This movie came out in theaters this summer and I may have forced my youngest sister to accompany me to the theater to watch it. I think she actually wanted to see Straight Outta Compton, but a) I had already seen it and b) these two movies are practically the same.
Shaun the Sheep is one of the spin-off movies from the world of Wallace and Gromit. If you don’t know Wallace and Gromit, well, there is no hope for you. I kid, I kid. Let me explain. Wallace and Gromit were created by Aardman Animations, an animation company out of Bristol, ya know, across the pond.
Truth be told, I hadn’t really heard of the studio or seen much of their work growing up until about 7th or 8th grade when I started doing these fundraising events for band called The Rock-a-Thon. You might think that because this was a band fundraiser that The Rock-a-Thon involved endless music. Nope. It was actually all about rocking in rocking chairs. Honestly, I’d wager it was the most strategic kids fundraiser ever orchestrated.
See, there was only one rule to The Rock-a-Thon and that was you couldn’t leave your rocking chair and you couldn’t stop rocking. Pretty much an ideal way to ensure everyone stayed out of trouble and in sight.
Of course, there were activities like Rocker Races, but for the most part kids would bring games to play or chat. This was obviously before Netflix and millions of portable devices were available so the chaperons would play movies for everyone to watch. The top choices were Mr. Bean movies and Wallace & Gromit primarily for their limited or non-existant dialog. It meant that the volume didn’t need to be blasting for you to enjoy the movie.
Anyway, that’s where I first saw Wallace & Gromit. I’ll admit, I wasn’t that thrilled at first. It was only mildly funny to me (I didn’t have an appreciation for slapstick or British humor then!) The more I watched them though, the more I enjoyed them. It was really the animation style that caught my interest.
Wallace & Gromit, as well as other Aardman Animations pieces, is done in claymation. Not just computer generated claymation-like animation. No, real painstaking claymation. I was a bit of an art nerd in high school, as soon as I realized how much work went into each production I couldn’t help but love them.
I started going to see their movies in theaters, Chicken Run, The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, Flushed Away, The Pirates! and more. The Shaun the Sheep movie was just the latest movie I have seen in theaters from this fantastic production company.
The movie itself was, in one word, adorable. There was no dialog, but I found myself laughing and tearing up. It’s a movie you could defiantly enjoy watching with a small child as an adult. In fact, it’s also just the perfect kind of movie for when you’re having a rough day and you need to watch something cute and light. So, if you haven’t seen it, I recommend it. It’s not going to be as exciting as a Fast & Furious movie, but it’s well done and enjoyable.
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