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Shaun the Sheep Movie
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Richard Starzak Mark Burton
Written by	Richard Starzak Mark Burton
Story by	Mark Burton
Produced by	Paul Kewley Julie Lockhart
Starring	Justin Fletcher John Sparkes Omid Djalili
Cinematography	Charles Copping Dave Alex Riddett
Edited by	Sim Evan-Jones
Music by	Ilan Eshkeri
Production company	Aardman Animations
Distributed by	StudioCanal
Release dates	24 January 2015 (2015-01-24) (Sundance) 6 February 2015 (2015-02-06) (United Kingdom)
Running time	85 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Box office	$65.3 million

Shaun the Sheep Movie is a 2015 British stop-motion animated comedy film produced by Aardman Animations, based on the Shaun the Sheep television series, starring a character introduced in the 1995 Aardman Wallace and Gromit short "A Close Shave". The film is written and directed by Richard Starzak and Mark Burton. Financed and distributed by StudioCanal, it was released in the United Kingdom on 6 February 2015.

Plot

Shaun is a mischievous sheep living with his flock at Mossy Bottom Farm. Tired of the routine of life on the farm, he hatches a plan for a day off, by tricking the farmer into going back to sleep by counting the sheep over and over. However, the travel-trailer in which they put the farmer to bed accidentally rolls away, taking him all the way into the big city. Bitzer, the farmer's dog, goes after him, ordering the sheep to stay on the farm.

In the city, the farmer receives a blow to the head and is hospitalized, where he is diagnosed with amnesia. Unaware of who he is, he leaves the hospital, eventually wandering into a hair salon, where he cuts a celebrity's hair as if he was shearing a sheep. The celebrity loves it, which leads the farmer to a new career as the mysterious hair stylist "Mr X".

Meanwhile, the sheep find life impossible without the farmer, so Shaun sneaks on a bus to the city; the rest of the flock follow him. He manages to disguise them as people and they begin looking for the farmer, but Shaun is captured by Trumper, an over-zealous animal-control worker. Shaun is reunited with Bitzer in the animal lock-up, and with the help of a feral dog called Slip they escape. They find the farmer, but he doesn't recognise Shaun, who is heartbroken by his owner's hostility.

Shaun learns about the farmer's memory loss, and he and the flock devise a plan, which involves putting the farmer and everyone else to sleep with the sheep-counting trick, returning him to the trailer on a fake horse (really the sheep in an elaborate disguise), and hooking the trailer up to a bus returning to Mossy Bottom. It works, but they are pursued by Trumper who has become obsessed with "containing" them.

At the farm, the group hide in a shed, which Trumper tries to push into a nearby rock quarry. But the farmer wakes up, regains his memory, and through teamwork Trumper is defeated. The farmer and the animals have a renewed appreciation for each other, and the next day the farmer cancels the day's routine activities. Slip leaves, but is adopted by a bus driver who finds him on the road. The animal-control service is turned into animal-protection center, and Trumper, no longer welcome there, finds work wearing a chicken suit to promote a restaurant.

Voice cast

• Justin Fletcher as Shaun/Timmy
• John Sparkes as Bitzer/Farmer
• Omid Djalili as Trumper
• Kate Harbour as Timmy's Mum/Meryl
• Richard Webber as Shirley
• Tim Hands as Slip
• Simon Greenall as The Twins
• Emma Tate as Hazel
• Henry Burton as Junior Doctor/Animal Containment Visitor
• Dhimant Vyas as Hospital Consultant
• Sophie Laughton as Animal Containment Visitor
• Nia Medi James as Operatic Sheep
• Andy Nyman as Nuts
• Jack Paulson as Celebrity with Hair Trouble
• Nick Park as himself

Production

By January 2011, Aardman had started developing a feature film version of Shaun the Sheep, with a plan to be ready for a 2013/2014 release. In April 2013, it was announced that the film, written and directed by Richard Starzak and Mark Burton, would be financed and distributed by StudioCanal. The film would follow Shaun and his flock into the big city to rescue their farmer, who was forced by Shaun's mischief to leave the farm. On 24 September 2013, it was announced the film would be released on 20 March 2015, but was later moved up to 6 February 2015. Principal photography and production began on 30 January 2014.

