Cheating a bit for this one, since the DVD set we have is a collection of the First Season episodes of the series. But it is a spin off of a character introduced in another famous Aardman production, A Close Shave. Shaun the Sheep is just that. A sheep in a farmer's herd in some place off in the in hinterlands of the British Isles. It's a fair bet that it's somewhere in England, but I have to watch all the episodes to be sure about that.
One of the big draws for my daughter in liking this series is the simple fact that the episodes are short. Every episode is about 5 minutes in length, and you might think they're trying to make a quick buck by recycling animation and just churning out dross. Not so. First off, I would imagine they have the average run time at 5 minutes because the entire production is done the same way as most all other Aardman productions (with the exception being Flushed Away) as they are done via Stop Motion. Making puppets and clay figures and having them animated one cell at a time. Really is quite a marvel, and Shaun tends to have quite the interesting adventures encased in the five minutes. Are they something that would make you rethink how the world works? Not really. Are they funny? Very much so! The episodes are riddled with gags which are quite easy to understand since only the title song has any words. Shaun and his flock all communicate via bleating, yet there is enough intonation that you can understand when they're happy, frustrated, angry, or sad. Even the farmer doesn't talk, but rather has his own method of mumbling. His loyal herding dog ensures the sheep tow the line, but sometimes he needs help from Shaun to make things work in the end.
It's a very interesting watching the forces of the barnyard play out amoung themselves, though it's curious to note the animals alternate between ambulating on four feet and two. Upon reflection, the two feet position is taken when they are trying to be more authoritative or be anthropomorphous. Such as when the dog is charged with bathing the sheep, yet there's no hot water. A duck lands in the water and freezes solid, but the dog persists to get the sheep in. Shaun takes command at this point and subtly shoos the sheep back from the water. The sheep then hatch a plan to drain the farmer's tub which is full of hot water. This ridiculous plan involves making a hose out of bits they find in the junk pile, and one sheep climbing a utility pole, in full technician's gear as well, and hooking into the phone line with a line testing phone. The sheep with the phone dials the farmer's house, and pulls the farmer away from the bath. In order to dupe the farmer to stay on the line long enough to drain the tub, the sheep holds the phone in front of a bird sitting on the wire, who then chirps incessantly until the farmer hangs up the phone in frustration and bewilderment. Meanwhile, the tub has been drained – or rather siphoned – dry leaving the farmer without a bath, and the sheep then have a pool party in the livestock washing basin.
Where they got the martini's, I do not know. Probably the same place they found the technician's helmet and belt that fit sheep. A show like this, you don't ask questions, you just take it in. It's silly, it's fun, and if you try to take it seriously, just watch something else.
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