SUMMARY: An anecdote about a chicken in the city is played out three times using different animation styles and time periods.
WHY IT’S HERE: Grant Orchard’s ‘A Morning Stroll’, is based on a supposedly true anecdote about an incongruous chicken spotted in a city. ‘A Morning Stroll’ retells its simple tale three times in a row but uses different time periods and animation styles each time. The chicken’s presence in an urban area immediately brings to mind the joker’s standard ‘Why did the chicken cross the road?’ and ‘A Morning Stroll’ plays out very much in the spirit of these short jokes. It’s amusing and visually interesting but ultimately the short feels a bit empty, possibly because as the visuals get more self-conscious they end up evoking nothing so much as ugly 90s advertising campaigns. However, the film is filled with energy and invention and its juxtaposition between the styles suggests that maybe the ugliness in the final part is deliberate.
