SHAUN THE SHEEP THE MOVIE - PRODUCTION NOTES
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SHAUN THE SHEEP THE MOVIE
PRODUCTION NOTES
UK cinema release date: 6 February 2015
Certificate: TBC Running time: 85 mins
FOR FURTHER PRESS INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
Suzanne Noble
suzanne.noble@studiocanal.co.uk
For UK Press Enquiries
Asa Martin
asa.martin@studiocanal.co.uk
For International Press Enquiries
Katie Paxton
katie.paxton@studiocanal.co.uk
SYNOPSIS
SHAUN is a clever, mischievous sheep who lives with his flock on Mossy Bottom Farm, under
the nominal supervision of The Farmer, and Bitzer, a well-meaning but ineffectual sheepdog.
Despite Shaun’s best efforts, life on the farm has got into a bit of a rut, and Shaun concocts a cunning
plan -- to have a day off.
But be careful what you wish for. Events rapidly escalate out of control and Shaun’s mischief
inadvertently leads to the hapless farmer being taken away from the farm.
With the flock’s help, Shaun must leave the farm for the first time and travel into the Big City in order to
rescue The Farmer -- and failure is not an option.
But how will the sheep survive? Can they avoid being recognised as sheep? And thus avoid the clutches
of a fearsome animal catcher? In the course of an action-packed adventure they experience a host of wild,
funny mishaps.
And Shaun meets a little orphan dog called Slip who makes him realise that having a home and a family
is not something to be taken for granted.
STUDIOCANAL presents an Aardman production, Shaun The Sheep The Movie
THE MOVIE
Shaun The Sheep The Movie follows firmly in the tradition of Aardman’s films – providing fast-
paced fun and adventure, with a dizzyingly quick-fire succession of laugh-out-loud jokes, inventive plot
twists and hilarious comedy.
Here’s a brief taster of what to expect from the movie:
We meet Shaun, Bitzer and The Flock featured in The Farmers home movies from their early
years for the very first time;
We’re given a flavour of everyday life for a sheep on a farm – even the humdrum parts;
We find out that even sheep need a day off from their annoying parents;
There’s a salutary lesson about the unintended consequences of counting sheep;
We find out about the dangers posed by a runaway caravan;
We find out how big and scary a city can seem the first time you visit one
How easy it is to find yourself behind bars; and inventive ways to get out of jail;
The job opportunities that come from a lifetime spent shearing sheep;
How even the most absurd hairstyle can ‘trend’ on social media;
We find out that you don’t appreciate what you’ve got until you lose it;
Oh, and there’s a pantomime horse too.
All this, and another element without which an Aardman film wouldn’t be an Aardman film –
sight gags and lots and lots of puns, both verbal and visual. Says an anonymous Aardman spokesman:
“We’re confident audiences will, er, flock to Shaun The Sheep The Movie. It’s the funniest film of the
year – baa none.”
PRODUCTION INFORMATION
Following the remarkable success of Aardman’s Shaun the Sheep TV series, which has become a
global hit since it first launched in 2007, the company’s executives decided the time was right to
investigate a full-length feature film starring Shaun.
But how would they make that huge transition from a series comprised of seven-minute episodes,
each containing a single, relatively simple story, to a film with a complex narrative 10 times that length?
What kind of story would they tell? Could they broaden the appeal of Shaun to include older children, and
even adults? And there was yet another issue: while the lack of human dialogue had proved no barrier in
sustaining the brief stories in the TV series, would it be a problem holding the attention of audiences for
an 80-minute film? Aardman used that as a launching point and started to discuss how to develop a film”.
One of the film’s directors, Richard (“Golly”) Starzak, says: “The phrase we stuck to for Shaun
was ‘He swims against the tide.’ Or ‘He’s pretty bright -- for a sheep.’ His fellow director Mark Burton,
who had first worked with Aardman as a writer on Chicken Run, remembers: “When I came on board, the
basic idea for the film had been hatched. It was simply: “let’s make a Shaun the Sheep film -- with no
dialogue. And I thought: ‘that’s such a crazy idea. I’ve got to be involved with that.’
Starzak first came in on the development process for the TV series primarily to direct one of the
episodes he had written: “I talked to Nick Park about the idea of ‘aging up’ Shaun so he would appeal to
10 year olds. And he did a couple of drawings making Shaun look a bit older.” (Park was the original
creator of Shaun, who appeared briefly in A Close Shave, his 1995 Oscar®-winning short film.)
In fact, the TV series has a more wide-arranging appeal than is generally assumed. Producer Paul
Kewley notes: “I think there’s an expectation in Britain of what the series is, which isn’t necessarily
borne out, because it sits on (children’s TV channel) CBBC. Anecdotally, we know lots of adults watch it.
It’s not driven by a desire to make something just for kids.”
