SHAUN THE SHEEP Celebrates 26 Years of Family-Friendly Fun

SHAUN THE SHEEP Celebrates 26 Years of Family-Friendly Fun

By Movieguide® Staff

Last February, the stop motion studio Aardman Animations celebrated the 25-year-anniversary of the beloved Shaun the Sheep with a sci-fi-inspired sequel A SHAUN THE SHEEP MOVIE: FARMAGGEDON.

In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, FARMAGEDDON director Richard Phelan opened up about the importance of family in the movie.

“We always think of [the characters on the farm] as a family. [Sheepdog] Bitzer is like the older brother who has to look after Shaun and clean up after him. We give Shaun a sense of responsibility. He starts to see the world through Bitzer’s eyes,” Phelan told THR.

“We wanted to make it feel like a big, epic sci-fi movie through camera choices, color and lighting, but it’s a really intimate story about a sheep, a dog and an alien,” Phelan said.

Shaun made his first appearance in the Oscar-winning Wallace & Gromit short A CLOSE SHAVE, 26 years ago. While the famed sheep only appeared for seven minutes, the family-friendly character has become one of Aardman Animations’ most popular characters.

FARMAGEDDON follows 2015’s Oscar- and BAFTA-nominated SHAUN THE SHEEP MOVIE, which was honored at the 2015 Movieguide® Awards Gala as one of the Top Ten Family Movies of the year.

“Shaun tries to help an alien find his missing spaceship after it’s taken by a mean government UFO official. Meanwhile, farmer gets the crazy idea to build a UFO theme park with a big lattice structure capped with the sign ‘Farmageddon.’ He recruits Bitzer the sheepdog to build the theme park, and Bitzer recruits the sheep. Everything comes to a head at the Farmer’s silly theme park,” the Movieguide® synopsis reads.

The Nick Park created pro-family and uplifting entertainment has kept Shaun as popular as ever. A SHAUN THE SHEEP MOVIE: FARMAGEDDON was one of the best movies on Netflix for families to watch together and is up for an Oscar.

Movieguide® reviewed:

Now streaming on Netflix, FARMAGEDDON is so much fun and so funny it should be in theaters. It’s one of the most family-friendly Netflix movies. It is delightfully pro-family, pro-love, pro-forgiveness, with even a nod to a church bellringer and organist. It is fun without having any mean-spirited elements. Beyond the fun, it’s got strong heartrending moments. The filmmakers of FARMAGEDDON have orchestrated the emotional roller coaster of the movie perfectly. Their movie never gets maudlin or melodramatic. FARMAGEDDON is also a wonderful spoof of many well-known science fiction movies. Minor caution is advised for some slapstick comedy.”