A few years ago, British animation wizards Aardman Studios partnered up with streaming giants Netflix to bring a new Christmas film, 2021’s Robin Robin, to the small-big screen. Like almost all of the studio’s stop motion work, that film was charming and wonderfully silly. Evidently, it was a clucking good time for both, as the two are working together again to bring back two of the animation studio’s most beloved works.
A Chicken Run sequel was announced back in 2020, and now we’ve got an official title for the upcoming film. Chicken Run: Dawn Of The Nugget will land on Netflix in 2023, and a whole host of new voices will round out its cast. Thandiwe Newton and Zachary Levi will provide the voices of the central characters of Ginger and Rocky, respectively. It’s a bit of a bummer that the original voice of Ginger, Julia Sawalha, didn’t get asked back, but it’s a bit of a relief that Rocky’s original voice actor, Mel Gibson, got the proverbial axe.
Some of the first film’s voice actors, including Jane Horrocks, Imelda Staunton and Lynn Ferguson, will all be returning, along with the new additions of Romesh Ranganathan, David Bradley, Josie Sedgwick-Davies, Daniel Mays, and Nick Mohammed, the latter fresh off his fantastic heel turn in the second season of Ted Lasso.
The official synopsis reads: “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!”
In addition to the Chicken Run revitalization, Aardman is also bringing back their most beloved property, Wallace and Gromit. At the moment, it’s uncertainly whether the new production will take the form of a full-length feature film or another short film like the duo’s early work. In any case, it will be the first new Wallace and Gromit material in over a decade.
Do you want a synopsis for that one too? Of course, you do! Here you go: “Gromit’s concern that Wallace has become over-dependant on his inventions proves justified, when Wallace invents a ‘smart gnome’ that seems to develop a mind of its own… As events spiral out of control, it falls to Gromit to put aside his qualms and battle sinister forces – or Wallace may never be able to invent again!”
Whatever this new Wallace and Gromit production is, it will arrive in 2024 and even have its premiere on the BBC. That’s good news for the Brits, but bad news for Smart Gnomes.