Starzak notes: “It’s quite curious -- because the series has been running on TV for over eight
years, there’s a generation now at university who have grown up with it. And they still watch it!”
“Inevitably, you hope audiences will be wider,” says Burton. “Also, with the ideas and comedy,
it’s a bit more aged-up.”
As for the lack of dialogue, producer Kewley says: “I remember Golly saying to me we should do
a Shaun movie, and I thought he was nuts! But then I realised we could do it. The good thing about
having no dialogue is that it stretches the audience. It can play both younger or older.”
Aardman co-founder Peter Lord observes: “The conventional solution would have been a voice-
over, so it was a bold choice to go with no dialogue.”
Producer Julie Lockhart adds: “Initially we wondered how long an audience could sit through a
feature film without dialogue, but when we saw the first story reel which ran at 90 minutes we were
convinced it was going to work.”
Yet as Will Becher, lead animator on Shaun The Sheep The Movie, explains, the lack of human
dialogue in the film posed additional complications: “For animators, dialogue is important. It adds a
certain level of performance with characters, and we make decisions based on that. But with Shaun, The
Farmer and Bitzer, it’s all what they do visually. It’s how we get across the emotion, the feeling, of
what’s going on. It’s a great challenge.”
And for the team of model-makers, Shaun proved particularly difficult, because of his big eyes --
and unlike most of the Aardman characters he doesn’t have a brow. “Usually, there can be lots of emotion
from that area, which he doesn’t have,” says Becher. “So we’ve tended to do a bit more with characters’
arms, ears, general poses and body language.”
As the world knows, the stop-motion animation for which Aardman films are famed is a notoriously
slow, labour-intensive process, one that requires personnel and extraordinary patience. To the layman,
this deliberate pace is perhaps the most remarkable aspect of the Aardman process.
Becher says the movie required 20 different animators, and up to 30 model makers; the entire
crew numbered about 100, which is small for a feature film.
“We seem to do 40-50 shots (takes) a week, which translates into about two and a half minutes of
running time. But each animator tries to get three seconds (of footage) a day done. That’s quite a lot for
us! It comes down to how many characters are involved and what they’re doing. Some characters are
more complicated, if there’s a lot of modelling clay involved.”
Despite this, the production process for Shaun The Sheep The Movie has been relatively swift:
“We started testing (models and animation) in November 2013, and started shooting the following
January,” Becher recalls. “For us that’s a quick turn-around. On Pirates: In an Adventure with Scientists
we’d had six months of development. This was partly for budgetary reasons, and partly because Shaun is
a known entity we had already worked with. The Pirates world was completely new.”
The film’s two directors cast animators carefully, according to their strengths: comedy, action or
drama. “All animators have their favourite characters,” Becher notes.“I love comedy and comic timing.
Personally, I like Bitzer and The Farmer, and their relationship. I love Bitzer’s facial expressions, and
who he is as a character. And I enjoy the fact that though we hear the farmer’s voice, he’s always
incomprehensible.”
While Shaun, The Farmer and Bitzer were central characters in the TV series, it was unanimously
decided that more would be needed to flesh out the story over a feature-length film.
The team started with the flock. “In the series we didn’t have time to explore the flock as a group,”
says Lord. “They’d always been this interchangeable chorus line of characters – except for Shirley, who
eats her way out of trouble, and little Timmy (who has his own spin-off TV series for pre-schoolers).”
“But now we’ve been able to define the rest of the flock, we’ve given them characteristics, we’ve
named them all, and they each have little storylines and jokes that run through the film. That’s opened up
quite a lot of possibilities.
“The flock all dress up in full human outfits in order to survive in the city. They’re all dressed
differently. Little Timmy is literally a backpack. We had a lot of fun with that.”
The film-makers also brought in totally new characters, who Shaun and the
flock meet in the big city. Chief among these is Trumper, the burly, square-jawed animal catcher who is
the nearest thing in the film to a bad guy. “He’s someone who always wanted to be a policeman but never
made the grade,” says Lord. “He’s ended up terrorising animals because he can’t terrorise people.” (One
inspiration for Trumper was the title character in the 2009 American comedy “Paul Blart: Mall Cop”,
about an overweight security guard who wanted to be a police officer.)
Then there’s Slip, an adorable little orphan dog who lives in the city and is desperate for a parent.
Shaun, in contrast, wants to escape from what he feels is restrictive parenting on the farm. He meets Slip,
and they team up together. “She performs the same emotional function as a little orphan girl in a Charlie
Chaplin film,” Starzak says.
The fact is that in global terms Shaun the Sheep has become the most successful animated character
in the company’s history – even outstripping the phenomenally popular Wallace and Gromit.
“We’ll be doing another Shaun series, a half-hour TV special, and see if the box-office can take a
film sequel,” says Aardman co-founder David Sproxton. “But at the moment the overseas TV stations
will take as much (content) as we can make.
