If you haven’t seen Chicken Run’s recent-to-Netflix sequel, Dawn of the Nugget, I’d advise you to fix that ASAP. The movie’s earned an 83% audience score on review site RottenTomatoes, and having seen it myself recently, I get the hype.
The film focuses on the daughter of the original Chicken Run’s Ginger and her adventures on the mainland, away from the chicken haven her revolutionary parents have helped to establish.
But one detail in the film completely escaped my notice on the first watch; in fact, it wasn’t until I watched TikToker Luke Poulton’s video on the topic that I spotted it.
In one scene, where the chickens who have escaped the evil Tweedy’s farm in the first film are assembled behind leaves, the movie pans out to reveal all the birds at once.
But, after sharing his shocked face, Luke zoomed his camera into the background of the scene, revealing that Aardman had snuck Feathers McGraw ― the villainous penguin from Wallace and Gromit ― into the fray.
People had thoughts
“Feathers McGraw is always just around the corner,” one commenter said.
“Does this imply Feathers McGraw was in the chicken farm?” another asked (personally, I think he’s just a big believer in avian liberation).
“He is so back in the next [Wallace and Gromit], mark my words,” yet another commenter said. I’d believe it.
Dawn of the Nugget was 23 years in the making
I can understand a little better why the crew put so much effort into the details of the movie after learning it took 23 years to make.
That’s because the technology, budget, and scale needed for the sequel ― which was far, far more intense than the single-set Chicken Run ― was out of reach for Aardman until recently.
In fact, the film’s animation supervisor, Ian Whitlock, pointed out that an establishing shot of the chicken’s safe haven island at the start of the film took “over six months to complete from the initial brief to preparing and shooting” because the set was so enormous.
Ah, Aardman ― never change.
You can watch Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget on Netflix in the UK.