Putting into perspective how long it’s taken Aardman to produce a sequel to Chicken Run: when the first movie came out, you could grab a copy of Majora’s Mask for the N64 at Electronics Boutique after you saw it. 23 years of chaos later, the sequel will at last be appearing exclusively on Netflix, so you don’t have to leave your house at all (for that OR Majora’s Mask, now available through Nintendo Switch Online).
For those who don’t remember or weren’t alive yet (yikes), here’s what previously happened in Chicken Run 1: a group of British hens discover the woman who tends their coop plans to eventually shove them into a machine that dices them into pies. Desperate for any means of escape, they put their trust in an arrogant American rooster who is just conning them at first. But you know how these plots go; his lie is discovered, but his plan actually works and the chickens escape.
A generation later, both in real time and movie time, Ginger and Rocky have offspring and they’re living a peaceful life on a secluded island…but they soon learn of Mrs. Tweedy’s new plans, and they’re so dastardly that they can’t just sit there. First they broke out, now they’re breaking back in, to stop her once and for all. Thandiwe Newton reprises the voice of Ginger, but Zachary Levi replaces the antisemitic Mel Gibson as Rocky.
Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget premieres December 15 on Netflix.
