Update: It was shared on The Wrap, that Mel Gibson, who originally voiced Rocky, will be recast in Netflix’s upcoming sequel Chicken Run. Two individuals with knowledge of the production have allegedly told the publication that “it’s too early to know about voice casting for an animated film, but Gibson, who voiced the character Rocky in the film from 2000, is not expected to be asked back for the sequel.”
Huzzah. Now if we could just get Tom Hiddleston to replace Gibson as the voice of John Smith in Pocahontas, that would just be great.
For those who may have forgotten, Gibson has a long history of sexist, racist, homophobic, and just abusive behavior. Most recently, actress Winona Ryder reshared her story about Gibson making AIDS and “oven dodger” comments:
“We were at a crowded party with one of my good friends, and Mel Gibson was smoking a cigar, and we’re all talking and he said to my friend, who’s gay, ‘Oh wait, am I gonna get AIDS?’ And then something came up about Jews, and he said, ‘You’re not an oven dodger, are you?’”
Ryder shook her head, incredulously, as she told the story, according to the Sunday Times. Gibson “tried” to apologize later, she added.
A rep for Gibson disputed Ryder’s claim.
Original post follows:
Aardman Animations’ Chicken Run sequel will be coming to Netflix! Arise chickens! Chickens arise!
POULTRY NEWS: Exactly 20 years to the day since the original was released, we can confirm there will be a Chicken Run sequel coming to Netflix!! Produced by @aardman, production is expected to begin next year. Eggsellent.
— Netflix UK & Ireland (@NetflixUK) June 23, 2020
It was already announced back in 2018 that a sequel would be happening, but Aadamn has released some new details about the upcoming film, making it a little bit more real:
Having pulled off a death-defying escape from Tweedy’s farm, Ginger has finally found her dream – a peaceful island sanctuary for the whole flock, far from the dangers of the human world. When she and Rocky hatch a little girl called Molly, Ginger’s happy ending seems complete. But back on the mainland the whole of chicken-kind faces a new and terrible threat. For Ginger and her team, even if it means putting their own hard-won freedom at risk – this time, they’re breaking in!
I’m not going to lie: The idea of Ginger and her family risking their own freedom in order to give other chickens the free-range lives they deserve makes me kind of emotional.
Peter Lord, Aardman’s cofounder and creative director, said about the news in the press release: “Fans around the world have waited patiently for a sequel idea worthy of Chicken Run so we’re delighted to announce, on the 20th anniversary, that we’ve found the perfect story. Netflix feels like the ideal creative partner for this project too: they celebrate the film-maker, which means we can make the film we want to make – the one we really care about – and share it with a global audience.”
I saw Chicken Run in theaters, and it was a very surprising movie. I’m pretty sure the only reason my father even took me is that my older sister recommended it to us since she was familiar with Wallace & Gromit. I knew then that I was watching something really good. A lot of the jokes went over my head (it’s a very horny movie at times), but the death of one chicken at the beginning of the movie, followed by the realization that she was eaten, was enough to turn me off chicken for awhile.
Chicken Run is still the highest-grossing stop-motion animated feature of all time, and while it is a bit surprising they aren’t going to make this a theatrical run to try to top that, I would rather they just have the space to tell their own stories. Now, all we’ve got to do is recast Mel Gibson.
(via Nerdist, image: Aardman Animation)
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