Chicken Run 2 on Netflix: Why Mel Gibson Isn’t in Nuggets Menace

In the summer of 2000, a small group of homemade clay chickens escaped from a chicken coop to make movie history.

Behind the incredible success of Chicken – the highest-grossing stop-motion animated film of all time – is Aardman, the British pioneers of stop-motion animation. They are already known for the Wallace & Gromit short films, but Chicken Run is their first feature film.

Almost a quarter of a century later, a sequel, Chicken Run: The Nuggets Menace, has just arrived. In the first film, the group – led by the brave Ginger (voiced by Julia Savalham in the original version), supported by the not-so-brave Rooster Rocky (Mel Gibson) – escaped by fleeing to Mrs. Tweed’s farm. A parody of the movie.

In The Nuggets Menace, Thandiwe Newton and Zachary Levy replace Julia Savalha and Mel Gibson, respectively, while Bella Ramsey voices their brave daughter, Molly. And it is Sam Fell who replaces Peter Lord as director. talked to The Hollywood ReporterHe explains why he chose a different voice for the film:

“As much as I love the first film, which I consider a masterpiece, I didn’t want to make a carbon copy of it. I didn’t want to be too precious. The first two years I started making my own. From a decisions and casting perspective, 23 years later, that’s a long time.

It’s almost an overload to be honest. This is a new director and a new era. And I started to think, all the casting decisions made in the late 90s were still the best for today’s roles. It’s a very personal creative process and I felt that in some cases it just didn’t fit anymore.“

And to be more precise, why Mel Gibson is no longer voicing Rocky: “Mel was a fabulous choice for The Rock when he was that playboy dude. He was a movie star and Rocky was a movie star. It was perfect. But now Rocky is more vulnerable. He becomes a father for the first time. It’s more of a Ginger movie, so her role is different.“

Chicken Run: The Nuggets Menace is currently available on Netflix.