Film Of The Week

You really have to hand it to the wonderful team at Aardman. They’ve come up with a full-length feature version of the popular stop-motion claymation TV series, Shaun The Sheep, and made it funny, charming and compelling without any real dialogue. Just like the show, the Shaun The Sheep Movie has its characters merely making noises and occasionally mumbling incoherently but it’s every bit as entertaining as any dialogue-laden family film, and actually makes a refreshing change from the hyperactive American animations. It might not be quite Wallace and Gromit territory but it’s got its own brand of Aardman whimsy. (Shaun was originally a spin-off from the Wallace and Gromit Oscar-winning film, A Close Shave.)

Co-writers and co-directors Mark Burton (Gnomeo and Juliet, Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit) and feature film newcomer Richard Starzak have come up with a delightful story that allows that lovable sheep, Shaun, and his family – including the adorable young Timmy from spin-off show, Timmy Time – plenty of room for their chuckle-inducing antics. Starting off at their home, Mossy Bottom Farm, Shaun (voiced by Justin Fletcher who does Timmy as well), Bitzer the dog and the Farmer (both voiced by John Sparkes) go through their morning routine each day until finally Shaun gets the idea that he’d like a change. 

Mischief follows, including Shaun and the other sheep causing their keeper to fall into a deep slumber after he counts them several times. Before you know it, the Farmer has had an accident and ended up with memory loss in hospital in a place known only as “The Big City” and it’s up to Shaun, Bitzer and the others to find him, get him to remember them and take them back home. 

A scene where the sheep don human clothing to disguise themselves in the city – including one of them wearing little Timmy as an animal backpack – has hilarious consequences when they sit down in a posh café and mimic another guest’s actions in order to fit in. There’s also a delightful ‘baa baa’ shop quintet and a cute-ugly stray city dog that helps the country bumpkins survive in his territory.

The sheep and Bitzer eventually track down the Farmer, and Shaun hatches a brilliant ‘kidnap and take home’ plan using a Trojan-style horse made from bits and pieces from a rubbish dump. In the meantime, they have to avoid the evil Terminator-style Animal Containment Officer who’s got revenge on his demented mind after a mass escape from his ‘jail’.

Shaun The Sheep Movie is probably aimed at younger audiences than the Wallace and Gromit affairs, but adults taking their kids along might find themselves laughing out loud on several occasions even if they’re not usually prone to undignified public displays of mirth. 

by Vicki Englund