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Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget introduces a new adventure for everyone’s favorite stop-motion chickens, more than two decades after they were last on screen.
The Aardman sequel picks up with Ginger and the gang living on an idyllic island bird sanctuary after escaping Mrs. Tweedy’s farm. However, when she and Rocky’s daughter, Molly, decides she wants to see more of the world, the chicks must fly the coop and rescue her from a familiar foe.
"It's really an evolution I think is the word and also, another word I've used is reboot in a way," Fell tells us about balancing new and returning cast members. "I feel like it's been so long since the first film and I'm a new director coming to it. I felt like I wanted to be taking a fresh take. I adore the first film and I think the cast was fantastic and perfect in the first film for that story, but now here we are all this time later. I wanted to find a way to evolve it and make it its own film."
Fell adds that it was when he was working with a casting director to find the actor to play Molly that he made the decision to recast some other key roles, including Ginger and Rocky. Originally, Ginger was played by Julia Sawalha and Rocky by Mel Gibson, but in Dawn of the Nugget, Thandiwe Newton and Zachary Levi pick up the mantle.
"With some of the old leads like Ginger, her story is so new and she's evolving," Fell adds. "Her character and her story are more complex now, being the strong hero but also more vulnerable now being a mother. Thandiwe Newton popped out for me like a light bulb went off and I loved her in Westworld, and I really felt I saw that combination of strength and vulnerability in her and I adore her voice."
Rocky’s recasting was similar, as Fell explains he’s got a "very different role" in this story. "Now Rocky is already in the movie, he’s not arriving and is a slightly more comedic character, to be honest," the director adds. "I'm a Zachary Levi fan, I think he's got great comic timing and he has a brilliant warmth and charm to him."
Of course, not all of the characters were recast in the sequel, which features several returning cast members. Jane Horrocks is back as Babs, Imelda Staunton returns as Bunty, and Miranda Richardson plays villain Mrs. Tweedy once again.
Explaining this, Fell adds: "Other roles I just didn't see the point of changing. I just felt that they were still absolutely bang on right. Miranda Richardson has this unique quality, she’s really funny and really scary at exactly the same moment. I just didn't think there was any better idea there."
Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget arrives in theaters on December 8 and on Netflix on December 15. For what else to stream, check out our guides to the best Netflix movies and the best Netflix shows currently available.