“For example, we had never penetrated the Middle East previously. But we have with Shaun. We
have live shows based on the Shaun characters. They already play in the Middle East, and China wants
them too
“So in seven years it’s gone from being a little TV series to a global phenomenon. It’s been quite
extraordinary.”
Sean Clarke, Head of Aardman Rights and Brand Development, agrees the success of Shaun is
unprecedented within the company: “Shaun has played strongly all over the world. The series is very
accessible, it appeals to the family and there are no language issues. It’s not so quintessentially British as
Wallace and Gromit. It doesn’t matter if you’re Chinese, Japanese or from the Middle East -- you can
understand Shaun the Sheep is in a countryside setting.
“What I’ve learned is, we need to look at Shaun as a global brand. So we try to create assets for
the rest of the world rather than just make it relevant in the UK. It’s a much bigger brand externally than
it is in Britain.”
Why has Shaun gone global? Different people within Aardman have different theories. Nick
Park’s is an intriguing one: “I think it’s partly because of his being little, cute, innocent and heroic in the
film. But I also think those attributes of his, that shape and design, made him easy to merchandise. They
suddenly started making these sheep backpacks, and nodding Shauns for the back of cars.”
Sproxton sees it differently: “Shaun’s appeal is that he’s like a 12 year old boy,” he ventures. “I
think it’s the universality of that recognition. He has a bunch of mates, an older brother, a father figure --
and it’s comedy all the way. It’s a very Aardman thing, and it goes all the way back to Morph. It’s what
we do.”
If Shaun’s success points to an exciting new era for Aardman, so do its arrangements for financing
Shaun The Sheep The Movie. The company’s previous five feature films have all been made in
partnership with Hollywood studios – Chicken Run, Curse of the Were-Rabbit and Flushed Away with
DreamWorks and Arthur Christmas and Pirates! In An Adventure With Scientists with Sony. For
Shaun The Sheep The Movie, Aardman has partnered with the French-based production and distribution
company STUDIOCANAL.
As Peter Lord tells it, this feels like a turning point in the history of Aardman’s feature films: “I
was happy with both DreamWorks and Sony. Overall they gave us an enormous amount of freedom to do
what we wanted. But we weren’t breaking through (in the US) and perhaps that’s because we kept doing
what we wanted.
“So they were never oppressive partners at all, but it always felt like there was another force in the
equation. It feels different with STUDIOCANAL, and we feel freer and confident in our work.
“It’s galling to be a Brit and a European, constantly taking on board American culture and having
to deliberately play to that culture. But with Shaun the Sheep, if there’s a joke or reference we feel
comfortable with, we feel justified and empowered to go ahead with it, and not have a thought in our
minds on how it might play in America’s Midwest.
“I’ll always be striving to get our films released in America, and I’d want them to be successful.
But we regard ourselves as European film makers.”
THE DIRECTORS
To the outside world, three people are mainly associated with the extraordinary success story of
Aardman Animation – co-founders Peter Lord and David Sproxton, and the acclaimed writer-director
Nick Park have all found fame.
Yet within Aardman’s Bristol offices and studios, another man enjoys legendary status among
employees. He’s known to one and all as “Golly”, but his real name is Richard Starzak, one of the two
directors of Shaun The Sheep The Movie. His nickname is due to the fact he was born Richard
Goleszowski, a name he went by for many years before changing his surname.He joined Aardman in 1983, and was Lord and Sproxton’s first employee. He initially stayed with
the company for nine years, worked on and off for them during a long freelance spell, and rejoined
Aardman full-time in 2005. In his earlier years he worked on Aardman’s landmark series Morph, and
directed episodes of Rex the Runt (which he had devised) and Creature Comforts for Aardman. He
worked (with Park) on Peter Gabriel’s groundbreaking 1986 pop video Sledgehammer, and in 2007
devised and directed the first Shaun the Sheep TV series, also writing several episodes.
“Golly joined us straight out of college in Exeter,” Lord recalls. “He was always an ideas person
first and foremost. His drawings were quirky, his animation was quirky, and creatively he was different
from the rest of us. He was punk, if you like. He came as an animator studio jack-of-all-trades.
“He always had this very strong sense of comedy. His humour was very sardonic, derived from
his Polish ancestry. It was British but also Eastern European.
“It was very different from Nick’s humour. Rex the Runt was spectacularly different from Wallace
and Gromit. Golly would create these Morph sequences that were quite bizarre. He did a bit of everything
-- Morph, TV commercials, pitching ideas for story boards, and an animated part of
Sledgehammer set on a roller-coaster.”
“I always knew he was different. To get him to be like me or Nick was never going to happen.”
