Shaun the Sheep Movie Parent Guide

You can take the sheep off the farm and send them to town… but things are likely to get a little woolly. At least they do for Shaun the Sheep (voice of Justin Fletcher) and the rest of his flock.

Like many people stuck on the treadmill of life, Shaun is a little tired of the daily farm routine. Sleep. Eat. Sleep. Repeat. He wants a day off—a day to kick back and turn on the telly. The only problem is Farmer Sparks (voice of John Sparkes) is a firm believer in maintaining a schedule.

After enduring another to-do list day, Shaun decides to take things into his own cloven hooves. Lulling the farmer to sleep with the old counting sheep trick, he and the rest of the flock lock the man inside a travel trailer and take over the house. However just as they are about to settle down with a movie and pizza, the trailer begins to roll down the road and into The Big City with the snozer inside.

Aardman Animations has made a name for itself with charming claymation films such as the dog and master duo Wallace & Gromit, and a coop full of escapees in Chicken Run. Now the studio is giving television star Shaun the Sheep a shot at the big screen. Twenty animators were hired to work on the project, each creating about two seconds of footage a day.

While the film has the same look as their other productions, there is no dialogue other than some grunts, groans and animal sounds. The lack of narrative makes this film easy to follow as long as you keep your eyes on the screen. It also means the jokes in this film are all sight and sound gags. Droopy pants, exposed underwear, a man on a toilet and a few other slightly distasteful scenes are played for laughs, along with some burps and flatulence. While the plot includes moments of peril and violence, the scariest depiction for very young children will likely be the animal containment officer (voice of Omid Djalili) who uses a high-powered gun to capture his victims.

Overall Shaun the Sheep is a less complicated and less entertaining movie than previous Aardman animations. Still, the lack of language may also mean it may have a broader appeal to audiences of all ages and cultures.

About author

Kerry Bennett

Kerry Bennett is interested in media from both a journalist and parent perspective. Along with authoring articles for several family-oriented publications, she has written for Parent Previews for over 15 years. As a parent herself, she believes parents play a powerful role in teaching media literacy in their homes.