Tuesday, May 5, 2015

Review of SHAUN THE SHEEP MOVIE: Simply Scintillating Stop-Motion

May 5, 2015



"Shaun the Sheep" is also a creation of Academy Award-winning British stop-motion animator Nick Park. Shaun was first seen in a 1995 Wallace and Gromit animated short film entitled "A Close Shave". It then evolved to be the lead character of its own long-running stop-motion animated television series which started airing in the UK since 2007. 

Initially, I had no plans to watch this film, but the very good reviews encouraged me. I watched it only with my youngest son (who had to orient his old man about the characters during the film). My older son was not interested to watch it with us, saying this cartoon style was not his type. That also got me more curious about it.

As it turns out, "Shaun the Sheep" is practically a SILENT barnyard comedy. Aside from its eclectic musical score, we only hear the occasional baa from the sheep characters and garbled mumbles from the human characters. It is one thing to make this a visually-entertaining 7-minute long short on television, but to take this concept and make it into a full-length film for the big screen must have been a big endeavor and challenge for Aardman Studios since its first full-length stop-motion animated feature film, "Chicken Run", a big box-office hit back in 2000.

In this film, Shaun wanted a change in the humdrum routine of farm life. So he conspired with this sheep cohorts to lull their Farmer to sleep and lock him in a trailer car, while they go watch television in his house. However, the trailer gets dislodged from its mooring and it rolled downhill all the way into the city! The resulting head trauma from this accident gives the Farmer amnesia. Realizing their folly, Shaun and friends have to find the Farmer and get him back, even if it means having to face the dangerous animal catcher Trumper.

Since I was not really familiar with the "Shaun the Sheep" TV series before watching this, it took some time for me to get used to the slow pace and silent nature of the film. It was quite a departure from the very frenetic, very loud animated films we are more used to seeing on TV (like "Spongebob Squarepants") 

However, once you get the drift of things, you will be thoroughly entertained with the homespun storytelling style of "Shaun". It is droll and delightful, very British in wit and humor. The storyline of having country folk getting lost in the big city is simple and familiar, but the charming demeanor of Shaun and friends and its sweet, light, cheery treatment of the hero's dilemma win us over. The sequences about the runaway trailer and the restaurant are particularly hilarious. I also liked the references to films like "Wolverine" and "Silence of the Lambs". 

Stop-motion is really a painstaking style of animation requires patience and precision in its animators.  "Shaun the Sheep" may be considered lower-key when compared to the fast and furious "Chicken Run" (2000) or the complex and rowdy "The Pirates!" (2012). However, in a silent film like "Shaun", you really appreciate the littlest details that go into this process. It is really admirable and amazing how emotions are expressed in very minute and subtle changes in the eyes of those clay animal figures. This film is scintillating in its apparent yet deceptive simplicity. 8/10.


23 comments:

  1. Wow, that's a pretty high rating for an animation film. I don't think I will watch it in the cinemas, too many films to catch recently... but maybe sometime in future when it's out online!

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  2. it's good to know some animation style from you. Kids here like to watch this kind of movie. Sad to say, I'm not with this kind of film. I really like, true-to-life-story.

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  3. Ha ha..The story is cute . Sounds like an entertainer!

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  4. Shaun the sheep is one of my kids fave show in disney channel. And one of the irritating and nonsense tv show ive seen in disney. Characters dont speak, only animals sounds.

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  5. My kids love this show... It's really funny even though they never really speak up. I personally like it too!

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  6. the story and animation looks cute! but I didn't know that this is a 'silent' movie! I probably won't catch it then, I don't really know how to appreciate such genre....

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  7. This is cute! Our twins will like this, for sure.

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  8. Heh! There is movie for Shaun? I think Malaysia didn't show it. I am a fan of it. =0

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  9. I think this one would be a good watch. You just need to invest some time on going with the flow and being familiar with the characters.

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  10. Awww we love Shaun the Sheep in our house - I did try and get my daughter to watch it the other day but to no avail... I shall try again! :)

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  11. this is so cute and fun! Kids gonna love it <3

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  12. My kids will love this! But first the husband and I must watch it first to see if it's good hehe. Thanks for the review.

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  13. After spongebob - Shaun the sheep is new love for my kids ..so definitely I will be getting a request for tickets now. 8/10 is very good rating !

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  14. this isn't something i would watch. i never got into these as a child myself

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  15. This is such a cute one but sad that "Shaun the Sheep" is now showing in Malaysia.

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  16. SILENT barnyard comedy, this is something new for an animation film. I will definitely love seeing this one but I don't know if my apo will love it.

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  17. The title itself is worth a watch. My kids would love to see this. Thank you for sharing

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  18. Love that Shaun The Sheep is done in creative stop-motion! Perfect thing to watch for kids! :D

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  19. That's so nice of you to watch Shaun The Sheep with your son! I've seen posters for this movie whenever I go to malls, but I haven't seen yet, since I'm not really a big fan of the TV series.

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  20. So it's like Charlie Chaplin sheep version? I'm only familiar with Shaun the sheep through my kids, perhaps I should sit down and try to watch it with them.

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  21. I've just heard this one. Hmmm, thinkin. LOL. Might ask my friends to check this one out.

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  22. Shaun the Sheep for me is just another cartoon but my son love this. ASk me why and I can't provide you an answer. hehehe

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  23. Stop motion videos take a loooong time to finish, I appreciate the details and the attention that goes into creating a movie like this, and at least the storytelling is spot on, so all that effort doesn't go to waste.

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