If you look very closely during the film's final shot, you'll notice that one of the chickens is actually an impostor – none other than Wallace and Gromit's old nemesis Feathers McGraw, the villainous penguin who famously dressed up as a chicken in the iconic The Wrong Trousers.
Speaking exclusively to RadioTimes.com, director Sam Fell explained why he decided to include this Easter Egg referencing the studio's most famous duo.
“I mean, the Aardman studio is an amazing place," he explained. "All of the movies are all amazing in themselves, but for me one of the greatest achievements is actually the studio itself, and the world it’s created and the fact it's managed to maintain its voice through the decades."
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He added: "So yeah, you're in there all day and you look around you and there's like the characters from all the films on shelves, you know, and on people's desks. And so yeah, it's just like it's all part of the family really – all of the characters are the family of Aardman, I guess!"
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The new film sees Ginger and Rocky come up against their old enemy Mrs Tweedy after their daughter Molly sets off on an ill-advised adventure, with the rest of the flock joining forces to save the young chick from the clutches of the evil villain.
Fell also told RadioTimes.com about the film's bigger scale compared to the original – joking that it could be called "Chicken: Impossible" – and revealed that the initial plan had been for a new antagonist to be introduced before they decided to bring back Mrs Tweedy.
Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget is now playing in select UK cinemas and arrives on Netflix on 15th December 2023, while the first film is available now. Sign up for Netflix from £4.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.
Check out more of our Film coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to see what's on tonight.
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