Shaun the Sheep: Wonderfully wordless film
3 out of 4 stars
Shaun the Sheep is a dialogue-free movie, but it’s by no means a silent film.
It’s as simple a picture as there has been in years. It’s non-digitally designed, just a no frills stop-motion claynimation ripped from the 1980s that blends grunts and mumbles with an engaging soundtrack to take the sheep of Mossy Bottom Farm on a cartoon caper into the big city.
Director Mark Burton and Richard Starzak’s Shaun the Sheep bursts from its popular BBC TV series and onto the big screen, where he and his furry pals don’t realize the life they have until they lose it.
Life on the farm is good for the sheep. They live with a bumbling, stumbling, elderly farmer who is a shell of what he used to be. Life’s far from exciting, doing the same routine every day, until the sheep decide they want a day off from chores.
But the sheeps’ elaborate prank goes awry, and the next thing they know, their naïve farmer wakes up in a hospital in a big city having lost his memory. So of course, the sheep head to the city to find the only man who has ever cared for them, intent on bringing him home. The farmer’s loyal dog, who isn’t too happy with the sheep for their mischief, goes out on a rescue mission of his own.
Of course, the cuddly creatures combine forces to find the farmer, who has used his sheep-shearing skills to become the city’s hottest hairstylist.
Produced by Aardman Animations, which has been behind the popular Wallace and Gromit and Chicken Run, has turned communicating without words into an art form. For 85 minutes, the audience is waiting for the first word, yet it never comes. Still, the story offers humor suitable for young children.
Whether its watching sheep dressed in clothes eating at a fine French restaurant, scenes at an animal shelter that resembles for of a psycho ward or the mannerisms of an insane animal containment officer trying to get his hands on Shaun and his buddies, the mannerisms and interaction between animals and humans keeps the laughter steady.
The movie’s biggest problem is its rating. Since when do farting and burping sheep constitute a PG rating? Shaun the Sheep’s success at the box office hinges on parents bringing their young children. If the movie had been rated G, as it should have been, parents wouldn’t’ be frightened. But to give Shaun the Sheep, Minions and Inside Out the same rating? No way.
Shaun the Sheep is as kid-friendly as it comes and is clever enough to entertain adults, making a family trip to the farm a good choice before school starts.
Jon Gallo is an award-winning journalist and editor with 19 years of experience, including stints as a staff writer at The Washington Post and sports editor at The Baltimore Examiner. He also believes the government should declare federal holidays in honor of the following: the Round of 64 of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament; the Friday of the Sweet 16; the Monday after the Super Bowl; and of course, the day after the release of the latest Madden NFL video game.