Aardman Animations is known for its stop-motion productions, particularly its Wallace & Gromit franchise. It started with short films in 1989. Two of which won Academy Awards. Aardman did a 2005 picture, which won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature. This is the fifth full-length film in that franchise, focusing on the titular, spin-off character. Shaun the Sheep (2007) is the longest-running, animated series in British and German television. The character in it might be even more popular than Wallace and Gromit. The franchise was created by British filmmakers, but the work is mostly dialogue-free, so no translations are needed. The story in all of the films is conveyed predominantly through action, gestures, and facial expressions. Whatever dialogue or spoken language is tantamount to that of the adults in the Charlie Brown or Peanuts cartoons. As such, all the comedy is visual gags and pratfalls.
This film is set during the Halloween season, so a lot of the visual gags are themed around Halloween. The opening minutes have several October 31st references or things befitting that spooky holiday. Given the billion-dollar success of the recent biopic, it's not surprising that Aardman would do a nod to Michael Jackson's Thriller (1983), but, given the child abuse allegations that haunted the pop star, it also could be considered by some to be surprising. Nevertheless, the Halloween theme is meant to be cute and harmless, not scary or biting in any real way. Yet, this isn't the first time Aardman has tipped its hat to horror. Aardman's Oscar-winning feature The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005) was also released theatrically in the weeks leading up to Halloween, so operating in this silly but spooky register isn't new for Aardman.
If one isn't familiar with the premise, it's simply about a very intelligent sheep named Shaun who lives on a farm with his flock, along with other farm animals like pigs and chickens. In that flock, there's only one lamb, a veritable child-sheep named Timmy. This year, Timmy wants to make a jack-o-lantern for Halloween. Shaun decides to grow pumpkins for a jack-o-lantern in a secret pumpkin patch on the farm. When the pumpkin patch is accidentally destroyed and all the pumpkins in it gone, only days before the October 31st celebration, Shaun has to figure out another way to get Timmy a jack-o-lantern.
Akin to Wallace and Gromit, who are a human and dog respectively, this film also has equivalent human and dog characters. The human is unnamed. He's simply referred to as "The Farmer" but the dog is a sheepdog breed called "Bitzer." Shaun or any of the flock don't communicate with the Farmer, but they can seemingly communicate with Bitzer. Like with Gromit, Bitzer has an almost familial relationship with the Farmer. It's odd that Shaun wouldn't simply ask Bitzer to ask the Farmer to buy the flock a pumpkin for Timmy, since the pumpkin patch was destroyed.
Shaun instead thinks he can solve the problem himself using home-made science, or as the pun goes "mad science." Shaun develops a formula that can make things grow super fast. Shaun only has pumpkin seeds left, which would take as long as 3 to 4 months to produce a fully developed pumpkin. Shaun has less than 3 or 4 days till Halloween. Shaun's mad science though unleashes a monster onto the nearby town of Mossingham. The town is scared, but manages to whip itself up a mob that chases down the monster. Like Beauty and the Beast (1991), there's a question of who the real monster is, the large hairy creature or the town mob?
It's a very fun romp, as we see Shaun and various characters, including a woman of color who is the town's veterinarian, chasing after this veritable Sasquatch. There's also a very similar message to Beauty and the Beast, where something that might scare you or seem hideous on the outside might be more like you on the inside than one might assume. Given what Shaun's formula can do, it's odd that this film didn't utilize it as an instrument of chaos more. Luckily, it also didn't go the route of David Cronenberg in terms of its body horror, even though it had the opportunity to do so. Instead of bodily transformation, this film only makes hair growth, or even lack thereof, the terrifying thing here.
There's much enjoyment to be had. Yet, when it comes to sheep-related films this year, my preference still goes to Kyle Balda's The Sheep Detectives (2026).
Rated PG for mild scary action.
Running Time: 1 hr. and 20 mins.
Running Time: 1 hr. and 20 mins.
In theaters.
