Yahoo News Yes Really – Chicken Run 2 Was Meant To Have A Very Different Plot
(L-R) Bunty (Imelda Staunton), Mac (Lynn Ferguson), Rocky (Zachary Levi), Molly (Bella Ramsey), Ginger (Thandiwe Newton), Fowler (David Bradley) and Babs (Jane Horrocks) in Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget
We all know (or are!) someone who loves Chicken Run. Released all the way back in 2000, the movie set the standard for modern animation not only in terms of its extraordinarily intricate production process, but also because of its smart, funny and infinitely quotable script.
Now, more than 20 years on, Aardman has come together with Netflix to create a sequel that has an entire generation on the edge of their seats.
To find out more about the long-awaited film, we sat down with director Sam Fell to discuss how James Bond inspired his direction, how he chose his striking ensemble cast, and the scene he thought almost went too far...
Congratulations on the film! Obviously the original is pretty iconic, what were some elements of the first film that you absolutely had to carry into the sequel?
Sam Fell: Well, there are a lot of strong female characters in the first film, and it feels like quite a feminist movie actually, so we definitely wanted to continue with that. We were also very passionate about the film being quite identifiably British, especially in tone and humour.
There’s a strong sense of light and dark in the first one, which to me was the recipe for its success. So we carried through that balancing of drama and comedy as well, I think.
Molly storms off in Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget
How did you put your new cast together for this film?
SF: I adore the first film and I think the casting was fantastic, but it’s been a long time since then. I actually feel like this is almost a reboot. It’s not just a simple sequel, we’re making it for a new time with a new audience, almost.
I said to the casting director, “make some suggestions for everyone” and we reviewed the whole cast. Names just started popping up.
I was a great fan of Zachary Levi in Tangled and in Shazam. He’s got wonderful comic timing and a real natural warmth. Then Thandiwe [Newton] came to mind because I loved her in Westworld. She has this sort of strength and vulnerability in her that made sense to what’s going on with Ginger this time around.
I knew Ginger’s daughter, Molly, was going to be a really strong and important character in the film. She’s who the film is really about. Molly is a chick off the old block, a freedom seeker in her own way, and it became clear that Bella Ramsey was perfect for that role. Chicken Run is a mixture of drama and comedy and it’s got to be smart, and Bella brought that. We were so lucky to get them because they’re clearly going a long, long way!
Frizzle (Josie Sedgwick-Davies) and Molly (Bella Ramsey) in Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget
What were your sources of inspiration for this film, broadly speaking?
SF: The thing that caught me was this idea that this time they’re breaking in. It instantly suggested a new kind of genre, the heist – Chicken Impossible, if you will! There was also a strong James Bond influence, especially on the whole Dawn of the Nugget thing and the scale of Ginger’s ambitions.
Without going into it too much, there’s also a play on what’s real and what’s not once you get further into the film, so things like The Truman Show and The Stepford Wives were also references. It’s set in the 1960s when movies had this obsession with brainwashing for some reason, so I guess also a bit of The Manchurian Candidate. And just a sprinkle of The Wizard Of Oz for good measure!
We’ve read there was a draft script when you become involved, but that changed over time. What are the biggest differences between the original and the eventual one?
SF: It’s always been the same basic idea – they’re chickens on this island and they’re gonna go and break into this big place that makes some modern kind of food. The biggest change is that when I arrived, the script was a father-son story, and it was about Rocky and his son. The villain was a male, too – it was actually a much more male-orientated film.
We worked on that for quite some time. There were a lot of good things in there, but it didn’t feel as strong as what it ended up being, which is the next chapter of Ginger’s story. Like I said, we wanted to make this about strong female characters, so that was the biggest change.
(L to R) Rocky (Zachary Levi), Nick (Romesh Ranganathan) and Fetcher (Daniel Mays) in Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget
Which character was the hardest to animate?
SF: I think Mrs. Tweedy required the most sophistication and finesse. We wanted to emulate someone with a lot of power and a domineering kind of menace, and lot of time went into creating that.
And how did you decide to bring her back?
SF: Well, she just has such presence! In designing the nugget factory, we started exaggerating it and making it more and more high security. It was feeling more ridiculous and Bond-esque by the second, and who better to be the super villain at the heart of that than Mrs. Tweedy?
I was also interested in a rematch between her and Ginger. When thinking about Ginger, we thought about what would be rattling her now, and we had this idea that she’s really haunted by her past. Oh, and giving her a makeover was fun as well! We went to the V&A and there was a Mary Quant exhibition on, which we took a lot of ideas from.
Dr Fry (Nick Mohammed), Mrs. Tweedy (Miranda Richardson) and Reginald Smith (Peter Serafinowicz) in Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget
Was anything improvised in any kind of aspect of production?
SF: Certainly the voice recordings. A lot of improvisation goes on there because they’re all so good at that! Imelda [Staunton], Jane [Horrocks], Lynn [Ferguson] – Lynn’s a stand-up, so her sessions were hilarious! I was really happy because in a film like this you’re looking for spontaneity, so we had everyone riff and that.
I think Zachary probably got the most stuff in there – pretty much all of his lines were off script! He’s American, of course, so quite often we’d let him say his lines his own way.
The debate around meat consumption has come a long way since 2000, did that influence your direction of the movie at all?
SF: Well, the main thing we wanted to create was this terrible jeopardy for the chickens, so I put myself in their shoes. For a chicken, nuggets are a pretty bad thing. People love them, but if you’re a chicken, they’re very bad for you. So we focused on that as the big jeopardy in the story.
I must admit, after finishing all my research, I have stopped eating chicken. I’m not here to preach, but it’s true. I know we’re here to entertain people, but if audiences end up thinking a little bit more from the chicken’s point of view by the end of the movie, I don’t think that’s a bad thing. At Aardman, they still serve chicken in the canteen on Wednesdays, which is so twisted to me!
Rocky (Zachary Levi) and Ginger (Thandiwe Newton) in Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget
Well, the elevator/nugget scene is quite shocking – why did you decide to include that? Did you ever think you might be going too far?
SF: Yeah, we discussed the way we would represent the factory a lot. When I first saw it, I remember saying “are we really doing that? Are we going to go there and make the stakes that high?” The team decided it does make the movie more compelling and watchable that it’s a life-or-death situation for these chickens, and it kind of makes you root for the heroes even more.
And lastly, why did you decide not to do a cinematic release for this feature, and what do you hope audiences will take away from getting to stream the movie immediately?
SF: It will go theatrically, but it’s only going to be a limited release. If people look, they will find it! We definitely made it for all sizes of screens and we reviewed it both ways. I honestly think streaming is great because it makes films that much more accessible. Netflix also has a truly global audience, and that level of reach is super exciting!
Chicken Run: Dawn Of The Nugget will be available to stream on Netflix from 15 December.
