By Lucas Castillo ’26
SPOILERS AHEAD!!! For all three people who do not want Chicken Run: Dawn of The Nugget spoiled, go watch it now, I know you have Netflix.
Last week, I forced my family to watch Chicken Run: Dawn of The Nugget, and they, like me, thought that it was pretty good. Not a masterpiece by any means, but just a fun, clever, and engaging watch all together.
Coming from the perspective of someone who spent TWO YEARS working on a 30-minute stop-motion animated movie, I can tell you that these animators must have no life outside of moving clay. The animation is stellar, to say the least. I love their use of clay figures and characters mixed with the practical props, like the popcorn and the leaves and natural elements. The animators cannot be given enough credit for animating a one hour and forty one minute movie with their bare hands. I recommend watching the Netflix documentary on the making of Chicken Run: Dawn of The Nugget, if you want a more in-depth description on how they worked on the animation.
Most of the characters in the film were merely comedic relief, with none of them being really integral to the story of the film. That being said, Ginger and Mollie’s mother-daughter relationship and dynamic is incredibly interesting, with it serving as a solid emotional core for the film. The subtle commentary on the gap between generations was fairly insightful, and the dramatic irony of their situation—Ginger created their sanctuary so that Mollie could be free from captivity, and now, Mollie treats the sanctuary as a prison and feels the urge to escape—was natural and quite entertaining.
Having the entire premise of this film, coming off of a film about breaking out of a chicken farm, being about breaking into a chicken farm is a clever progression of the story, and was very fitting, given how the characters were freed and found sanctuary on a remote island. It would have been extremely redundant to have the chickens put back into a farm and have to break out again; now, instead of the film being a shameless, lazy cash-grab of a somewhat recognizable franchise, it’s a humorous and clever cash-grab of a somewhat recognizable franchise.
My major gripe with the film, however, was how easily they broke into the highly secure, nigh-impenetrable prison. For context, Ginger and Rocky just saw their daughter being hauled into the prison; then, after Rocky suggests that they merely go in and rescue Mollie, he precedes to slingshot himself into the prison walls, show off all of the deadly traps and security systems, and, while Rocky is still alive, makes it into the prison! It has been like five minutes since Mollie was put into the prison, and they already broke in. There go all of my doubts that they could successfully get inside.
This gripe is more of a story structure issue in hindsight, as it does sort of make sense that a prison designed to keep chickens in wouldn’t push them out. I still dislike this part of the story because when a character says, “I’m just gonna go in and save this character,” they’re supposed to fail horribly and prove just how insurmountable the odds seem, so that, when the characters actually achieve their goal, then the audience gets satisfaction! In all honesty, this is a small blemish on an otherwise air-tight plot, and isn’t too much of an issue in the grand scheme of things.
I have never seen an Aardman animated film before, and because of this film, I have been motivated to maybe, possibly, if I have the time, watch at least the first Chicken Run and a few of their other productions. Anyways, I highly recommend this film for those who have an hour or two to spare to watch a movie that is absolutely worth your time. In my personal and all but factual opinion, I would give Chicken Run: Dawn of The Nugget an 8.5 out of 10 – go watch it now!
