Shaun the Sheep Is a Very Cute Animated Film

Shaun the Sheep: “PG“ (1 hour 25 min.)

Starring: Justin Fletcher, John Sparkes, Omid Djalili, Richard Webber, Kate Harbour

Directed by: Mark Burton, Richard Starzak

Based upon the British stop-motion, animated television series — which in itself is a spin-off of the Wallace and Gromit franchise, this film was one of the 2016 Academy Award-winning nominees for feature-length animated film. The series stars a sheep named Shaun (who was previously featured in the 1995 short film A Close Shave and in the Shopper 13^th episode from the 2002 Wallace and Gromit’s Cracking Contraptions series), and his madcap adventures around a small farm. Shaun is the leader of his flock of sheep.

In the film, Shaun has become tired of doing the same work at the farm every day, so he decides to take a day off. However, in order to do that, he needs to make sure the farmer doesn’t realize he’s gone, so he tricks the farmer into returning to sleep by having him repeatedly counting his sheep. Later on, when farmer accidently receives a blow to the head he is hospitalized, where he is diagnosed with amnesia. However, confused, he eventually leaves the hospital, and wanders through the city. When more happens than the sheep can handle, they find their way in the big city, where they need to acquire the farmer and then return back to the farm.

After Shaun sneaks on a bus to head for the city; the rest of the flock follow him on another bus. Once they hook up, he manages to disguise them all as humans and they begin looking for the farmer. Unfortunately, Shaun is captured by Trumper, an over-zealous animal-control worker. Eventually Shaun is reunited with Bitzer in the animal lock-up, and with the help of a homeless dog named Slip, they find a way to escape, and eventually locate the farmer, but because of the amnesia, he doesn’t recognize Shaun, who is heartbroken by his owner’s hostility.

As with both the most excellent Wallace and Gromit, and the extremely entertaining Chicken Run, Shaun the Sheep is cute, adorable, and extremely well made (did we mention that it was nominated for an Academy Award for best animated feature?) So, if you do get the opportunity we do so highly recommend that you take the time to actually watch it.