SHAUN THE SHEEP

'''Shaun the Sheep''' is a British stop-motion animated children's television series produced by Aardman Animations. The show first aired in the UK on CBBC2 in March, ^[1] starting 5 March 2007. ''Shaun the Sheep'' is also shown every weekday at 7:55 p.m. on Disney Channel Asia and premiered on Disney Channel in the US on July 8, 2007 at 8.55pm. In the Netherlands it is aired every day at 7.00pm on Nickelodeon. In Australia, It is aired on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Television every weekday at 4:15pm. These times change so please visit ^[2]
Shape up with Shaun, A DVD containing 8 episodes of the series will be released in the UK on 17th September, 2007.^[3]
[4]Shawn the Sheep forum

Contents

History

Synopsis

International broadcasters

Episodes

Reception

Major characters

Minor characters

Animals

Humanoids

Trivia

References

External links

History

The character first appeared in the 1995 Oscar-winning Wallace and Gromit short film ''A Close Shave''. Sucked into Wallace's ''Knit-o-matic'' contraption, the sheep is accidentally shorn, so Wallace names him "Shaun" (a pun). Shaun later appeared in the 2002 ''Cracking Contraptions'' episode, ''Shopper 13'', ostensibly to rescue a wayward wheel of cheese.
The popularity of the character, as expressed in the success of Shaun the Sheep merchandise, led to this spin-off series of 40 7-minute episodes.^[5]
The second series (the second lot of twenty episodes) started on 3rd September at 4.10pm on the new look CBBC 1, with two episodes being shown.

Synopsis

A premise of the series is that Shaun the sheep exhibits human intelligence, creativity, and behaviour in a barnyard, which usually provides a situational comedy conflict which Shaun must resolve before the end of each episode. Recurring themes include the characters evading the sheepdog Bitzer and avoiding discovery by the Farmer. In the first episode, a stray cabbage bouncing into the field provokes an impromptu football game. In the second episode, a freezing cold sheep dip sends Shaun on a commando raid to get hot water from the Farmer’s bathtub.
Episodes are a combination of slapstick and classic silent comedy in Aardman’s recognisable animation style. There is no spoken dialogue, even by human characters. In this way it is reminiscent of early silent comedy films and even Pingu.

International broadcasters

The series has been aired on Danish television, is currently airing on Indian (Nick), German, Japanese, and Norwegian television, and is scheduled for broadcast in 72 countries in total.

Country	Channel(s)
	ABC
	ORF
	RTBF
	RTV
	HRT
	Cartoon Network and Česká televize
	Disney Channel and DR1
	ETV
	YLE
	Disney Channel and TF1
	WDR, KI.KA
	TVB Pearl from Aug 12, 2007
	Cartoon Network
	Logi Channel
	Disney Channel
	NHK
	TV2 and Nickelodeon New Zealand
	NRK
	Disney Channel
	Cartoon Network and TVP
	Disney Channel Asia
	Cartoon Network and STV
	Nickelodeon
	SVT
	SF, TSR
	Disney Channel
	BBC One, BBC Two, CBBC
	Disney Channel
	Teletoon
	Nick (India)

Episodes

Reception

Reviews of the series were consistently positive. Harry Venning of "The Stage" found "characterisation charming and the animation superb. All this before even a mention of how funny and splendidly slapstick the script is."^[6]
The Guardian noted that the series "hits the four-to-seven-year-old age group smack in the eye."^[7]
Charles Arthur wrote "classic Aardman style that leaves me laughing out loud."^[8]
On forums, the show has received rave reviews, with Shaun becoming a favourite among adults as well as children.^[9]

Major characters

'Shaun' the Sheep has an inquisitive, mischievous nature which distinguishes him from the other sheep, and leads him into tricky situations from which he usually recovers. He is popular, and is a natural leader. He is also a moral character who will try to "make things right".
'Bitzer' is the long-suffering sheepdog who watches the flock. His dimmish owner never notices the flock is anything but normal, and Bitzer keeps it that way. He tolerates antics, but steps in if things get out of hand. Bitzer acts as foreman, checking the sheep into and out of the field and lunching with a flask of tea and sandwiches. He listens to drum and bass on a portable media player and does crossword puzzles, which gives the animals opportunity for mischief. The relationship between Bitzer and the animals is essentially friendly.
A character designed by a ''Blue Peter'' competition winner, ''XX2000 Robot Dog'', will replace Bitzer in one episode.^[10]
'The Farmer' is a solitary and plain figure, who tends to his smallholding farm with loyal Bitzer. He goes about his business expressing little emotion except the occasional burst of frustration when things go wrong, or an air of bemusement at the results of some of Shaun’s antics. He is enthusiastic about new technology.
Like all the human characters in the series, we see him from the animals’ point of view and his speech comes across as a series of grunts and mumbles. He is unaware that his farmyard charges are anything other than normal animals.
'The Flock' are typical sheep, content to spend the day chewing the cud until Shaun gets an idea into his head, when they will easily follow his lead. They are an enthusiastic audience for Shaun, but are clumsy, easily frightened and not bright, which undermines Shaun’s exploits. While the flock mainly acts as a unified entity, some characters stand out within the group:
:'Shirley' is so much bigger than the other sheep that she has to be pushed from place to place and can eat just about anything that comes her way. She is useful as a trampoline, a battering ram and her capacious fleece provides a hiding place for unlikely items.
:'Timmy' is an adorable baby lamb who sucks a dummy and gets into dangerous situations. He loves teddy bears and will cry if he is without them. He likes pizza, and only has one tooth.
:'Timmy's Mother' wears curlers in her hair, and is a bit careless about maternal duties. But when her offspring goes astray, she is inconsolable until he is safely back in her care.
'The Naughty Pigs' are housed in a yard next to the field, and are the bane of the sheep's life. Mocking, cantankerous, greedy and generally lazy, they still find time to disrupt Shaun’s schemes.