Park admires the way Starzak took the idea of a TV series for Shaun and made it his own: “He
had a strong vision for it and ran with it. It’s been getting an audience of both children and adults. I’ll sing
Golly’s praises on that, because it does play to the 8-9 year olds, but it’s somehow got the adults
interested too. It’s the wry humour, the cultural references to movies.
“I’ve grown up with Golly in the company. We were both taken on around the same time. We
were doing Morph episodes back then, constantly talking about the Beano, and comics we loved as
children – the Bash Street Kids and all that. And then he went out and did Rex the Runt.
“The way I feel about my characters is – how do you let them go? You feel that sense of
ownership. I’ve never been able to let Wallace and Gromit go. So Shaun has been a great experience for
me. I was in the middle of Curse of the Were-Rabbit, so I didn’t have much time to spend on developing
the TV series. So what I did at first with Shaun feels quite small now. It’s become a much bigger
phenomenon.”
For his part, Starzak has now experienced with Shaun the sense of ownership that Park describes:
“I never really got it when Nick would say Wallace and Gromit had become real to him. Now I sort of
understand that. You’ve been fleshing out a character like Shaun for so long, you feel like you know
him.”
Burton joined Starzak in directing duties, completing what Lord calls “a double act.” His
background is in comedy writing; he has credits in British TV, including Room 101, Never Mind the
Buzzcocks and Have I Got News For You. Says Lord: “Mark did some writing on Chicken Run for us,
then he got the chance to work at DreamWorks (Burton was a writer on the first Madagascar film, which
kick-started the hugely successful franchise). And then he came and did a heroic writing job for us on
Curse of the Were-Rabbit.
“He has the experience no one else here has -- of mainstream TV and radio comedy, that
understanding of how comedy works. We make funny films, but there’s a lot of people out there who docomedy professionally, live or on TV or radio, and if you have any sense you tap into that. So that’s what
Mark does for us.”
Like the animators and model-makers, both directors have their favourite characters in Shaun The
Sheep The Movie, aside from Shaun. “You find yourself relating to The Farmer,” says Burton, laughing.
“He’s vaguely absurd, he’s put upon a bit, but he’s doing his best.”
“I’m very fond of Bitzer,” admits Starzak. “He gets it from both sides. He’s an example of that
older brother type, like a go-between with parents on one side and younger kids on the other. He’s a
recognisable type. He likes control, he wants control, but he can’t get it anywhere.”
DIRECTOR BIOGRAPHIES
Richard Starzak – Director
Richard Starzak (aka Golly) joined Aardman in 1983 and during his first nine years with the
studio is credited with working on Morph, Sledgehammer for Peter Gabriel, Pee Wee Herman’s
Playhouse in New York, his own film Ident and two Rex the Runt pilot films.
In 1992, Golly left Aardman to pursue a freelance career during which time he worked in New
Zealand as Production Adviser for Oscar and Friends, and wrote and directed 13 episodes of Rex the
Runt for BBC2, winning the Carlton Award for International Animation at The Indies in 2000.
He then went on to direct Robbie the Reindeer for the BBC ONE. Robbie went on to win 19 international
awards including a prestigious British Academy of Film and Television Arts award (BAFTA).
After writing and directing the second series of Rex the Runt, and series 2 of Creature Comforts,
Golly rejoined Aardman full time as Creative Director of the Broadcast and Development department
going onto develop Shaun the Sheep for television. for the last three years he has been working on Shaun
the Sheep The Movie with fellow director Mark Burton.Mark Burton – Director
Prior to co-writing and co-directing Shaun The Sheep The Movie, Mark has enjoyed a long history
with Aardman having been a writer on both Chicken Run (Aardman/DreamWorks 2000) and Wallace and
Gromit Curse of the Were-Rabbit (Aardman/DreamWorks 2005), which won an Oscar® for Best
Animated Feature, and a BAFTA for Best British Film. He has also acted as consultant for Aardman’s
Feature Development team.
Mark started out as a comedy writer on numerous Brit TV shows including Spitting Image, Alas
Smith and Jones, Clive Anderson Talks Back and Have I Got News For You. He co-wrote two series of
BBC sit-com The Peter Principle and later adapted John O’Farrell’s novel May Contain Nuts for ITV.
He has subsequently worked as a screenwriter on both sides of the Atlantic with projects for BBC
Films, Working Title, Universal, Fox, Warners, Disney and DreamWorks. His other film credits include
Madagascar (DreamWorks) Gnomeo & Juliet (Touchstone/Disney) and Aliens in the Attic (Fox).
SHAUN – THE ORIGIN STORY
Shaun the Sheep made his debut in 1995, when he appeared in Nick Park’s Oscar®-winning short
film A Close Shave, starring Wallace and Gromit. It made its debut TV on Christmas Eve 1995, attracting
BBC-2’s largest audience for that whole year. Shaun had a small but significant role in the story, during
which he rescued Gromit, who had been imprisoned for sheep-rustling.
