“ | This time they're breaking in! | „ |
~ Tagline |
Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget (also known as Chicken Run 2) is a 2023 British stop-motion animated comedy film. The film was produced by French studio Pathé and British studio Aardman Animations in partnership with Netflix. A sequel to Chicken Run (2000), the film was directed by Sam Fell, from a screenplay by Karey Kirkpatrick and John O'Farrell, and a story by Fell. The film was released on Netflix 15th December 2023.
Summary[]
Having pulled off a death-defying escape from Tweedy’s English farm, Ginger has finally found her dream – a peaceful island sanctuary for the whole flock, far from the dangers of the human world. When she and Rocky hatch a little girl called Molly, Ginger’s happy ending seems complete. But back on the mainland the whole of chicken-kind faces a new and terrible threat. For Ginger and her team, even if it means putting their own hard-won freedom at risk – this time, they’re breaking in!
Plot[]
Since the chickens escaped from Mr and Mrs Tweedy's Farm, they have settled in an idyllic sanctuary on an island in a lake, where they can live happily, safe from humans. Ginger and Rocky start a family with a hatchling named Molly. The rats Nick and Fetcher visit periodically with supplies.
Molly grows into an adventurous 11-year-old, whom Ginger and Rocky try to protect from the outside world. The appearance of trucks and construction on the mainland concern Ginger that another chicken farm is being built, and with her more cautious perspective as a parent, she leads her community in better hiding themselves.
Molly's curiosity draws her to sneak away to the mainland, where she is saved from being run over by a teenage chicken named Frizzle. The two friends stow away on a truck full of chickens being taken to Fun-Land Farms, which looks appealing to them. Ginger and Rocky form a search party with chickens Babs, Bunty, Mac, and Fowler; they give chase and find that the "farm" is a highly-advanced poultry processing plant bristling with security systems.
Inside, Molly and Frizzle find an expansive amusement area, where the other chickens – all wearing numbered electronic collars – go on rides, play games, etc. Rocky impulsively catapults into the compound, inadvertently activating various security systems, giving Ginger and the others the info they need to infiltrate. They are joined by Nick and Fetcher, who are separated from the others, but meet up with Rocky.
Molly and Frizzle discover that the collars turn the other chickens into brainless smiling zombies when activated. Frizzle is caught by the facility's scientist Dr Fry and given a collar; Molly leaves, promising to come back for her.
Ginger reunites with Molly, and learns in horror that her nemesis Mrs Tweedy is running the operation alongside Dr Fry, her new husband. The collars serve to suppress the chickens' fear, to make tastier chicken nuggets for Reginald Smith, a fast-food chain businessman looking for new food items. Mrs Tweedy captures Ginger and puts a collar on her, which she resists unsuccessfully, but Rocky intervenes and Molly frees her. The hens, rooster, and rats are reunited in a corn silo, which they escape by turning it into popcorn. Molly mourns the fate of Frizzle, prompting Ginger and the others to turn back and help the other chickens as well.
Mrs Tweedy orders Dr Fry to start production of chicken nuggets, beginning a struggle for the remote control that brainwashes the chickens, between Mrs Tweedy and the team of Rocky, Ginger, and Molly, while the rest of the rescue squad try to hold back the chickens marching mindlessly into the processor. The chicken trio win the fight, sending Mrs Tweedy into the machine to be breaded like a chicken nugget, while the whole population of chickens and the rats escape in a truck. Mrs Tweedy tries to stop them, but Fowler knocks her into the compound's moat, where she is stopped by the facility's security, as the site explodes from the chickens' sabotage.
The chickens return to the island, and their life returns to normal, now with Molly and Frizzle doing aerial reconnaissance for chicken farms on the mainland, and the chicken crew liberating those they find.
Cast and Characters[]
- Thandiwe Newton as Ginger
- Zachary Levi as Rocky
- Bella Ramsey as Molly
- Romesh Ranganathan as Nick
- Daniel Mays as Fetcher
- David Bradley as Fowler
- Lynn Ferguson as Mac
- Imelda Staunton as Bunty
- Jane Horrocks as Babs
- Josie Sedgwick-Davies as Frizzle
- Nick Mohammed as Dr. Fry
- Miranda Richardson as Mrs. Tweedy
- Peter Serafinowicz as Reginald Smith
- David Brooks as Burly Guard
- Dan Williamson as Van Driver
- Tom Doggart as 2D Narrator & Male Guards
- Sam Fell as 2D Animated Boy & Dying Moth
- Naomi McDonald as 2D Animated Mum, Beryl & Chicken 314
- Kate Harbour as Biscuit Chicken & Female Guards
- Tim Bentinck as Gate Guard
- Sophie Smith as Snail
Production[]
Development[]
A sequel to Chicken Run was announced on 26 April 2018. Aardman Animations will reunite with Studiocanal for the sequel though unlike the first film, neither DreamWorks Animation nor its current parent company, Universal Pictures, will have any involvement, as DreamWorks had ended their partnership with Aardman in January 2007, after the release of Flushed Away on 3 November 2006.
Sam Fell, co-director of Flushed Away, is attached to direct, with Paul Kewley and Nick Park producing. The original Chicken Run writers Karey Kirkpatrick and John O'Farrell will return for the sequel. Aardman co-founders Peter Lord and David Sproxton will serve as executive producers.
Pre-production[]
On 16 October 2019, the film officially began pre-production. On 23 June 2020, Netflix purchased the worldwide distribution rights to the film, excluding China.
Casting[]
On 23 June 2020, it was announced that Mel Gibson will not be reprising his role as Rocky the Rooster from the original film, with his character expected to be recast instead, due to actress Winona Ryder accusing him of making an antisemitic remark to her, whilst attending a party in 1995. On 10 July 2020, Julia Sawalha expressed her indignation when she learned that her role as Ginger will be recast with a younger actress, due to the film's producers believing that her voice sounded "too old". On 20 January 2022, it was announced that Thandiwe Newton and Zachary Levi had been cast as Ginger and Rocky respectively, with Jane Horrocks, Imelda Staunton, and Lynn Ferguson reprising their roles from the original. Bella Ramsey, Romesh Ranganathan, David Bradley, and Daniel Mays have also been cast in undisclosed roles.
Filming[]
Principal photography was expected to commence in 2021.
Videos[]
Transcript[]
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- The film was originally scheduled to be released in 2020, but was pushed back to December 15, 2023 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Gibson was fired from his role as Rocky owing to an anti-semitic joke he made to fellow actor Winona Ryder at a party in 1995.
- Sawalha's character, Ginger was simply recast by studio executives, who felt she sounded too old for the character. This decision drew controversy, with some pointing out that the decision was ageist.
- This is the second sequel movie produced by Aardman.
- This will be Aardman's first feature film with Netflix as well as their first non-theatrical feature film
- It is also currently the only sequel produced by Aardman not to be related to Wallace and Gromit in any way.
- this will be Aardman's first feature film with Netflix and their first non-theatrical feature film. Netflix will also be Aardman's fourth distribution company after DreamWorks Animation, Sony Pictures Animation and StudioCanal.
- This is the first Chicken Run film to be rated PG by the MPAA, unlike the first film, which was rated G.
- WILHELM SCREAM: can be heard when a security guard is lured away by the cake rocket-trolley. this is the third Aardman film to use the Wilhelm Scream after Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit and Flushed Away.
- this is the third Aardman film to be rated PG in Australia after Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit and Early Man.
References[]
External links[]
- Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget on Wikipedia
- Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget on IMDb
- Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget on Chicken Run Wiki
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