Minor characters

Animals

'The Cockerel' appears at the start of the opening credits.
'The Mother Hen' and her annoying, chirpy Chicks appear in ''Who’s The Mummy?''.
'Baby Chicks'
'The Duck' suffers collateral damage due to Shaun’s exploits in ''Off The Baa'' and ''Bath Time''.
'Mower Mouth' the Goat is an unstoppable eating machine – while not an unfriendly character, all his considerable energy is focused on his next meal. He appears in ''Mower Mouth'' and ''Saturday Night Shaun''.
'The Bull' is belligerent, powerful, and easily provoked by Shaun’s antics and the colour red. He appears in ''The Bull'', ''Saturday Night Shaun'' and ''Who's The Mummy?''. When Shaun orders a red bed sheet, he stops chasing the other sheep (painted red) around the farm.
'The Mole' is a rude pest in ''Mountains Out Of Molehills''. He is fearless when mocking Shaun, but not so brave when Mother Mole turns up.
'The Bees'
'She-Bitzer' is a female dog belonging to campers who pitch their tent by the sheep field in ''Fetching''. After a brief courtship, she and Bitzer are cruelly separated.
'Pidsley' is the Farmer's lazy and selfish cat who can be remarkably quick and vicious, and dislikes it when the sheep sneak into the farmer's house. Appears in ''Timmy In A Tizzy'' and ''Saturday Night Shaun''.
'The Frog' is found in the scarecrow's hat, then in the pocket of the coat which Shaun takes. He is given as currency along with three buttons, a small comb and a kazoo in exchange for a number of pizzas. He seems unwilling to become the pizza delivery boy's pet.
'The Mouse' is used by the Naughty Pigs as a prank on the flock in ''Things That Go Bump''.
'A Tooth'

Humanoids

'Pizza Delivery Boy' is a teenager who rides a moped and works in the local pizzeria. Also as a postman in ''Saturday Night Shaun''.
'The Farmer’s Niece' is a sweet cherub whose over-enthusiastic love of animals spells trouble for Shaun.
'The Ramblers' are a liberal, nature-loving couple in ''Shaun Shoots The Sheep''.
'The Scarecrow' is not a human character, but a handy prop which Shaun uses in ''Take Away'' and ''Things That Go Bump''.
'Fair Stall Man'
confused when sheep win on his fair stall and the sheep choose a cudly toy that they want.
'Bus Driver'
a bus driver

Trivia

In every episode, there is at least one allusion to a classic movie scene from such films as in Star Wars, E.T., The Matrix and Pulp Fiction.

Shirley's training in the episode ''Shape Up With Shaun'' is based on the film Rocky.

The painting style in the episode ''Still Life'' is the same as in ''The Aristocats''.

At the end of ''Saturday Night Shaun'', Shirley opens her mouth and music plays, as in ''Lilo and Stitch'' when Stitch opens his mouth and music plays.

The famous shower scene from Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho is spoofed in the episode ''The Little Sheep of Horrors'', which name is based on the 1960's film The Little Shop of Horrors.
In ''Hiccups'', Shaun turns his guitar amplifier up to 11 in a reference to the scene in This Is Spinal Tap.

References

1. Shawn the Sheep BBC page
2. Shawn the Sheep
3. Shaun the Sheep DVD pre-order page
4. Shawn the Sheeprecently launched a forum which encourages feedback from fans alongside giving like minded fans the opportunity to communicate with each other
5. Shaun the Sheep gets his own show. BBC News, 23 September, 2004.
6. TV Review The Stage. Harry Venning. 12 March, 2007. Retrieved 3 April 2007
7. Last Night's TV Guardian UK. 6 March 2007. Nancy Banks-Smith. Retrieved 3 April 2007.
8. Roll over, Pixar - Shaun the sheep’s here to tickle your funny bone CharlesArthur.com 20 March 2007. Retrieved 3 April 2007
9. Forum entry DigitalSpy.
10. Blue Peter reveals new character for Shaun the Sheep. BBC Press Release. March 28, 2006. Retrieved 2007-04-30

External links

★ Official website

★ ''Shaun the Sheep'' at bbc.co.uk/cbbc

★ Aardman Animation official website

★ BBC Press release (animation series)