After 23 years it’s finally happening. Ginger, Babs and all the birds who escaped Tweedy’s farm are back as Netflix has given us a little “nugget” of information by revealing the release date for ‘Chicken Run 2′, and it’s set to arrive on the streaming platform just before Christmas this year.
Titled Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget, Netflix announced the news at Annecy International Animation Festival revealing the launch date of December 15 as well as a sneak peek of the stop-motion sequel.
The sequel’s synopsis said: “From the multi Academy and BAFTA award-winning Aardman (Creature Comforts, Wallace & Gromit, and Shaun the Sheep), and Academy Award® and BAFTA-nominated director Sam Fell (ParaNorman and Flushed Away, respectively), comes Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget, the eagerly anticipated sequel to the beloved and highest-grossing stop-motion animated film of all time, Chicken Run.
“Having pulled off a death-defying escape from Tweedy’s 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!”
As well as annoucing the release date for ‘Chicken Run 2’, Netflix has also revealed that the film will include some of the voices we know and love such as Lancashire lass Jane Horrocks as Babs, Imelda Staunton as Bunty and Lynn Ferguson as Mac. However, the sequel will also feature some new voices including The Last of Us‘ Bella Ramsey as Molly, Thandiwe Newton, replacing Julia Sawalha as Ginger and Zachary Levi, replacing Mel Gibson as Rocky. Also in the British-heavy voice cast are comedian Romesh Ranganathan, David Bradley, Daniel Mays and Nick Mohammed.
During a trip to Annecy International Animation Festival this week, Aardman Co-Founder and the film’s executive producer Peter Lord, commented: “It’s wonderful to be returning to Annecy, the greatest animation festival in the world. I came here years ago with Nick Park when we co-directed our first movie Chicken Run. We both felt that there hadn’t been nearly enough truly memorable chicken heroes in movies, and we set out to correct that injustice with our film.
“Since then, it’s been amazing to watch those characters become beloved by audiences all over the world. Well, now they’re making their return in Dawn of the Nugget – a thrilling new chapter which I’m delighted to say is being directed by the equally amazing Sam Fell. For all of us, humans and chickens alike, the adventure continues.”
Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget comes to Netflix on December 15.