Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget is available to watch on Netflix this Christmas and it has proved worth the 23-year wait for fans.
However, if you've watched the sequel and thought that Ginger and Rocky, as well as some other cast members, sound slightly different, your ears aren't deceiving you as the sequel didn't bring everybody back.
Unless you've been following every aspect of the sequel's production, you might not realise that we've known since June 2020 (when the movie was finally announced) that Mel Gibson would not be back as Rocky.
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Then in July 2020, Julia Sawalha revealed that she also wasn't asked back for the sequel to reprise her role of Ginger.
We had to wait until January 2022 to find out that the roles of Ginger and Rocky would now be voiced by Thandiwe Newton and Zachary Levi, respectively, but there was no official reason given for the recastings.
Now that Chicken Run 2 is out, Aardman still hasn't officially explained the cast changes, but director Sam Fell has been open about the decision behind them.
Why Chicken Run 2 didn't bring back Julia Sawalha and Mel Gibson
Talking in October 2023 ahead of Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget's world premiere, Fell noted that he didn't want to be "too precious" about the first movie. As a result, he decided to take a fresh look at the casting decisions for the sequel.
"I just started thinking, were all those casting decisions made in the late '90s still the best for the roles now? It's a very personal creative process and I felt in some cases it didn't quite fit anymore," he recalled.
"Sometimes I felt it should stay the same. Ultimately I felt like this film has evolved since the first film. The world has turned on its axis and things have changed."
Fell expanded on the changes further to Digital Spy, saying that he always viewed the sequel as "more of a reboot" since it's been so long since the first movie.
"It was just an organic thing, really. It was just an evolution. We started by casting the new characters with Molly and Bella Ramsey – it was such a great moment for us to get Bella," he explained.
"In that process, I had a casting director so, it being 23 years later, I just said to the casting director, 'Well, what do you think? What do you think about all the characters? What are your ideas? Let's consider everything'.
"We'd made lists, and names started popping out to me. And so I think, it's been a matter of me finding a way to evolve this film."
There are other changes outside of the main two characters that might stand out as you watch the sequel too.
David Bradley took over the role of Fowler with original actor Benjamin Whitrow passing away in 2017, while rat duo Nick and Fetcher are now voiced by Romesh Ranganathan and Daniel Mays instead of Timothy Spall and Phil Daniels, respectively.
It's not all change though as Chicken Run 2 did bring back Jane Horrocks as Babs, Imelda Staunton as Bunty, Lynn Ferguson as Mac and Miranda Richardson as iconic villain Mrs Tweedy.
Who voices Frizzle in Chicken Run 2?
Ginger and Rocky might not even be the best characters in Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget in any case.
The sequel not only introduces their daughter Molly, voiced by Bella Ramsey, but also new chicken Frizzle. Molly and Frizzle become friends when they're taken to Fun-Land Farms, and Frizzle steals a lot of the scenes in Chicken Run 2.
If you're wondering who's the voice behind Frizzle, it's Josie Sedgwick-Davies and the movie marks her first major role.
"The opportunity to work with such an iconic company as Aardman and Sam Fell and just to be part of such an incredible franchise… it's just boss isn't it!?," she told TUDUM.
"Being part of Ginger and Rocky's adventures is one the coolest jobs I'll ever do, and I'm super proud to represent Liverpool as the world's first ever Scouse chicken! I hope everyone loves our Frizzle as much as I love voicing her!"
Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget is available to watch now on Netflix.
Movies Editor, Digital Spy Ian has more than 10 years of movies journalism experience as a writer and editor. Starting out as an intern at trade bible Screen International, he was promoted to report and analyse UK box-office results, as well as carving his own niche with horror movies, attending genre festivals around the world. After moving to Digital Spy, initially as a TV writer, he was nominated for New Digital Talent of the Year at the PPA Digital Awards. He became Movies Editor in 2019, in which role he has interviewed 100s of stars, including Chris Hemsworth, Florence Pugh, Keanu Reeves, Idris Elba and Olivia Colman, become a human encyclopedia for Marvel and appeared as an expert guest on BBC News and on-stage at MCM Comic-Con. Where he can, he continues to push his horror agenda – whether his editor likes it or not.
