown at normal speed the subjects move in a lifelike way. Modern technology is changing the way that animated films are made but the principle of taking a series of shots and linking them together is the same.

How many of these animated films have you seen?

'Dumbo' (1940)

'Bambi' (1942)

'Animal Farm' (1954)

'Lady and the Tramp' (1955)

'101 Dalmatians' (1961)

'An American Tail' (1986)

'Who Framed Roger Rabbit' (1988)

'Beauty and the Beast' (1991)

'The Lion King' (1994)

'Antz' (1998)

'A Bug's Life' (1998)

'Dinosaur' (2000)

Early Walt Disney films were made using literally thousands of painted pictures, each one slightly different. 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs' (1937) was the first big film to be made in this way. Later, stop-motion animation - the kind you see in the 1963 film of 'Jason and the Argonauts' – was introduced, where models are moved between each shot. 'Wallace and Gromit - The Wrong Trousers' (1993) was made using plasticine models on the same principle. Now, computers can be used to simulate the changes in illustrations by colouring the pixels that make up a digital screen. Often, this is done by using a film of a person doing something, analysing how the pixels change and then making the same thing happen to a cartoon character. Mixing animation and real people is a clever trick, and can be seen in 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit' (1988).

Animals have always featured in animated films. The first Mickey Mouse film was produced in 1928 and was followed by 'The Three Little Pigs' (1933). Bugs Bunny made his debut in 1940, 'Dumbo' was made in 1940 and 'Bambi' in 1942. Since then, there have been literally hundreds of similar films including many Disney classics and the film version of 'Animal Farm (1954)'. These films are still popular today. 'The Lion King' (1994) was hugely successful, and Disney’s most recent film, 'Dinosaur', produced using a mixture of techniques but making considerable use of computers, is proving just as popular.

The title of the film, 'Attila the Hen', is an example of a pun or a joke based on the sound of the words Hen and Hun. Attila the Hun was the leader of a people called the Huns who conquered much of the Roman Empire around 400AD. He and his followers were famous for their savagery and for destroying the civilised society built up by the Roman Empire.