Netflix users are reacting to a “chilling” detail in family film Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget.
The new sequel, from animation house Aardman, was released on Friday (15 December), breaking an impressive Rotten Tomatoes record for the animation house and reuniting fans of the 2000 original with characters Rocky and Ginger – albeit without their original voice stars.
However, it was the return of another Aardman character in the film’s closing moments that is sending chills down viewers’ spines.
In the film’s closing shot, the ensemble of animated chicken characters, including Bella Ramsey’s Molly, are all shown on screen – and, if you look close enough, you can see they’re joined by none other than Feathers McGraw, the scary penguin character from aWallace and Gromit short film released in 1993.
Feathers made his Aardman animation in the short film The Wrong Trousers, which saw him involve Wallace in a nefarious plot to steal a diamond from a museum. Throughout the film, Feathers is shown to be a wanted criminal who disguises himself as a chicken and grows increasingly ominous as Gromit discovers his real identity.
Feathers pops up at the end of Dawn of the Nugget, revealing he is still at large – and his unnerving cameo was spotted by several viewers.
“Omg the evil penguin appears at the end of the new chicken run!!” one viewer wrote, with another adding: “CRIME WATCH UPDATE: the new Chicken Run movie has revealed that Feathers McGraw is still at large, 30 years later a bad penguin indeed!
An additional Netflix subscriber stated: ““THE PENGUIN FROM WALLACE AND GROMIT IS AN EASTER EGG IN THE NEW CHICKEN RUN.” Others called his blink-and-you’ll miss it cameo “terrifying”, “unnerving” and – rather aptly – “chilling”.
An ominous Ardman character pops up in ‘Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget’— (Netflix)
The film’s director Sam Fell recently addressed the controversy surrounding original voice star Sawalha, who claims she was dropped from the sequel for sounding ”too old”.
Sawalha voiced the main character of Ginger in the original film, released in 2000, about a band of chickens plotting to escape the farm in which they’re kept.
A belated sequel was announced in June 2020 but, one month later, Sawalha, 55, claimed she was “informed out of the blue, via email” that her voice “now sounds ‘too old’ and they want a younger actress to reprise the role”.
In a statement posted to her social media, Sawalha said that she was baffled over the decision, especially as she claims not to have been asked to supply a “voice test” prior to the decision being made.
She wrote that she went so far as to submit her own voice test, recorded at home, to Aardman, which ultimately made no difference. Instead, Thandiwe Newton was cast as the character in the new film, which is called Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget, with Zachary Levi replacing Mel Gibson as the voice of Rocky.
Rocky and Ginger return in ‘Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget’— (Netflix)
“The reason given was that his voice is now too old,” Sawalha wrote. “I feel I have been fobbed off with the same excuse. I went to great lengths to prove to the production that my voice is nigh on the same as it was in the original film. If they will be using some of the original cast members… let’s be frank, I feel I have been unfairly dismissed.”
She continued: “To say I am devastated and furious would be an understatement. I feel totally powerless, something in all of this doesn’t quite ring true. I trust my instincts and they are waving red flags.”
“I am saddened that I have lost the chance to work with Nick Park and Peter Lord from whom I learnt so much. The three of us, together, created Ginger. Today I responded by wishing the production the best of luck and the greatest success with the sequel. There is nothing more I can do… I’m off for the chop now.”
Addressing this controversy in a new interview, Fell said he “adored” the original cast, but said he viewed the new film “as a reboot more than just a sequel” and that “it seemed fair to consider the whole picture and just think, ‘Is this still the best fit for this new story?’”
Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget is available to stream on Netflix now.
