Chicken Run fans share recasting concerns as Netflix announces title of long-awaited sequel

A new ‘Wallace and Gromit’ project was also announced

Fans of the hit children’s animation Chicken Run have reacted with excitement to new details about the forthcoming Netflix sequel.

The streaming service is reviving the 2000 Aardman animation, and has now announced the new film’s title on social media.

Following on from the story of the original Chicken Run, the new film will be titled Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget.

Dawn of the Nugget will be released on the streaming platform in 2023.

Artwork shared alongside the announcement shows the characters of Rocky and Ginger from the original Chicken Run, standing above an egg with a chick’s leg poking out.

Mel Gibson and Julia Sawalha voiced Rocky and Ginger in the original film, although neither are returning for the Netflix sequel – a change that has caused some amount of consternation among fans.

On social media, fans expressed excitement for the sequel, but many cited reservations about the decision to re-cast the role of Ginger.

“Julia Sawalha deserves better,” wrote one person.

“Chicken Run was one of the funniest animated films of my childhood, and I truly am excited about the forthcoming sequel,” wrote another. “Wish Julia Sawalha wasn’t recast as Ginger, though.”

“Looking forward to Chicken Run 2 - but will hugely miss Julia Sawalha as Ginger,” someone else wrote, while another Twitter user said: “ A new Aardman is usually a thing to cheer for but I’m still a bit unsure about their decision to recast Julia Sawalha.”

Off-screen controversies have been attributed in many reports to the decision not to bring back Gibson, though Sawalha has claimed that she was “unfairly dismissed” from the franchise because her voice sounded “too old”.

Netflix also announced a forthcoming Wallace and Gromit film, to be released in 2024, also created by Aardman.