Shaun The Sheep Movie

Shaun The Sheep Movie – Shaun and his fellow sheep are bored of the same old routine at their farm. They deceive the sheep dog and farmer so they can get a bit of freedom for the day, but when the farmer gets knocked out and rolls away in a caravan, they have to pursue him into the big city. Can they locate the farmer and get home before animal control locks them away?

Shaun The Sheep Movie (2015) – Director: Mark Burton, Richard Starzak

By Source, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=44535743

Rating: U

Running Length: 85 mins

Starring: Justin Fletcher, John Sparkes, Omid Djalli

Genre: Animation, Comedy

REVIEW: ‘SHAUN THE SHEEP MOVIE’

Aardman Animations, the team behind the beloved Wallace and Gromit series and hit movie Chicken Run, return with another fabulous clay adventure. Based on their kids show, ‘Shaun The Sheep’, the big screen outing takes the action out of the farm and into the big city. Also the rather brave decision was made to retain the ‘silent’ nature of the show so that no character actually speaks.

By removing all speech the Shaun The Sheep movie has universal appeal. Yes, the humour is perhaps rather British (dressing as a woman gags, farcical elements, etc) but as always Aardman deliver this with bundles of charm and appeal. Translating a series that relies on 5 minute shorts set in a farm, over to a feature length movie set in the city, may have been a risky move. But the style scales up wonderfully and by using the framing device of searching for the farmer we have licence to have all sorts of urban fun for our rural cast.

Be it the sheep dressing up as people so as to go unnoticed, or the new accidental career as a super-cool barber that the farmer finds himself in, the Shaun The Sheep movie is loaded with smile inducing content. It’s a true movie for all the family as it doesn’t get saccharine sweet but it also doesn’t throw in any overtly ‘adult’ jokes. It’s just a genuine delight for all. Enjoy!

CONTENT: IS ‘SHAUN THE SHEEP MOVIE’ SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN?

The farmer bends over and his bottom crack is partly visible.

The farmer’s silhouette with pointy hair and pitchfork looks briefly ‘devil’ like.

The farmer shakes his fist at the sheep in frustration which could be an imitable gesture.

The sheep get upset and cry. They wipe their faces with underwear.

A stray animal in the city is grabbed by a pest controller. His appearance is synonymous with action / baddie music and he has a threatening look on his face.

The dog finds himself in an operating surgery and is mistaken for the surgeon. He gasses a patient once his tail is spotted. He almost uses a hacksaw before another doctor replaces it with a scalpel.

The sheep eat things that are at a market (so, technically stealing). One sticks its head out from the ‘two sheep = one person’ disguise in order to lap at water. The angle of shot switches to behind where it looks like the ‘sheep person’ is urinating into the fountain.

In the restaurant scene there is repeated loud belching. A large fish gets stuck on a mans head which makes him look briefly scary (his date screams). A lobster gets stuck on his hand and he yells in pain. Another lobster accidentally pinches a woman’s bottom who then turns around and slaps the nearest man. The pest controller arrives and cordons off Shaun. There is a brief shot of Shaun trembling in fear before he is picked up by an animal grabber.

The driver of a celebrity who is taking his boss to an emergency hair salon purposefully shoves an old lady out of the way.

Shaun is taken to an animal control centre, which is portrayed like a jail. There are scary dogs growling in the cages and a cat has a scratch cone on, but hisses (much like Hannibal Lector in ‘Silence Of The Lambs’). Shaun is put into a cell where there is growling in the dark corner before the situation reveals itself to be non-threatening. There is a repeated joke of Shaun looking over to another cell and seeing a psychotic dog staring straight at him. This dog never moves or changes expression. People come to adopt the animals and they all try to look their best. A particularly ugly looking dog makes the people recoil. When they leave the ‘ugly’ dog he cries and there is sad music.

Shaun reaches for the animal control man’s keys but he breaks wind.

The farmer does not recognise Shaun and he shoos him away. Shaun has tears in his eyes and leaves, sadly. There is sad music and a sad song to accompany this and the mood is low for a few minutes.

The animal control man gets an electric animal grabber. It lights up and we see a lethal looking ‘skull’ symbol. The scene cuts to the sheep all looking sombre. Timmy (the ‘baby’ sheep) has tears in his eyes. This then becomes an upbeat and happy song.

A horse disguise appears to propel itself by rear end gas power.

The animal control man pauses in silhouette with a scythe, looking threatening.

In the final action sequence there is an emotional scene as someone remembers their past which is shown over happy flashback photos. A tear is in their eye before the scene returns to action.

CAN I SEE A CLIP?

VERDICT: IS ‘SHAUN THE SHEEP’ FOR KIDS?

The movie is clearly designed with small children in mind but tonally it maintains appeal for all ages by not being too childish. The lack of dialogue means that the plot and action is easy to follow and there is nothing here that will be a cause for concern for parents. We therefore recommend Shaun The Sheep for all ages.

• Violence: 0/5
• Emotional Distress: 1/5 (a few sad moments where characters have tears in their eyes, but these are always brief)
• Fear Factor: 1/5 (the animal collector may be intimidating but his ‘threat’ is often punctured by events)
• Sexual Content: 0/5
• Bad Language: 0/5
• Dialogue: 0/5 (obviously!)
• Other Notes: Deals with themes of friendship, family, wanting to change routine, being out of place and unsure, amnesia, pest control, obsession, and doing what is right.

Words by Michael Record