A Christmas turkey is a long-held tradition for carnivorous Brits – but how about something different this year? Say, a (pre-)Christmas chicken? All of which is a ridiculous way of saying, the long-awaited Chicken Run sequel Dawn Of The Nugget finally had a release date – and it’s coming our way in the festive period. Netflix has confirmed, with a sweet little video teaser, that Aardman’s follow-up to the beloved 2000 original will be hatching on 15 December.
The sequel – from director Sam Fell, and writers Karey Kirkpatrick (who penned the original), John O’Farrell and Rachel Tunnard – will return to the Tweedy’s Farm escapees, bringing back familiar faces like Ginger, Rocky, Babs and Bunty, while also introducing Ginger and Rocky’s young chick, Molly. And, as the title suggests, after having narrowly avoided being turned into pies, the chickens face an even more terrifying culinary innovation: chicken nuggets.
While the original characters are returning, the voice cast features some changeover – Thandiwe Newton is taking over from Julia Sawalha as Ginger (Sawalha has been outspoken about her disappointment over not being asked to return), while Zachary Levi is replacing Mel Gibson as Rocky for, um, obvious reasons. The Last Of Us’ Bella Ramsey will voicing Molly. Plus, the likes of Romesh Ranganathan, Danny Mays, and Nick Mohammed have joined the ro(o)ster.
Over two decades later, can Dawn Of The Nugget live up the legacy of one of Aardman’s finest features? We clucking hope so. Bring on December.