Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget is the long-awaited sequel from Aardman Animations released on Netflix, following the events of the original Chicken Run. Where the original riffed on World War II films like The Great Escape, Dawn of the Nugget takes inspiration from Mission: Impossible, and to a lesser extent Hollywood’s infatuation with the word “dawn”. The film is a successful return to the coop, keeping all the witty and clever humor that the first film had, but still being a film that has something for all ages to enjoy. It takes the chickens on a journey about overcoming their worst fears, that if the chickens stick their necks out for others they will lose everything they have fought to gain. Let’s take a look at how these themes are explored in the film’s ending.
Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget Ending Explained
Dawn of the Nugget’s defining feature is about the chickens, including Ginger and Rocky, breaking into the heavily guarded Fun-Land Farms to rescue Ginger’s daughter Mollie and stop her from being turned into a chicken nugget. Fun-Land Farms is presented as a chicken paradise, but is a place where chickens are forced to wear a collar that brainwashes them into volunteering themselves to be killed.
Ginger and Rocky aren’t bothered about that though, as they just want to get their daughter out of the never-ending nightmare in one piece and not covered in breadcrumbs. But that’s made difficult by the gun-toting moles, laser-guided duck bombs, and the endless guards patrolling the site. Rocky recklessly heads into the farm alone, whereas Ginger and the rest of the gang take a more considered approach. Once they make their way inside, Ginger finds out Mollie is quite like her mother and has already escaped, desperate to unbrainwash her new friend Frizzle.
Who is behind the new fast food enterprise?
It’s here the poultry protagonists find out that Mrs Tweedy is still alive, and is the one behind the new fast food enterprise, along with her new husband Dr Fry. Worse still, she manages to capture Ginger and immediately puts a collar on her. Even though Ginger manages to resist for a short time, she succumbs to a brainwashed state. Tweedy would have done the same to Mollie too, had Rocky not burst out of the ventilation shaft to dazzle everyone with his brilliant dance moves.
Ginger’s collar proves difficult to remove, and it’s only after she and the gang run into a grain silo can they get it off, trapping them. Rocky dives in thinking he can save them all, realizing too late he’s also unable to leave in a humourous failed rescue. Mollie becomes upset, crying that she got everyone trapped and killed because she wanted to have the freedom to explore the world, but Ginger explains that she has the same free spirit as her mother, and she shouldn’t have tried to confine Mollie on their island. It’s the moment that Ginger lets go of her fears and stops them from controlling her.
How do the chickens escape?
As Mrs. Tweedy begins to drain the corn from the silo, the chickens have the epiphany that they can turn all the corn into popcorn, and ride the wave of white kernels out. When the resulting explosion follows, the feathered friends land comfortably near their getaway man Fowler, ready to go home. But Mollie doesn’t want to leave. She wants to go back for Frizzles, and all the other chickens, to prevent them from ending up as a succulent meal served by Dr Fry’s science. Ginger realizes that her daughter can’t do it alone, and so they again look to break into the factory to release everyone.
Does Mrs Tweedy Die?
Babs, Bunty, Mac, and Mollie run down to the chicken play area to prevent all the chickens from throwing themselves into the grinder, while Rocky and Ginger take on Mrs Tweedy and deactivate the collars. The remote is kicked precariously onto several pipes, and Ginger is chased by an axe-wielding Tweedy.
All hope seems lost as the chickens are about to walk into the grinder and Ginger is nearly killed, but thanks to the daring intervention from Rocky and Mollie, the collars are deactivated and Mrs Tweedy plummets into the grinder and gets coated with breadcrumbs, turning her into a human nugget. Dawn of the Nugget? For Tweedy, it’s more like Dawn of First Degree Burns. Oh, and then she falls into the lake with the laser-guided duck bombs, which hone in on her and explode. While this all seems like it would kill a regular human, Mrs Tweedy is made of sterner stuff, so if there is a Chicken Run 3 she will likely be back.
How does Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget end?
The chickens all escape back to their island, but instead of turning their backs on the plight of other chickens, Ginger, Rocky, Mollie, and the others decide they will rescue chickens from other farms. It’s a moment that turns chickens into freedom fighters, returning to the roots of the World War II comparison. The chickens have all overcome their fears from earlier in the film.
If fans want to see the antics Ginger and the gang get up to with this endeavor, they will be able to play through them on the upcoming mobile game Chicken Run: Eggstraction which releases in 2024.
What did you think of the ending of Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget? Comment below.
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