Music

Ilan Eshkeri composed the music for the film. The title song, "Feels Like Summer", was a collaboration between Tim Wheeler (of rock band Ash), composer Ilan Eshkeri and former-Kaiser Chief Nick Hodgson. The soundtrack was released in the UK digitally on 1 June 2015 and on CD on 29 June 2015.

All music is composed by Ilan Eshkeri, except where noted

Release

A poster and a teaser trailer were released on 3 April 2014. The film premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival as part of the Sundance Kid program on 24 January 2015. The film was released in the United Kingdom on 6 February 2015. This film was released in the North American market on 5 August 2015.

Critical reception

The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a rating of 99%, based on 109 critics, with an average rating of 8.2/10. The site's consensus reads, "Warm, funny, and brilliantly animated, Shaun the Sheep is yet another stop-motion jewel in Aardman's family-friendly crown." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 81 out of 100, based on 30 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". On CinemaScore, audience members gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.

Possible sequels

Aardman has stated that they are considering making a sequel to the film.

References

1. ^ Means, Sean P (15 December 2014). "Sundance Film Festival adds three children's films and a Robert Redford premiere". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
2. ^ Payne, Joey (28 May 2014). "Film Changes W/C 26/05". Digital Cinema Media. Retrieved 28 May 2014.
3. ^ "Shaun the Sheep Movie (2014)". British Film Institute. Retrieved 6 March 2015.
4. ^ "Omid Djalili Interview: Voice of "Trumper"". Newsround. 31 January 2015. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
5. ^ "Shaun the Sheep set for big-screen adventure in 2015". BBC. 25 April 2013. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
6. "SHAUN THE SHEEP THE MOVIE - British Board of Film Classification". bbfc.co.uk. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
7. "Shaun the Sheep Movie (2015)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 8 August 2015.
8. "Aardman Animations plan new Shaun the Sheep film". BBC. 27 January 2011. Retrieved 28 April 2011.
9. Jardine, William (24 September 2013). "Aardman News: Shaun the Sheep Movie Coming March 2015". A113Animation. Retrieved 24 September 2013.
10. "Cameras are Rolling on the Shaun the Sheep Movie". ComingSoon.net. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
11. "Ilan Eshkeri Scoring Aardman Animations' 'Shaun the Sheep'". filmmusicreporter.com. 30 November 2014. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
12. "'Feels Like Summer' Song Available to Download Now!". Shaun the Sheep. Retrieved 27 April 2015.
13. "Movie Soundtrack Released in the UK!". shaunthesheep.com. Retrieved 31 July 2015.
14. Anderton, Ethan (3 April 2014). "Aardman Animation's 'Shaun the Sheep' Movie Teaser Trailer". firstshowing.net. Retrieved 3 April 2014.
15. "Lionsgate Publicity". lionsgatepublicity.com. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
16. "Shaun the Sheep". Rotten Tomatoes. 5 February 2015. Retrieved 7 August 2015.
17. "Shaun the Sheep Movie". Metacritic. Retrieved 7 August 2015.
18. "Shaun the Sheep reviews". Deadline. Retrieved 8 August 2015.
19. SNAP.PA – Sat, 7 February 2015 (7 February 2015). "Shaun The Sheep creators would love a sequel - Yahoo News UK". Uk.news.yahoo.com. Retrieved 27 April 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
20. "Nick Park and Richard Starzak talk movies... and possible sequels - Videos - Shaun The Sheep Movie - British Comedy Guide". Comedy.co.uk. 3 February 2015. Retrieved 27 April 2015.

External links

• Official website
• Shaun the Sheep Movie at IMDb
• Template:Bcdb title
• Shaun the Sheep Movie at Box Office Mojo
• Shaun the Sheep Movie at Rotten Tomatoes
• Shaun the Sheep Movie at Metacritic

• 2015 films
• 2010s adventure films
• 2010s comedy films
• 2015 3D films
• 2015 animated films
• Aardman Animations films
• Animated adventure films
• Animated comedy films
• British adventure films
• British animated films
• British comedy films
• British films
• Directorial debut films
• English-language films
• Films about amnesia
• Films about sheep
• Stop-motion animated films
• StudioCanal films
• Wallace and Gromit