“Bob Baker the writer and I had had success with The Wrong Trousers,” Park recalls, “and
thinking about how to follow it up, I had a sketchbook full of ideas, which mainly concerned sheep.
Between us, Bob and I decided there should be a lamb. I don’t remember which of us named him -- in A
Close Shave, it’s Wallace who names him. It was a corny pun, a play on ‘shorn,’ and at the time we
probably laughed a lot.
“It’s surprising how in A Close Shave he was very much an innocent victim – cute and lovable,
with his little crop-top hairstyle, his big eyes and simple face. Everyone at Aardman liked him.”
Subsequently, Shaun’s image appeared in commercials, books and greeting cards, but it would be
more than a decade before he was used prominently. Says Park: “Only years later, when we had a bit of alull in the studio between feature films, and we were struggling to think of ideas, I suggested that maybe
Shaun should have his own series.
“I had no strong ideas about format. They were vague. I thought he could be on a farm with a
family and a dog, and I had a couple of ideas for adventures.
“It was on the table for a while until Golly took it under his wing, and ran with it. Golly created
the other characters, Bitzer being the officious one on the farm, Shaun now a bit more of a teenage
maverick. I’d give Golly the credit for creating that whole world around Shaun.”
There was a scene in A Close Shave that Starzak had really admired: “Shaun arrives at the side of
the prison, he’s got an angle grinder and he starts to cut through the bars to set Gromit free. It’s totally
unexpected. He’s been just a little lamb until then. Both Nick and I very much liked the cartoonist Gary
Larson (The Far Side), and this scene felt like one of his crazy incongruous ideas.”
Various ideas for a TV series starring Shaun were mooted. The film’s producer Paul Kewley notes:
“When Golly pitched the series originally, he talked about the idea of a factory set-up, where the farmer
was the boss, Bitzer was the middle manager, the guy who does all the hard work, and The Flock were the
workers. It quickly became apparent in the series, that they’re actually a family. The Farmer is the dad.
Shaun is the younger brother, Bitzer the elder brother who tries to keep all his crazy siblings in line.”
Aardman co-founder Lord adds: “Shaun is Golly’s great achievement. Even in his five minutes in
A Close Shave, Shaun is pretty active -- but there was nothing to him, really. We decided to make it a TV
series and tried different things. Different writers pitched versions of the series. What's ended up is
Golly's version --which is phenomenal.”
Once that decision was taken, Starzak says: “the series came together very quickly, within 18
months. The BBC loved our pilot, and the BBC wanted a series.” The first episode of Shaun the Sheep
was broadcast in 2007 (12 whole years after Shaun first appeared in A Close Shave). The series adheres to
a seven-minute episode format. Aardman recently delivered the fourth season, and a total of 140 episodes
have now been shot.
SHAUN THE SHEEP THE MOVIE: THE INFLUENCES
Once the decision was made to make Shaun The Sheep The Movie without dialogue, its crew
found themselves making what was essentially a silent film. As part of their preparation, directors Starzak
and Burton viewed several silent movies, to refresh their memories about how they conveyed humour.
“We used to watch silent comedies a lot,” Burton recalls, “and we weren’t afraid to steal a few
gags. We watched the films of Jacques Tati, who used sound as a way of telling a story.”
Starzak adds “and I always looked to Buster Keaton, with that deadpan expression of his. On a
practical level, Shaun can’t do much with his face, but then again, I like dry comedy. That’s the Buster
Keaton approach to comedy, really – it’s slapstick and deadpan combined.”
While the creative team were still developing their ideas for the Shaun movie, the Oscar®-
winning silent comedy The Artist was released. “We were about six months in,” recalls Paul Kewley,
“and we saw The Artist, which was great. Everyone was talking about it.”Starzak also feels the team was influenced by the Pixar film WALL:E: “It had over 30 minutes
without (human) dialogue. And everyone I know thinks that’s the best part of the film!”
Producer Kewley also admits: “On a commercial level we also talked about Mr. Bean films. There
is dialogue in them, but a lot of those stories are told through physical comedy. One of the reasons they
sold so well throughout the world is precisely that it’s physical comedy, with no language barrier.”
SHAUN THE SHEEP STATISTICS
The TV series has been sold to 170 countries.
Digital message apps in Japan have been downloaded by 40 million people.
Shaun’s Facebook page has 5 million followers.
25% of them are from the Middle East.
More than 50 companies in Japan, the world’s biggest market for Shaun, are making Shaun-
related products.
A 45-minute live stage show, based on Shaun and the characters in his series, has been playing
in Cairo, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
A 20-minute live event about Shaun and his world has been playing in shopping malls in
Jakarta and Beijing, with more venues to follow.
