Shaun the Sheep: The Space Sheep – A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon (2019)

Directed by: Will Becher, Richard Phelan | 87 minutes | animation, adventure | Original voice cast: Justin Fletcher, John Sparkes, John Sparkes, Andy Nyman, David Holt, Kate Harbour, Amalia Vitale, Joe Sugg, Emma Tate, Richard Webber, Simon Greenall, Naomi McDonald

While the world of computer animations is becoming more and more detailed and ingenious, the British Aardman has been sticking to its old, familiar style for decades: simple clay dolls in an almost clumsy setting that experience uncomplicated adventures. All the more clever is that Aardman stands out and excels despite – or is it precisely because of – this simplicity. Take Wallace and Gromit, the cheese-addicted inventor and his taciturn, loyal four-legged friend who turns out to be highly intelligent (without saying a single word). Their short films were already brilliant, but in the feature film ‘The Curse of the Were Rabbit’ (2005) all of Aardman’s qualities really come together: the plot may be simple, thanks to the many visual jokes and references, the original approach bursting with creativity and the subtly woven touch of emotion, the film rises well above mediocrity. After Wallace and Gromit, another popular figure from the Aarman stable also got his own movie: Shaun the Sheep. The resourceful, mischievous young sheep has starred in some 150 short films since his first appearance in the Wallace and Gromit short ‘A Close Shave’ (1995) before starring in his own full-length animated feature in 2015 – simply ‘Shaun the Sheep Movie’. ‘ called – was allowed to show up. And not without success, because both the press and the public walked away with the film.

Good news for all fans: Shaun the Sheep now has his second animated film, ‘A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon’ (2019). As ingenious as that title is, in the Netherlands the film was released under the less spectacular title ‘Shaun the Sheep: Het Ruimteschaap’. As the title suggests, here Shaun has to deal with an alien that lands near Mossy Bottom Farm. Before the two meet, Shaun and the herd have already packed the viewer with a series of hilarious but dangerous activities, which the dutiful dog Bitzer keeps trying to put a stop to. After forbidding the sheep from barbecuing in a shed full of combustible straw, Shaun decides to order pizzas. Right next to the pizzeria, the alien Lu-La has just landed, and she’s hungry so she crawls into the back of the delivery man and ends up on the farm. Lu-La turns out to be just as mischievous as Shaun and also appears to have special powers. Farmer John is closely following the news of the spaceship that has landed in his village – little does he know that its driver is out in his yard! – and is looking forward to turning his farm into an alien-themed amusement park. While Shaun and Lu-La search for the UFO that must be parked somewhere, they are pursued by Agent RED, an obsessed government official who turns out to have very personal reasons for her mission.

Since space travel and aliens play a prominent role in this film, debut directors Will Becher and Richard Phelan keep it small in ‘The Space Sheep’. Aardman remains a studio that always keeps its feet on the ground, both literally and figuratively. The story could have been drawn out wide, but according to tradition it is kept small. And very British. Because let’s not forget that a large part of the charm comes from the setting of Mossy Bottom Farm, the rural (say naughty) England with its bone-dry characters (farmer John!), tea and bicuits and that delicious, unintelligible and unflappable ramblings about little things that the human figures in the Aardman universe in particular have a patent on. The clichés are certainly not avoided in the storyline, but that does not disturb at all because they are picked up in such an honest, charming way. What makes the Aardman films so perfect as a family film is that they offer plenty of entertainment for both young and old. Young viewers feast on the slapstick handed to them on a silver platter, the droll sheep and their crazy antics, while older generations feast their eyes on all those great references, one subtly in the background, the other pontifically in view.

‘Het Ruimteschaap’ is also full of it again, especially to science fiction classics this time. Right from the start of the film they fly by: for example, the garage owner is called HG Wheels, a nod to the author of ‘War of the Worlds’; the supermarket is named after Milliways, the restaurant at the end of the universe in ‘A Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’ and when Lu-La hides in the fur of the huge sheep Shirley and then ‘pops’ out of it we see references to ‘Alien’ (1979). It is only the tip of the iceberg, because in objects, music, sounds and the design of objects and figures, Aardman also gives bold nods to ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ (1968), ‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind’ (1977), ‘ET’ (1982), ‘Men in Black’ (1997), the Star Trek series and TV series such as ‘Dr. Who’ and ‘The X Files’. Even beyond those cinematic and literary references, ‘Het Ruimteschaap’ is full of visual jokes (keep a close eye on the traffic signs, for example) and puns. And then we have barely mentioned the impressive monks’ work that has been done here to make a one and a half hour long feature film with clay dolls!

Despite the somewhat clumsily translated title, ‘Shaun the Sheep: The Space Sheep’ is another fine example of craftsmanship from Aardman Studios, a film that asks to be watched several times because you will not see all the genius jokes on the first time. fishing. The fact that an emotional chord is also touched is the icing on the proverbial cake. Remarkable for a film in which not a word is spoken!