Directors: Richard Starzak & Mark Burton
Starring: Justin Fletcher, John Sparkes, Omid Djalili
Certificate: U
Special Features: Making The Shaun Movie, Meet The Characters, Join Shaun Behind The Scenes, Meet The Crew
Shaun The Sheep first turned up in Aardman’s A Close Shave and since then has gone onto individual animal stardom in his own TV series. It wasn’t one of theirs I expected to see as a full-length movie but they’ve successfully managed to move the mischievous sheep into the film world with huge heart and comical calamities.
Shaun The Sheep The Movie sets us up by showing how every day is the same at the Mossy Bottom Farm. One day Shaun decides he wants some time away from the old routine and therefore sets it up so the Farmer is distracted and sent to sleep by the cunning use of sheep jumping over a fence – a wonderful planned sheep circle of madness. This would be the end of proceedings but a sequence is accidentally set in motion where the Farmer’s caravan ends up canoodling with a very steep hill and eventually everyone ends up in the ‘Big City’. Oh, and to throw more uncertainty into the mix, the Farmer has memory loss due to a rather unfortunate incident with a Zebra Crossing light.
One of the most impressive things about the Shaun Movie is that it’s all about sight gags and visual representations, as there are no speaking lines whatsoever! This doesn’t mean there’s no dialogue (as such) because from the Farmer, to the Sheep, to the Dog, a series of bleats, grunts and murmurings give us more than enough to understand what’s happening.
From a beat-boxing sheep, a farmer who becomes a famous hairdresser, the classic ‘horse-coconuts’ (homage to Monty Python), a Hannibal Lecter cat and a weird pig-dog that helps them back to escape from an ‘Animal Containment’ man, there are endless visual gags that work beautifully for both the kids and adults with a truly heroic finale that pulls together all their talents for an intense and clever conclusion.
Shaun the Sheep the Movie is definitely for the younger audience but you’ll easily find yourself taken into this unique Aardman world that continues to excel and, frankly, makes stop-motion look easy when it’s years of very specific work. Their rich history continues, as this movie is great fun, charming and silly, plus perfect for all the family. You’d be baaaabonkers to miss it!
Shaun The Sheep The Movie is out to own on Blu-ray and DVD on Monday 1st June! Order now!
Check out our excellent interview with the Writers/Directors Mark Burton and Richard Starzak by clicking right here.