A Shaun-related exhibition toured in Japan, and in five days in Tokyo, 30,000 people went
through it.
SHAUN THE SHEEP FUN FACTS – DID EWE KNOW?
Model making:
There are 21 Shaun puppets in total. It takes a week and a half to make a Shaun puppet from scratch.
A Shaun puppet stands 17cm tall and weighs 100g.
The total number of puppets used on the Shaun the Sheep Movie was 354 (157 humans and 197
animals – of which 116 were sheep!)
The puppets need constant maintenance. It takes 45 minutes to re-fleece one sheep.
Over 80m of fleece fabric was used to fleece the flock. The fleece has to be stiffened with a spray of
diluted PVA glue, to stop it ‘boiling’ under the studio lights and moving around when the animator
touches it
Number of mouth pieces used was 3000
The tiniest prop used were Bitzer’s whistle, The Farmer’s glasses and Shaun’s tape recorder.
Animation:
A full crew of 17 animators worked on the Shaun the Sheep Movie, producing an average of 2
seconds of animation per day. The film is comprised of 25 sequences, which range in length from one minute to five-and-a-half
minutes each.
There were 58 cameras, shooting across 33 units.
549,777 frames were taken - that’s 5.5 billion (British billion, not American billion), or
5,586,174,141,600 pixels.
There were 79,237 storyboards drawn.
1,051 of the shots had visual effects on them, ranging from tiny clean-ups to major CG shots.
Most number of characters animated in the same shot was the town plaza scene- 42 puppets
If there was 1 animator making the whole film, how long would it have taken to shoot? Each animator
on average shot 2 seconds of footage per day, as a starting point so 9 years (or 8.936 years to be more
precise)
Movie Crew:
The edit department got through 8 catering-size tubs of kids sweets during production.
Shaun The Sheep The Movie Trivia:
Number of baas in the movie: 1589
For the first time ever we meet the characters as babies and The Farmer as a young man
Blue Peter badge (from the iconic BBC children’s show) appears on Shaun’s satchel. This has
appeared in other Aardman productions including The Pirates
Timmy is disguised as a back pack when the flock are in disguise in the city
Nick Park was cast in a cameo role as the bird watcher
A Radio Times (a UK publication) competition winner is featured in a scene – a likeness was
created by the Aardman model making
We pay homage to other movies throughout the film. For example in the animal containment
scene we feature a cat whose behaviour is inspired by Hannibal Lector
Rizzle Kicks did a version of the internationally recognised Shaun the Sheep theme song ‘Life’s a
Treat’
Eliza Doolittle also recorded a song for the movie called ‘Big City’
Shaun the Sheep Trivia
Shaun is 11 years old in sheep years!
Shaun first appeared in Wallace & Gromit short film, A Close Shave, 20 years ago.
130 x 7minute episodes of Shaun the Sheep have been made for TV
Shaun the Sheep episodes are on TV in over 170 countries
Shaun the Sheep has won 2 BAFTAs
Shaun the Sheep has over 5 million Facebook fans
2015 is lunar Year of the Sheep
MUSIC
ILAN ESHKERI – Composer
Ilan Eshkeri is a British composer known for his film scores to Stardust, The Young Victoria and
Kick-Ass, as well as for his collaborations with recording artists and his concert work.
His career is notable for its diversity; recently Eshkeri scored Aardman Animations’ ‘Shaun
The Sheep’, Still Alice starring Julianne Moore, Alec Baldwin and Kristen Stewart, Kevin Macdonald’sBlack Sea featuring Jude Law, 47 Ronin starring Keanu Reeves, Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa,
Working Title’s I Give it a Year and the Oscar nominated Invisible Woman, Ralph Fiennes' second outing
as a director.
Christmas 2013 saw Eshkeri’s score to The Snowman and The Snowdog, the sequel to the British
animated classic The Snowman, performed live to picture at a series of concerts at the Union Chapel in
London. Eshkeri has also had his works performed at The Louvre in Paris, The Rudolfinum in
Prague and The Royal Albert Hall in London.
Eshkeri has collaborated with recording artists including Tim Wheeler from Ash, Smith &
Burrows, Emmy The Great, Tom Odell, Coldplay, David Gilmour and Annie Lennox. He has worked
with Amon Tobin on a live orchestral performance of his work, wrote the The Young Victoria song ‘Only
You’ for Sinead O'Connor, worked with Take That on the film Stardust and has been commissioned to
write for the world renown pianist Lang Lang.
Eshkeri’s score to The Snowman and The Snowdog was nominated for a BAFTA and his score to
The Young Victoria was nominated for an Ivor Novello and topped the classical music charts for several
weeks. Stardust won the International Film Music Critics Association award for 'Best
Original Score'. Eshkeri was nominated for 'Discovery of the Year' at the World Soundtrack Awards for
Layer Cake and he has been nominated for three other World Soundtrack Awards.
