Official Synopsis
Life on Mossy Bottom Farm has become a bit dull. When Shaun takes the day off for some fun in the Big City, he gets a lot more action than he bargained for. Now Shaun and his flock must use their wits to hatch a baaaa-rilliant plan to get back home in an adventure the whole family will love.
Director and writers Mark Burton and Richard Starzak put together something entertaining with Shaun the Sheep Movie. Using the wonderful, yet old school methods of stop motion animation, Shaun the Sheep Movie is a simple romp through predictable situations in a narrative that is easy enough for kids to enjoy and contains enough humor to keep adults interested. It’s always a balancing act when it comes to things like this, as not all stories trying to entertain all demos come off as good in a typical three-act structure.
With that said, let’s get into this puppy.
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The first act is a kind reminder of who Shaun is, as the movie does a nice job montage-ing through the birth and early life between Shaun, the farmer and responsible mutt, Bitzer. The short, but sweet introduction leads us to believe that Shaun’s way of thinking on the farm is not in line with the other sheep (in other words, he doesn’t follow like a sheep – muhahahaha…*ahem*) and the his oddball plans put him as leader of his group on the farm. This sets up the oncoming story, as act one ends with Shaun deciding to take a vacation from his day-to-day routine and making the farmer, against his will and knowledge, take a break as well. Everything goes well until Shaun gets caught by Bitzer, which leads to both he and Bitzer accidentally sending a sleeping farmer down a hill in a trailer towards the city.
The first act is smooth and plays it safe, which isn’t surprising, as overcomplicating things isn’t what Shaun the Sheep is about. The setup in the film is perfect, the climb to the second act is warranted and the jokes, though no real dialogue is delivered for them, are typically brilliant. What more could you ask from a first act? Again, nothing overly complicated here, rather right on par with Shaun the Sheep in general.
As the second act begins, the farmer finds himself in the city, and after bumping his head he also finds himself with a loss of memory. He doesn’t know who he is or where he came from, which forces Shaun and Bitzer to go on a farmer hunt to bring the man back. To complicate matters, Shaun and group are up against an animal container named Trumper, who knows there are sheep out in the city and actively seeks to capture them. It’s a fun mixture of innocent tension with Trumper, while putting together some sad, yet brief loss with the farmer.
The second act does a great job with speeding the film up a bit and opening up some great opportunities for subtle humor. The farmer’s situation in the second act actually rivals the humor you get from Shaun and Trumper. His ultimate destination in the second act is brilliantly witty. It offers up a different avenue for jokes, while creating a melancholy sense of separation, which is neat for a kids movie like this — the audience will actually care about the farmer, as well as Shaun’s plight to get him back. The film gets a bit deeper in the middle than maybe it should, but ultimately, all turns out well, and as it should, but before the resolve there is some real danger that unfolds in the third act.
As usual, we won’t discuss the third act besides saying all is resolved. Again, it’s a movie for kids, so there is no reason it shouldn’t turn out well.
Overall, Shaun the Sheep Movie is filled with fun humor and circumstances that remind us how much fun our stop motion sheep can be, even in a feature format.
On the special features side of things with this Blu-ray release, here’s what to expect:
· “Making the Shaun Movie” Featurette
· “Meet the Characters” Featurette
· “Join Shaun Behind the Scenes” Featurette
· “Meet the Crew” Featurette
· Parody Poster Gallery
Not bad for this release.
