Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget (2023)
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After finding a safe sanctuary, a family of chickens must embark on a daring rescue mission when their daughter is abducted by an old enemy.
The story
Following their escape from Mr. and Mrs. Tweedy's Farm, a group of chickens has settled in an idyllic sanctuary on an island in a lake. Ginger and Rocky have started a family with a hatchling named Molly. However, the peace is threatened when Molly's curiosity leads her to the mainland. After being saved from a truck by a young chicken named Frizzle, the two friends stow away on a transport vehicle heading toward Fun-Land Farms. Concerned for their daughter's safety, Ginger and Rocky form a search party to track them down, only to discover the facility is a high-tech poultry processing plant.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Ginger and Rocky's daughter, Molly, and her new friend Frizzle stow away on a truck to Fun-Land Farms, which turns out to be a high-tech poultry processing plant run by Ginger's nemesis, Mrs. Tweedy, and her new husband, Dr. Fry. The facility uses electronic collars to turn chickens into mindless drones to produce nuggets for a fast-food businessman, Reginald Smith. Ginger and Rocky lead a rescue squad—including Babs, Bunty, Mac, and Fowler—to infiltrate the plant. Inside, they find the chickens being subjected to brainwashing. During the mission, Frizzle is captured and fitted with a collar, while Ginger is also captured and collared by Mrs. Tweedy. Rocky intervenes to free them. The group manages to turn a corn silo into popcorn to escape, but they decide to return to save the other chickens. In a final confrontation, the trio battles Mrs. Tweedy for the remote control of the collars. They succeed, and Mrs. Tweedy is breaded in a nugget machine. The chickens and rats escape in a truck, and the survivors return to their island, with Molly and Frizzle now acting as scouts to liberate other farms.
- First release year
- 2023
- Runtime (minutes)
- 101
- Production countries
- United Kingdom
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Sam Fell
- Writers
- Karey Kirkpatrick · screenplay; John O'Farrell · screenplay; Rachel Tunnard · screenplay; Karey Kirkpatrick · story; John O'Farrell · story
- Cast and characters
- Thandiwe Newton · Ginger; Zachary Levi · Rocky; Bella Ramsey · Molly; Imelda Staunton · Babs; Lynn Ferguson · Bunty; David Bradley · Fowler; Jane Horrocks · Mac; Romesh Ranganathan · Nick; Daniel Mays · Fetcher; Josie Sedgwick-Davies · Frizzle; Peter Serafinowicz · Reginald Smith; Miranda Richardson · Mrs. Tweedy
- Genres
- comedy; animation; adventure
- Themes
- family; bravery; freedom; environmental issues
- Tone and mood
- adventurous; witty; family-friendly
- Premise and plot tags
- sequel; animal adventure; escape; bravery
- Source material / true-story basis
- Chicken Run (2000)
- Franchise connections
- Chicken Run
- Content notes
- animal rights; environmental issues
- Reception
- The film received generally positive reviews from critics, though it was deemed inferior to its predecessor. It was described as ambitious, witty, and a family film made with care, though some critics found it mediocre.
- Reported review scores
- Metacritic · score: 63 · scale: 100 · review count: 30
- Production trivia
- The film's characters walked the red carpet at its world premiere because the cast was on strike.; Clay models were put in quarantine for 10 days in a tent with ultraviolet lights due to the COVID-19 pandemic.; Aardman declined a sequel in 2000 because they felt unready and exhausted.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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