Shaun the Sheep Movie

Shaun the Sheep Movie is a 2015 British stop motion animated comedy silent film based on the animated television series Shaun the Sheep. The film was written and directed by Mark Burton and Richard Starzak and it stars Justin Fletcher as Shaun and Timmy, John Sparkes as Bitzer and The Farmer, Kate Harbour as Timmy's Mum, Emma Tate as Hazel and Omid Djalili as Anthony Trumper.

Plot
Shaun, a mischievous sheep living with his flock at Mossy Bottom Farm, is bored with the routine of life on the farm. One day he concocts a plan to have a day off by tricking the farmer into going back to sleep by counting his sheep repeatedly. However, the caravan in which they put the farmer to bed accidentally rolls away, taking him all the way into the city. Bitzer, the farmer's dog, chases after him. Bitzer tries to find the farmer in the hospital but ends up being kick off the hospital.

The farmer receives a blow to the head and is taken to a hospital, where he is diagnosed with amnesia before leaving. He wanders into a hair salon and, acting on a vague recollection of shearing his sheep, cuts a celebrity's hair. The celebrity loves the result and the farmer gains popularity as a hair stylist called "Mr. X".

Meanwhile, the sheep find life impossible without the farmer, so Shaun sneaks onto a bus to the city; the rest of the flock follow him on another bus. They manage to disguise themselves as people and 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 homeless dog named Slip they manage to escape while imprisoning Trumper. With the help of Slip, they find the farmer, but he does not recognize Shaun, who is heartbroken.

Feeling unwanted, Shaun, Bitzer, and the flock make a makeshift home in an alley. Their spirits are revived when they stumble upon evidence of the farmer's memory loss. They devise a plan which involves putting the farmer to sleep again, returning him to the trailer on a pantomime horse (really the flock of sheep in an elaborate disguise), and hooking the trailer up to a bus returning to Mossy Bottom. The plan is initially successful, but they are pursued by Trumper (having escaped the lock-up), who is now intent on killing them outright.

At the farm the group hides in a shed which Trumper tries to push into a nearby rock quarry with a tractor. The farmer wakes up and regains his memory. Shaun fights with Trumper making save all his familly and friends, but Trumper trows Shaun to the quarry only to be save by the farmer. Trumper is defeated by a bull while he was trying to escape and reasoning with the farmer for his misunderstanding. Slip leaves, but is adopted by a bus driver who finds her on the road. The farmer and the animals have a renewed appreciation for each other, and the next day the farmer cancels the day's routine activities for an official day off.

Epilogues reveal that the animal-control service is turned into an animal-protection centre, Trumper gets fired and finds work wearing a chicken suit to promote a restaurant, and the farmer sees a news report detailing some of the mayhem he slept through during his rescue from the city.

Why It Rocks

 * 1) It keeps all of the charm, hit and cleverness with from the TV series, with the movie still keeping it's usual formula of the characters not having any piece of dialogue and most, if not, all of the characters from the show are here.
 * 2) As expected from Aardman Animations, the stop-motion animation is absolutely phenomenal and is a massive upgrade to the ones in the TV series.
 * 3) All of the voice actors from the show reprise their roles for the characters here, and they still do excellent jobs at playing their characters, despite them having no dialogue.
 * 4) *In addition to this, Tim Hands and Omid Djalili do excellent performances for their roles for the new characters, Slip and Trumper, respectively.
 * 5) The humor is hilarious, including good slapstick and also smart humor.
 * 6) The characters are still likable, especially the main characters such as Shaun.
 * 7) There's a lot of charming and adorable moments in this film.
 * 8) Brilliant soundtrack, such as "Feels Like Summer".
 * 9) The scenes with Shaun and the Farmer are heartwarming, as it is almost like a father-son relationship.
 * 10) Anthony Trumper is a great villain, who has a lot of funny moments is generally quite threatening despite him being just a generic animal control worker.
 * 11) Ilan Eshkeri's score of the background fits with the animation and writing.
 * 12) The writing and direction from Richard Starzak and Mark Burton is amazing, and they did fantastic jobs with trying to keep the movie as close to the TV show as possible.
 * 13) The climax is amazing, intense, and emotional.
 * 14) The message of the film is well made; "Appreciate what you have, because otherwise you will lose it one day".
 * 15) The idea of a full length film without dialogue is a very creative idea and not as common, and the film still handles it well, even without a narrator.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) The story can be a bit simplistic at times, but not in a way where it feels like it only panders to children.
 * 2) Although Trumper's defeat is still a hook to watch, it feels a little fast.

Box office
The film cost less than $25 million to produce. It grossed $106.2 million worldwide, with some of its biggest markets being the United Kingdom ($22 million), North America ($19.4 million) and Germany ($12.1 million)

Critical response
Shaun the Sheep Movie received an acclaimed positive reviews from critics. The film currently holds an 99% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 161 reviews, with an average rating of 8.1/10 and a critic consensus that says "Warm, funny, and brilliantly animated, Shaun the Sheep is yet another stop-motion jewel in Aardman's family-friendly crown."

Awards
It was nominated in the Academy Awards, The Golden Globes and the BAFTA for Best Animated Film and also being nominated for 5 Annie Awards. Unfortunately, all of them lose by Inside Out. Luckly, the film won several awards including, Best Animated Film in the Toronto Film Critics Association Awards, Best Movie 2015:UK in the Golden Tomato Awards and an Special Achievement Award for the 2015 Critics' Choice Award on the Critic's Choice Awards

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