DVDizzy Forum

Chicken Run is my favorite Aardman feature so this announcement both excites and worries me. I can't help but feel a little disappointed that Aardman has hopped on the sequel train with Shaun the Sheep 2 and now Chicken Run 2.

'Chicken Run' Sequel in Works at Aardman
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/ ... an-1098310

Work underway at Aardman on Chicken Run sequel
https://www.flickeringmyth.com/2019/10/ ... un-sequel/

I'm really excited to see how this turns out. If worse comes to worse, you can always pretend the sequel doesn't exist. I'm hoping for the best myself.

Sotiris wrote:Chicken Run is my favorite Aardman feature so this announcement both excites and worries me. I can't help but feel a little disappointed that Aardman has hopped on the sequel train with Shaun the Sheep 2 and now Chicken Run 2.

'Chicken Run' Sequel in Works at Aardman (Exclusive)
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/ ... an-1098310

I suspect Aardman's decision to start making sequels may be diminishing returns at the box office - in the USA at least. They know the original Chicken Run is popular and highly-regarded and are trying to exploit that. Perhaps if they get back on their feet they will start announcing original projects again.

I just wish The Pirates! had done enough at the box office for it to get a sequel(s). I strangely liked that film (not something I thought I would've enjoyed), and it was disappointing to read that they would've made follow-ups if it had only done a little more.

That is indeed a shame. The Pirates! was rollicking good fun.

I wonder what the real Queen Victoria would make of it if she were to watch it.

I just went ahead and ordered the original Chicken Run on blu-ray from Amazon Germany. Why on earth is this film still not available on blu-ray in its native UK?

DreamWorks/Universal please note that I would also appreciate the vaults opening up for an HD presentation of Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit and Flushed Away.

I too long for a proper 4k release of all the above Chicken Run is epic and I hold it in high regard! I'm a sucker for Mrs Tweedy:-p Maybe they get to know some Turkeys and ruin Thanksgiving this time

REINIER wrote:Maybe they get to know some Turkeys and ruin Thanksgiving this time

Pity Free Birds did that already. Somehow I cannot see Aardman making a movie involving Thanksgiving, though. It is an exclusively American holiday and Aardman's films are very, very British.

In other news: I have since received the Chicken Run blu-ray and watched it. AV quality is fine, though I would have liked grain to be more finely resolved. I suspect they used an older master for it, but it's ok. Detail is decent. No issues to report in the audio department.

Production starts in 2021.

Netflix Swoops for ‘Chicken Run’ Sequel, Aardman Shares Plot Details
https://variety.com/2020/film/global/ne ... 234645463/

Mel Gibson’s Role in ‘Chicken Run’ Sequel Will Be Recast
https://www.thewrap.com/mel-gibson-chic ... st-sequel/

I forgot all about Mel Gibson! Definitely the right choice.

Nixing Gibson is the right call. Hopefully most of the original cast will return. I’ve always loved Julia Sawalha as Ginger.

This will be stop-motion, right? I know that Shaun the Sheep: Farmageddon was, but I just want to make sure!

UmbrellaFish wrote:I’ve always loved Julia Sawalha as Ginger.

She's sadly not allowed to voice Ginger again.
https://www.radiotimes.com/news/on-dema ... ha-recast/

Considering the many examples of actors voicing much younger characters (John Goodman, Billy Crystal and Steve Buscemi in "Monsters University", Jason Ritter and Kristen Schaal in "Gravity Falls", even Peter Sallis in the "Wallace & Gromit" films), I feel there's something Aardman isn't telling her. Because Julia Sawalha sounds the same now as she did twenty years ago.

What a load of nonsense. She still sounds the same. But even if she didn't, it shouldn't have mattered since this is a sequel, not a prequel. It looks like a clear case of ageism to me. I hope Aardman gets backlash for this and is forced to reconsider.

I wonder why they’d do something like that knowing how companies get raked over the coals these days over nothing—which they apparently know about considering the reason for Gibson’s recast. I really love her in everything I've seen of her (P&P, Lark Rise to Candleford, Cranford, this), so I hope the decision will be reversed eventually.

Zachary Levi will be replacing Mel Gibson and Thandie Newton will be replacing Julia Sawalha.

Obviously Mel Gibson would be re-cast and Zachary Levi was a great choice, but I agree with Sawalha that pushing her out is ageist and I think it's stupid to re-cast the whole movie anyway when those actors are a big part of why people wanted a sequel. Not sure how much expectation to have for the project now, tbh.

Apparently they're also working on a new Wallace & Gromit movie!

Thandiwe is 49, Julia is 53. 4 years older.

Who cares what age the new actress is? She could be 70 for all the difference it makes. They wouldn't be that disrespectful to replace an actor if they were younger and more in the limelight.