For Shaun the Sheep the Movie, Ilan collaborated with Nick Hodgson of Kaiser Chiefs fame, and
Tim Wheeler from Ash to record ‘Feels Like Summer’, and with Eliza Doolittle to record ‘Big City’,
while also composing the score to Shaun’s first feature film.
NICK HODGSON – writer ‘Feels Like Summer’ & ‘Big City’
Nick co-founded Kaiser Chiefs in 2003 and was the main songwriter until he left in 2012. In that
time the band sold over 4 million records, won 3 Brit awards, an Ivor Novello, had a number 1 single with
Ruby and toured the world and elsewhere.
Since he left he has co-written songs with Mark Ronson, John Newman, Olly Murs, Nina Nesbitt,
Eliot Sumner, Hurts and many other upcoming artists.
He works in his own studio, Chewdio, in East London. He plays guitar in a new band
called Albert Albert. He supports Leeds United and is married. He is an honorary fellow of Leeds
College of Music. Sometimes his dog, Betty joins him in the studio.
Nick co-wrote songs ‘Feels Like Summer’ sung by Tim Wheeler of Ash fame and ‘Big City’
performed by Eliza Doolittle for Shaun the Sheep the Movie alongside the film’s composer Ilan Eshkeri.
TIM WHEELER – ‘Feels Like Summer’
Tim Wheeler is a Northern Irish guitarist, songwriter, and vocalist for the rock band Ash. He has
written nearly all of their notable pieces such as ‘Oh Yeah’, ‘Shining Light’ which won the Ivor Novello
Award for Best Contemporary Pop Song in 2001, ‘Girl From Mars’, ‘Kung Fu’, and ‘Goldfinger’.
In 2014, Tim announced details for his debut solo album Lost Domain, since released on
November 3rd, and has collaborated with composer Ilan Eshkeri and Nick Hodgson to co-write and record
the vocals for ‘Feels Like Summer’, as well as playing electric guitar on the track and the score for Shaun
the Sheep the Movie.ELIZA DOOLITTLE – ‘Big City’
Camden born & raised, Eliza was just 19 when she got signed by Parlophone Records & her self-
titled debut album went Platinum selling over 600,000 copies in the UK alone. Her collaboration with
massive dance duo Disclosure on the garage anthem 'You & Me’ saw her play nearly 2 years of incredible
shows to over a million people. An equally talented songwriter and vocalist, with a refreshingly effortless,
natural & laid back attitude to pop culture, she is now embarking on phase 3 of her studio projects with
more to come in 2015.
Eliza performs original song ‘Big City’ on Shaun the Sheep the Movie, written by composer Ilan
Eshkeri and Nick Hodgson of Kaiser Chiefs.
RIZZLE KICKS – remix of SHAUN THE SHEEP Theme Tune “Life’s a Treat”
Jordan “Rizzle” Stephens and Harley "Sylvester" Alexander-Sule formed Rizzle Kicks in 2008,
having previously met each other at rap and performance workshops with the Brighton-based charity
AudioActive and attending the Brit School together. The pair signed to Island Records in November
2010, having garnered attention for themselves via their YouTube and social media presence, and their
first official single, ‘Down with the Trumpets’ was released on 12 June 2011. Their debut album Stereo
Typical was released in October that same year, certified as Platinum May 2012. The duo embarked on
their first US tour, supporting Ed Sheeran in February 2013, going on to release their second album
Roaring 20s in September later that year.
They have recorded remixes for artists including Jessie J, Foster the People and Olly Murs, and
remixed video for close friend Ed Sheeran's song "You Need Me, I Don't Need You" which features Ed
himself, and was filmed in the band's back garden in one take. The duo have now teamed up with
SHAUN THE SHEEP to remix his theme tune “Life’s A Treat” (originally performed by Vic Reeves) for
his first feature film.
CREDITS
Written and Directed By
Mark Burton
Richard Starzak
Produced by
Julie Lockhart
Paul Kewley
Executive Producers
Peter Lord
Nick Park
David Sproxton
Executive Producers
Olivier Courson
Ronald HalpernEdited by
Sim Evan-Jones A.C.E.
