[yasr_overall_rating]
When Shaun decides to take the day off and have some fun, he gets a little more action than he bargained for. A mix up with the Farmer, a caravan and a very steep hill lead them all to the Big City and it’s up to Shaun and the flock to return everyone safely to the green grass of home.
I never cease to be amazed by the incredible talent behind the Aardman Production Company. The same genius that brought us “Chicken Run” and “Wallace and Gromit” has given the world another little nugget of pure art and creativity that can be enjoyed by the whole family. Even if the story had not been clever and full of humor, the stop-motion-animation, the details of the characters, the amount of time and energy that had to go into this (12 pictures are needed to create just one second of the film) is hard to wrap my head around.
These characters captured my heart and yes, I know they were clay but their unique facial expressions and personalities shined throughout the film without a single word of dialogue spoken. We meet Shaun and his fellow sheep as they suffer through the mundane routine on the farm. Day in and day out it is the same-old-same-old. And the sheep, especially the likable Shaun become restless. They devise a plan, as only clay sheep could, to entice the farmer into a deep sleep. This is done, of course, as they circle past him and he begins to count sheep. Once asleep the crafty sheep board him into a trailer home and return to the farmhouse to party. Bitzer, the loyal farm-dog, gets wind of what has happened to the farmer and returns to the trailer to waken him. This, however, is when trouble ensues and it’s not long before we have a runaway trailer with Bitzer hot on its tail.
Shaun and the other sheep really love their farmer and make it their mission to venture into the city to find him. There are a lot of laughs to be had during their madcap adventure including an unruly dogcatcher and a stray dog. Meanwhile, the farmer has suffered memory loss and through a series of mishaps, finds himself as a renowned hairdresser. He did, after all, shear sheep for a living. The sheep and Bitzer find the farmer but he has no memory of them and shoos the flock away. They succeed in a hilarious attempt to get the farmer home and his memory returned and in the end return to their very happy and routine farm life.
I know, I know, sounds sort of simple and how can this be a film that anyone but a six-year-old could enjoy? Again, the sheer magnitude of producing a stop-motion-animation film makes it worth watching but it’s the characters, the sweet, optimistic message, and the reminder that the grass is not always greener that renders this a winner. The film moves along effortlessly and without a lick of dialogue the character development is achieved through bleats and a resonating score that works perfectly for this film. This is light-hearted family fun that gave my heart a lift.
In theaters August 5th
