Leafie: A Hen into the Wild

Leafie: A Hen into the Wild (hangul: 마당을 나온 암탉) is a film based off the book The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly written by Hwang Sun-mi. The story is about freedom, will and instinctive motherly love of a hen as she raises an adopted duckling. The story was made into a film in 2011.

Plot
Leafie lives on a chicken farm where she is in a cage with many other egg-laying hens. However, she can't incubate the eggs even though they are her own. Dreaming of having her own young, she plans to escape the farm. While escaping, a weasel threatens Leafie, but Nagnae (a mallard duck, 나그네) helps her to escape. She arrives in the wild, and learns more about a female mallard duck (Wanderer), and soon sees Nagnae lose a fight against the weasel.

Finding an egg (which later turns out to be Wanderer's) in the wild, she takes care of it until it hatches. When it hatches, it thinks Leafie is its mother. Leafie cares for the duckling and names him "Chorok head" or "Greenie" (초록머리, 초록 in movie). Leafie takes Greenie to a nearby glade, where Greenie learns to swim from Mr. Otter and to fly from a bat and an owl. However, Greenie still feels left out because the local Mandarin ducks do not approve of his mother, who they think is crazy.

Eventually, a flock of wild ducks flies into the glade during autumn migration. Greenie initially is an outcast in the flock, even though his father was once a guard duck in the flock. Eventually, he is welcomed with open arms when he out-flies all other competitors in a contest to be the new guard duck.

After the competition, Leafie discovers a nest of baby weasels, indicating that the weasel that killed Nagnae is also a mother, getting food for her babies. Later, after Greenie leaves Leafie as the guard duck of the flock, the weasel comes. Leafie, feeling that she's done everything and knowing that the weasel only kills for her babies, allows herself to be killed and subsequently eaten, so the baby weasels will not starve.

Cast
Leafie

A hen who lives and escapes a chicken farm. She escapes by playing dead. She is the main protagonist.

Wanderer

Wanderer is a former guard duck. Guard ducks help defend the flock from predators. His mate was killed by Weasel in the book and film and the egg they left behind was the one Leafie hatched.

Rooster

A pompous and egotistical rooster on the chicken farm. Leafie admires him greatly.He is the true main antagonist.

Greenie

Greenie is the duck that Leafie raised. He was named for small green hairs on his head.

Mr. Otter

Mr. Otter is the local real estate agent who runs the wildlife community. He helps Leafie survive in the wild by helping her find a place to live and introducing her son to mentors, such as a bat and an owl who teach Greenie how to fly.

One-eyed Weasel

The weasel is portrayed as the anti heronie in the book and film, but later turns out to not be evil, instead she is looking for food for her starving children and herself. In the end of the film, Leafie allows the weasel to kill her and eat her so the baby weasels don't die.

Red Hair

A rival duck that competed with Greenie to be guard duck. He later becomes friends with Greenie.

Award
The film was nominated for Best Animation in the 5th Asia Pacific Screen Awards.

Leafie - La storia di un amore