Warning: This article contains major spoilers for Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget.
Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget follows up the 2000 Aardman classic Chicken Run and is filled with just as many heartwarming, inspiring, and hilarious quotes. Set shortly after the conclusion of the first film, the sequel follows Ginger, Rocky, Babs, Bunty, Mac, and the rest of the gang on another adventure, this time in the open world rather than on a small chicken farm. In many ways, these characters haven’t changed a bit, still delivering on the unique brand of comedy Aardman is known for. However, the various quotes of Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget also demonstrate just how far these characters have come.
The Chicken Run sequel picks up shortly after the titular poultry made their great escape from Tweedy Farms. Having established a safe haven on a secluded island, Ginger and Rocky welcome an adorable little chick named Molly, who turns out to be every bit as passionate about freedom as her mother. Unfortunately, little Molly has no idea how dangerous the world really is. So, when she decides to set out on her own adventure, she winds up trapped on a chicken farm full of mysteriously cheerful chickens. Like its predecessor, Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget is a wild ride full of daring escapes, all summed up by some of the film’s best quotes.
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10 “Do You Know Who That Freedom Fighter Was? Your Very Own Mom.”
Rocky To Molly Before She Hatched
Netflix’s Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget starts with a voiceover from Rocky (now voiced by Zachary Levi rather than Chicken Run‘s Mel Gibson), who fills audiences in on everything that happened in the previous film. By the end of this summary, it’s revealed that the quirky rooster had really been telling this story to his unhatched chick, explaining all the effort that had gone into bringing her into a free world. This line also served to remind audiences what a kick-butt little chicken Ginger had been and draw attention to the fact that she had begun to forget this fact herself.
9 “I’d Say Our Little Island Paradise Just Got A Little More Paradisier.”
Rocky To Ginger & The Gang After Molly Hatched
The chickens of Chicken Run had done well for themselves by the sequel’s start. Their island paradise (which was among the largest sets for Chicken Run 2) came with everything they would need—they grew their own food (even figured out how to make popcorn), built rather sophisticated houses, and received deliveries of any necessities from their rat friends, Fetcher and Nick. For this reason, Ginger and Rocky felt secure enough to bring little Molly into their paradise, truly turning the place into a home. Of course, the chick herself would wind up disagreeing about the island being any “paradisier” than a chicken farm.
8 “We Can’t Risk Our Freedom By Venturing Into A World That Finds Chickens So Delicious.”
Ginger To Mac When She Decided To Conceal The Island
Ginger greatly changed between Chicken Run and Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget. The traumatic experience of escaping Tweedy Farms had taken quite a toll, and she had since become terrified that Molly would have to endure the same things. This caused Ginger to be overprotective of her daughter. Therefore, when she saw humans beginning to clear the forests on the mainland, rather than attempt to interfere like she usually would have, she told her fellow chickens that they all must hide. The retired freedom fighter simply couldn’t risk the world discovering how delicious her daughter was.
7 “Wherever That Truck Is Going, It’s Going To Be Cooler Than A Penguin’s Toenails.”
Frizzle To Molly After Seeing the Fun-Land Farms Truck
Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget introduced a new little chicken, Frizzle, who quickly became pals with Molly. After escaping the island, Ginger’s daughter promptly got herself into trouble (not knowing that she should get out of the way of oncoming traffic), and it was Frizzle who helped get her out of it. Of course, Molly’s new friend wasn’t as worldly as she thought since it was her greatest asperation to get onto the Fun-Land Farms truck. When talking about this dream, she used her rather unique simile, and though Molly had no idea what toenails or penguins were, she was immediately intrigued by this new chicken.
6 “What Chicken Doesn’t Want To Have Their Own Bucket?”
Molly To Frizzle After Learning About Fun-Land Farms
To Molly and Frizzle, the Fun-Land Farms logo, which featured a chicken popping out of a bucket, looked like the most appealing thing they could imagine. The chicks were sure nothing could be better than having a bucket to themselves. Of course, it’s evident to human audiences that this is the sort of bucket that serves up delicious fried chicken and, therefore, shouldn’t be something Molly and Frizzle would be so excited over. Ultimately, this line in Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget demonstrated just how adorably out of touch these youngsters were.
