How long did it take to make Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget? Details explored

Chicken Run 2 (Image via IMDb)
Chicken Run 2 (Image via IMDb)

Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget is a 97-minute movie that took over two decades to come to fruition. Released on December 15, 2023, the movie is a sequel to the original Chicken Run, which was released in 2000 and concluded with Ginger, Rocky, and the entire gang of chickens escaping Tweedy's farm.

Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget builds on the original but with a more expansive and intricate setting. Since fans had been waiting for a larger Claymation picture like Chicken Run for so long, a more modest sequel wouldn't have been worth the investment.


Why did it take 23 years to make Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget?

The Aardman movie, Chicken Run, was a unique stop-motion animated movie with a mix of silly ideas and serious issues. The plot about chickens escaping horrific fates intrigued young viewers. The 2023 film Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget is the continuation of the classic Chicken Run, which is the highest-grossing stop-motion animated movie.

Fans have therefore wondered why it has taken so long for the sequel to arrive. Ian Whitlock, the key animator in the original movie, said (via Netflix) that it was beyond Aardman's anticipation to take on such a big project as Chicken Run: Dawn Of The Nugget back in 2000 or even for a long time after that.

The action in Chicken Run is elevated to a whole new level in its sequel, which means more work for Aardman's animators. Ian Whitlock, the film's animation supervisor and a major animator in the first picture, stated via Netflix that there was no way they could have produced a sequel of this magnitude except until recently, given the state of technology and the kind of funding required.

Since everything in Chicken Run happened on a single set, Whitlock has clarified that the movie was somewhat tiny in the context of stop-motion. Conversely, the universe of Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget is the wide open area where the titular chicken escaped. For instance, the house Rocky, Ginger, and the others built for themselves in the movie's sequel is situated on an abandoned island.


The Chicken Run sequel had to be larger to be worthwhile

With Chicken Run's popularity, Aardman could have been able to pull off a smaller-scale sequel in the early 2000s. It's improbable, though, that this would have worked well enough to warrant the expenses and time invested.

For viewers to be drawn back to the same characters, claymation as a storytelling technique had to be elevated to a new level. If the company had made a movie with a smaller budget and fewer characters, as opposed to the hundreds of chickens in Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget, people might not have been intrigued enough.

Director Sam Fell, in his interview with Collider, explained why it had therefore taken so long to bring the sequel.

"On the one hand, I want to really honor the first film and the fans, but it was done quite a long time ago, and I want to make it for now, for a new audience as well. It's taken a long time to find a story, the story that's worthy of the next chapter."

What happens in Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget?

youtube-cover

The latest movie reunites Ginger, Rocky, Babs, and the rest of their feathery companions, but instead of breaking out, they want to break into Mrs. Tweedy's most recent evil chicken factory.

Molly hatches and everyone is happy, almost completing Ginger's happy ending after she escapes Tweedy's Farm. Yet, Molly leaves the island soon after, outgrowing it, and heads for the mainland. At the exact moment, word spreads of a fresh, deadly threat aiming to wipe out every chicken on the mainland.

Apparently, everything in Dr. Fry's lab would be turned into chicken nuggets, as per his wife Mrs. Tweedy's plan. Ginger and her group decide to leave their freedom behind, go to the mainland, break into Dr. Mark Fry's locked lab, and save all the chickens when they discover that Molly is about to die.


Released on Netflix on December 15, Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget is available to watch for all those who have a Netflix subscription.

Edited by Susrita Das
Sportskeeda logo
Close menu
WWE
WWE
NBA
NBA
NFL
NFL
MMA
MMA
Tennis
Tennis
NHL
NHL
Golf
Golf
MLB
MLB
Soccer
Soccer
F1
F1
WNBA
WNBA
More
More
bell-icon Manage notifications