A SHAUN THE SHEEP MOVIE:
FARMAGEDDON
****
Directors: Will Becher & Richard Phelan
Screenwriters: Mark Burton and Jon Brown, based on Shaun the Sheep by Nick Park.
Principal cast:
Justin Fletcher
John Sparkes
Amalia Vitale
Kate Harbour
Richard Webber
Andy Nyman
Country: UK/France/USA
Classification: G
Runtime: 86 mins.
Australian release date: 9 January 2020
Previewed at: Palace Central Cinemas, Sydney, on 17 December 2019.
A Shaun The Sheep Movie: Farmageddon directors Will Becher and Richard Phelan have created a ripper of a sci-fi tale in which an alien turns up in Mossingham and is looked after by the four-legged residents of ‘Mossy Bottom’ Farm. What’s not to love about this adorable bunch of Aardman Animations clay characters with wonky mouths and a penchant for being a little naughty? Nothing too radical, mind, just a strong desire to go against the rules from time to time. Isn’t there a little bit of Shaun in all of us (and I don’t mean lamb chops)? As Aardman says of their quadrupedal, ruminant star, Shaun, “He’s pretty bright - for a sheep.”
When the little extra-terrestrial Lu-La (Amalia Vitale) from the planet To-Pa crash-lands her UFO on Earth, she is found by Shaun (Justin Fletcher) and taken in by him and the flock, who hide her from Bitzer the dog (John Sparkes) and quickly become fond of the cheeky creature and her galactic-sized burps. When Shaun figures out that she is a lost child, he shoulders the responsibility to get her back home and takes her back to Mossingham Forest to try and locate her space-ship. Unbeknownst to them, however, they are being pursued by Agent Red (Kate Harbour) and her hazmat-clad goons from the Ministry of Alien Detection (M.A.D.), who are like rejects from the Men In Black movies. Meanwhile, Mossingham village has caught UFO fever so the Farmer (also John Sparkes) decides to create a theme park, ‘Farmageddon,’ in order to cash in on the hysteria and pay for a new harvester, and he puts the sheep to work… with mixed results!
The makers of Farmageddon have expanded the universe of ‘Mossy Bottom’ Farm for this movie and Shaun has to grow up to accommodate this brave new world. He’s usually the mischievous one but now he has to take care of Lu-La and it’s all a bit strange to him. That the animators can convey these, and other concepts, by the use of these stop-motion animated creations is remarkable. Plus, of course, none of them speak - their ‘speech’ is made up of bleats, grunts, belches and a large collection of noises and yet the audience is never left in any doubt as to what is happening in the hearts and minds of the characters. As one of the co-executive producers put it, “Over the years, when we’ve talked to American partners, they’ve often said that they want to put a voice on Shaun, to have him learn things. Sacrilege! That’s not Shaun! … Shaun doesn’t talk - that’s his USP [Unique Selling Proposition] and it has connected so strongly with people for so long.”
The script is a lot of fun with, not surprisingly, lots of references to the tropes of famous sci-fi movies about space, aliens, UFOs and so on. Richard Phelan, one of the directors, explains that, “We studied classic sci-fi for ages, looking at the lenses they use, the frame, Kubrick’s compositional shots, Spielberg’s way of choreographing movement through the frame. Realising all this is incredibly meticulous in animation.” As a result, keen-eyed viewers will see allusions to films like Close Encounters Of The Third Kind, 2001: A Space Odyssey and E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, and TV shows such as Doctor Who and The X-Files.
A Shaun The Sheep Movie: Farmageddon is a charming film that will be enjoyed by young and old alike, although for entirely different reasons. And the humour carries right through to the end credits, where we learn that ‘No sheep were probed during the making of this film.’ Crowds should flock to this one (sorry, that’s baaad)!
Screenwriters: Mark Burton and Jon Brown, based on Shaun the Sheep by Nick Park.
Principal cast:
Justin Fletcher
John Sparkes
Amalia Vitale
Kate Harbour
Richard Webber
Andy Nyman
Country: UK/France/USA
Classification: G
Runtime: 86 mins.
Australian release date: 9 January 2020
Previewed at: Palace Central Cinemas, Sydney, on 17 December 2019.
A Shaun The Sheep Movie: Farmageddon directors Will Becher and Richard Phelan have created a ripper of a sci-fi tale in which an alien turns up in Mossingham and is looked after by the four-legged residents of ‘Mossy Bottom’ Farm. What’s not to love about this adorable bunch of Aardman Animations clay characters with wonky mouths and a penchant for being a little naughty? Nothing too radical, mind, just a strong desire to go against the rules from time to time. Isn’t there a little bit of Shaun in all of us (and I don’t mean lamb chops)? As Aardman says of their quadrupedal, ruminant star, Shaun, “He’s pretty bright - for a sheep.”
When the little extra-terrestrial Lu-La (Amalia Vitale) from the planet To-Pa crash-lands her UFO on Earth, she is found by Shaun (Justin Fletcher) and taken in by him and the flock, who hide her from Bitzer the dog (John Sparkes) and quickly become fond of the cheeky creature and her galactic-sized burps. When Shaun figures out that she is a lost child, he shoulders the responsibility to get her back home and takes her back to Mossingham Forest to try and locate her space-ship. Unbeknownst to them, however, they are being pursued by Agent Red (Kate Harbour) and her hazmat-clad goons from the Ministry of Alien Detection (M.A.D.), who are like rejects from the Men In Black movies. Meanwhile, Mossingham village has caught UFO fever so the Farmer (also John Sparkes) decides to create a theme park, ‘Farmageddon,’ in order to cash in on the hysteria and pay for a new harvester, and he puts the sheep to work… with mixed results!
The makers of Farmageddon have expanded the universe of ‘Mossy Bottom’ Farm for this movie and Shaun has to grow up to accommodate this brave new world. He’s usually the mischievous one but now he has to take care of Lu-La and it’s all a bit strange to him. That the animators can convey these, and other concepts, by the use of these stop-motion animated creations is remarkable. Plus, of course, none of them speak - their ‘speech’ is made up of bleats, grunts, belches and a large collection of noises and yet the audience is never left in any doubt as to what is happening in the hearts and minds of the characters. As one of the co-executive producers put it, “Over the years, when we’ve talked to American partners, they’ve often said that they want to put a voice on Shaun, to have him learn things. Sacrilege! That’s not Shaun! … Shaun doesn’t talk - that’s his USP [Unique Selling Proposition] and it has connected so strongly with people for so long.”
The script is a lot of fun with, not surprisingly, lots of references to the tropes of famous sci-fi movies about space, aliens, UFOs and so on. Richard Phelan, one of the directors, explains that, “We studied classic sci-fi for ages, looking at the lenses they use, the frame, Kubrick’s compositional shots, Spielberg’s way of choreographing movement through the frame. Realising all this is incredibly meticulous in animation.” As a result, keen-eyed viewers will see allusions to films like Close Encounters Of The Third Kind, 2001: A Space Odyssey and E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, and TV shows such as Doctor Who and The X-Files.
A Shaun The Sheep Movie: Farmageddon is a charming film that will be enjoyed by young and old alike, although for entirely different reasons. And the humour carries right through to the end credits, where we learn that ‘No sheep were probed during the making of this film.’ Crowds should flock to this one (sorry, that’s baaad)!
