Shaun the Sheep Movie (2015)
Certified: U
Duration: 85 minutes
Directed by: Richard Starzak, Mark Burton
Voices of: Justin Fletcher, John Sparkes, Omid Djalili, Kate Harbour, Richard Webber, Tim Hands, Simon Greenall, Emma Tate, Henry Burton
KRS Releasing Ltd

Aardman Animations, the company behind animated feature hits such as Chicken Run (2000), Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005), Flushed Away (2006) and Arthur Christmas (2011), returns to the big screen with a delightful film.

The company has increasingly sharpened and honed its skills on the small screen, and reached new heights in animation and comedy with the delightful Wallace & Gromit series. Shaun the Sheep, which consists of over 100 seven-minute short features, is actually a spin-off of this series.

The protagonist of the film is, of course, Shaun, an endearing creature and an intelligent one to boot. From the start, it is evident that he and his fellow sheep will get into loads of trouble. Through a malarkey, the farmer – who thinks he runs everything at Mossy Bottom Farm – is sent to sleep and by some mishap ends up in the city. He subsequently loses his memory and finds himself lost in the big city.

So Shaun, Bitzer the dog and the rest of the gang go in search of the farmer and bring him back home. But they soon need rescuing themselves as they are caught and placed in a shelter. The farmer, meanwhile, ends up becoming a celebrity as his sheep-shaving skills turn him into a popular barber.

The company seems to have recreated the atmosphere and charm of the silent movie era, showing how much it can still be very effective

Shaun’s move from the small to the big screen is well handled, both in form and in story. The young audience will find a lot to like while the accompanying adults will find the humour to be actually refreshing, with perfect synchronised slapstick.

The film has managed to zip by without inserting any dialogue, which is one of the series’ trademarks. What is even more amazing is how much the picture achieves through gestures, noises and facial expressions, putting to shame other movies where the dialogue seems to be just interminable chatter.

In its own way, Shaun the Sheep pays homage to various other pictures only adults will recognise. It also shows how Aardman Animations has an uncanny eye for detail as everything we take for granted is twisted and turned to provide both comic relief and change in film plot.

The stop motion animation technique was surely laborious hard work, especially considering that it is all carried out in a very flowing manner.

The company seems to have recreated the atmosphere and charm of the silent movie era, showing how much it can still be effective. The film in fact has a quality to it that makes it enjoyable whatever the language one speaks and whatever one’s age. Its strength lies in its sequencing, as it simply cascades one moment after the other.

Shaun once again rules the farm!

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