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5 “Last Time, We Broke Out Of A Chicken Farm. Well, This Time… We’re Breaking In.”
Ginger To The Gang While Creating A Plan To Rescue Molly
This line from Ginger is perhaps the best way to summarize the plot of Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget. The movie from 2000 was set entirely within Tweedy Farms, and was about the impossible task of getting the doomed chickens to greener pastures. The sequel, on the other hand, starts out in the broad open world and sees Ginger and her crew taking part in a Mission Impossible-style heist to get into a heavily secured chicken farm. It’s a delightful twist of events and one that the quirky gang of poultry was even more ill-equipped for. Of course, under Ginger’s guidance, they could handle anything to save Molly.
4 “A Happy Chicken Is A Tasty Chicken.”
The Fun-Land Farms Promotional Video
The greatest surprise of Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget was that Fun-Land Farms, run by the same Mrs. Tweedy from Chicken Run, used electronic collars that made the chickens so placidly happy that they didn’t care a bit if they were tossed in a grinder to be made into chicken nuggets. Tweedy likely hoped that this would ensure that her chickens never again got clever enough to sabotage her, but, as the promotional video for Fun-Land Farms explained, the collars also made the chickens taste better. Since tense, frightened chicken means tough meat, chickens that die happy are juicier and more tender—pretty disturbing for Ginger and her pals.
3 “Oh, I Call This Smart Casual.”
Fetcher To Nick After Being Asked “What Gear Are You In?”
Nearly all the characters of Chicken Run had their own hilarious one-liners, but the rats Fetcher and Nick serve as the primary comedic relief of the film. This continued into Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget, where the duo’s banter remained a significant highlight. Though never a major part of the plot, their lines were often so fast that it takes a moment to appreciate the wit. An example of this is when Fetcher and Nick are driving the getaway truck—when Nick asks what gear Fetcher had the truck in, he misunderstands and answers what sort of clothes he is wearing.
2 “Husbands And Chickens, The Bane Of My Life.”
Mrs. Tweedy Talking About Her Greatest Woes
Another significant reveal of Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nuggets is that the terrible Aardman Animations villains, Mr. and Mrs. Tweedy, got divorced following the events of the previous film. Since then, Mrs. Tweedy had remarried, though she was just as exasperated and cruel toward her new husband as she had been her last. Dr. Fry was a wealthy (though somewhat bumbling) genius who invented the collars that kept the chickens happy, but that was about the most use Tweedy had managed to get out of him. The only thing she hated worse was the chickens, and in the end, it was Ginger and her gang, combined with Dr. Fry’s overly aggressive security system, that led to Mrs. Tweedy’s downfall.
1 “Let’s Just Call This Our Happy Beginning.”
Ginger To Rocky At The End Of Chicken Run: Dawn Of The Nugget
At the beginning of Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget, Ginger was eager to put her adventures behind her and enjoy her happily ever after. She believed if she, her family, and her friends stayed secluded on their island, nothing terrible would ever happen to them again. However, through her daughter’s example, Ginger ultimately remembered who she really was. By the end of the Chicken Run sequel, she had decided to use her expertise to help chickens escape from farms all over the county and join their community of free birds. When Rocky noted that they finally had found their happy ending, Ginger corrected him, proving that she now recognized life to be a series of beginnings.
Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget
Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget is the long-awaited sequel to the 2003 film Chicken Run. Ginger, Rocky, and the whole flock are back, who again go up against Mrs. Tweedy. This time, Ginger and Rocky’s daughter Molly accidentally gets trapped in a “bird sanctuary” that turns out to be Mrs. Tweedy’s new chicken factory.
- Release Date
- December 15, 2023
- Director
- Sam Fell
- Cast
- Thandiwe Newton , Zachary Levi , Bella Ramsey , Imelda Staunton , Lynn Ferguson , David Bradley , Jane Horrocks , Daniel Mays , Nick Mohammed , Miranda Richardson , Romesh Ranganathan , Josie Sedgwick-Davies
- Rating
- PG
- Runtime
- 97 Minutes
- Genres
- Animation , Adventure , Comedy
- Writers
- Karey Kirkpatrick , John O’Farrell
- Studio(s)
- Netflix Animation , Aardman Animations
- Distributor(s)
- Netflix
- prequel(s)
- Chicken Run
