Mr. Tweedy

Mr. Tweedy
Background Information
Films	Chicken Run
Voice	Tony Haygarth
Character information
Full Name	Willard Tweedy
Gender	Male
Status	Active
Quote	(To the chickens as he shouts)"Now let that be a lesson for the lot of ya! NO CHICKEN ESCAPES FROM TWEEDY'S FARM!" "I told you they was organized!" "Me tools! Why you thieving little buggers!" "Which ones?"

“I told you they was organized!”

―Mr. Tweedy's last words to Mrs. Tweedy

Willard Tweedy is Mrs. Tweedy's ex-husband and henchman in the DreamWorks film, Chicken Run. He was voiced by the late Tony Haygarth.

Mr. Tweedy was going around the chicken farm and when the Dogs spotted Ginger, when she was trapped, then Mrs. Tweedy asks why Ginger was outside the fence and Mr. Tweedy puts Ginger in the coal bin, but not before swearing revenge on her for making him look bad. In the morning, Mr. Tweedy opens the bin-door to let Ginger out and march to the gate.

Background

Not much is known about Mr. Tweedy's background. It is however revealed that his family has been in the chicken egg farming industry for generations, his family tree stretching back as far as his great grandfather's days. 

Personality

Mr. Tweedy is bumbling and dominated by Mrs. Tweedy, whom he is in terror of due to her verbal abuse and sometimes physical outrages against him. There is certainly no love lost between the two of them; Mrs. Tweedy treats him more as a servant than an equal partner and repeatedly undermines his self-worth. As a result, Mr. Tweedy was not overtly saddened upon her defeat. In fact, Mr. Tweedy was the one who pushed the door, causing it to fall on his wife, suggesting he was finally through with her. It is probably her berating of his ancestors and frequent ridicule that caused him to finally snap.

Whilst he is generally absent-minded and dull, Mr. 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 stupidest creatures on this planet". He also appears to have more mechanical skills as he was able to rebuild the pie machine himself, albeit with some complications initially.

Mr. Tweedy appears to have a genuine dislike for the chickens he farms as he yelled aggressively at the onlooking hens after he trapped Ginger in a coal bin, similar to a prison warden demoralizing his inmates who attempted an escape. He has a special contempt towards Ginger 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."

Physical Appearance

Mr. Tweedy fits the classic image of the archetypical big, dumb farmer from Yorkshire. He 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 a 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. Yet he never uses his shotgun in the entire movie.

Appearances

Chicken Run

In Chicken Run, Mr. Tweedy is the husband of Mrs. Tweedy and one of the two owners of the chicken farm on which the story takes place. Despite him being the one who technically owns the farm (seeing as how his father once owned it before him), Mr. Tweedy strictly obeys his wife's commands and rules. He is usually seen patrolling the farm looking for any signs of escaped chickens along with his dogs and a shotgun slung over his shoulder, but is also frequently seen alongside his wife.

Trivia

• Mr. Tweedy is the first DreamWorks character to start as an antagonist and cause the death or defeat of the primary antagonist. Dragon would also start off as an antagonist and devour Lord Farquaad in Shrek, and would later also cause the apparent death of Prince Charming in Shrek The Third. King Harold was the third to start off as an antagonist, but caused the death of the Fairy Godmother later in the film. Nana was the fourth, as she hated Alex throughout the first two Madagascar films, but dragged off Makunga in the second film. The Terror was the fifth, as she tried to kill Puss, Kitty and Humpty, but crushed Jack & Jill. The Nightmares were the sixth, as they spread nightmares along with Pitch, but took him down at the end.
• Mr. and Mrs. Tweedy's management on their chicken farm, as well as the chicken farm itself is somewhat equivalent to prisons (or rather super-maximum security) for humans in real life than normal real-life chicken farms for the following reasons:
  • Fences around Tweedy's family are covered with barbed wire in a similar manner to prisons in real life.
• It is said that all chickens must lay their eggs properly as well as never did any attempt to escape or punished via either locked within coal bin or death penalty through butchering. This is somewhat similar with real life prisons where all inmates must obey the rules within the prison or receiving severe punishment.
• Mr. Tweedy's job, along with his hounds, in the film are also comparable with security guards in a real life prison, while Mrs. Tweedy herself on the other hand, is comparable with a prison warden.
• John Cleese, Eric Idle, Rowan Atkinson, Danny DeVito and Joe Pesci were all considered to voice Mr. Tweedy before Tony Haygarth was cast.

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Media Films: Chicken Run • The Curse of the Were-Rabbit • Flushed Away Songs: Dancing with Myself • What's New Pussycat? Chicken Run Chickens: Ginger • Rocky Rhode Island Red • Babs • Bunty • Mac • Fowler • Edwina Others: Mrs. Tweedy • Mr. Tweedy • Nick and Fetcher • Dogs Wallace & Gromit Characters: Wallace • Gromit • Lady Tottington • Victor Quartermaine • Were-Rabbit • Hutch Flushed Away Main Characters: Roddy St. James • Rita Malone • Sid • The Toad Support Characters: Le Frog • Spike • Whitey • Slugs • Granny Malone • Marcel the Frog Mime • Tex the Rat