Directors of Photography
Charles Copping
Dave Alex Riddett
Composer
Ilan Eshkeri
Music Supervisor
Nick Angel
Production Designer
Matt Perry
Puppet Design
Kate Anderson
Animation Supervisor
Loyd Price
Co-Executive Producers
Sean Clarke
Alicia Gold
Kerry Lock
Carla Shelley
Production Manager
Richard Beek
Associate Production Managers
Sophie Smith
Zoe Starzak
Sound Design
Adrian Rhodes
Music Producer
Steve Mclaughlin
Technical Director
Tom Barnes
CAST
Shaun and Timmy
Justin Fletcher
The Farmer and Bitzer
John SparkesTrumper
Omid Djalili
Shirley
Richard Webber
Timmy's Mum and Meryl
Kate Harbour
Slip
Tim Hands
Nuts
Andy Nyman
Twins
Simon Greenhall
Hazel
Emma Tate
Celebrity With Hair Trouble
Jack Paulson
Maitre D, Golfer, Stylists, Angry Panto Horse, Hospital characters
Sean Connolly
Junior Doctor and Animal Containment Visitor
Henry Burton
Hospital Consultant
Dhimant Vyas
Animal Containment Visitor
Sophie Laughton
Operatic Sheep
Nia Medi James
And featuring:
Bus Station and Hospital Announcer
Stanley Unwin
and Nick Park as himself
STORY
Story Consultant
Steve BoxSenior Storyboard Artists
Richard Phelan
Michael Salter
Storyboard Artists
Ashley Boddy
Paul Bolger
Jay Clarke
Rob Richards
Luis Zamora Pueyo
Storyboard Consultant
Kris Pearn
ANIMATION
Lead Character Animators
Will Becher
Laurie Sitzia-Hammond
Animators
John Chorlton
Alison Evans
Gareth Love
Grant Maisey
Andy Symanowski
Lee Wilton
Raul G. Eguia
Rhodri Lovett
Jason Comley
Steve Cox
Dave Osmand
Claire Rolls
Terry Brain
Jo Fenton
Senior Assistant Animator
Rita Sampaio
Assistant Animators
Carmen Bromfield-Mason
Emma Diaz
Maria Moreira Castro
Junior Assistant Animator
Frank Harper
MODEL MAKING
Supervising Model Maker
Andrew "Bloxy" BloxhamAdditional Character Design
Richard Webber
Design Sculptor
Andy Spradbery
Costume Design
Jane Kite
Senior Model Makers
Claire Drewett
Jon Frier
Anne King
Nigel Leach
Gary Roberts
Harriet Thomas
Ellie Weston
Jimmy "2 Eggs" Young
Kev Wright
Model Makers
Kate Berry
Hanna Habermann
Jim Parkyn
Jay Smart
Will Harding
Cormac McKee
Becky Redhead
Junior Model Makers
Gina Eversfield
Natalaya Hamideh
Trainee Model Maker
Charlie Buck
Additional Armatures
Julian Clarke
Additional Model Making
Claire Cohen
ART DEPARTMENT
Assistant Art Directors
Richard Edmunds
Helen Javes
Senior Graphic DesignerGavin Lines
Additional Graphic Design
Gavin Strange
Concept Artist
Alfred Llupia Perez
Digital Matte Painter
Diego Fernandez Goberna
Senior Prop Maker
Matthew Healey
Set Construction
Roger Tarry
Cathryn Webber
Senior Set Dressers
Joe Bourbon
Andy Brown
Paul Bryant
Lorna Cashmore
James Held
Manon Wright
Set Dressers
Rosa Dodd
Simon Farrell
Rob Slagter
Junior Set Dresser
Oliver Geen
Additional Props
Claire Baker
Damien Neary
Jack Slade
Props Assistant
Joshua Stonehouse Ashman
MODEL RIGGING
Head of Rigging
David "Del" Lawson
Senior Animation Riggers
Craig Atkinson
Alan Barrett
Richard ModlenEDITORIAL
Sequence Editors
Stuart Bruce
Andrew Ward
Victoria Stevens
First Assistant Editor
Tom Doggart
Second Assistant Editor
Nia Medi James
Third Assistant Editor
Chris Morrell
Additional Editors
Justin Krish
Jack Paulson
PRODUCTION
First Assistant Director
Richard "Bobo" Bowen
Second Assistant Directors
Ben Barrowman
Leigh Manning
Third Assistant Director
Georgina Reynolds
Production Co-ordinator
Kelly Barker
Puppet Coordinators
Gail Mencner
Rhian Fowles
Production Accountant
Karen Walter
Senior Finance Assistant
Yvonne Pfister
Assistant to Ms Lockhart, Mr Burton & Mr Starzak
Ellie Knaggs
Legal ClearanceJo Miller
Floor Assistant
Emma Hanson
Production Assistant
Albert Testani
Runners
Blair Brown
Stuart Collis
Jamie England
Kathlin Sargent
Simon Tibbo
Puppet Runner
Alexandria Wotton
CAMERA
Lighting Camera
Laura Howie
Motion Control Operators
Willy Marshall
George Milburn
Senior Camera Assistants
Churton Season
Ben Stradling
Camera Assistants
James Fisher
Chris Johnson
Beth MacDonald
Joe Maxwell
John Quarrell
Junior Camera Assistant
Tim Petherick
LIGHTING
Gaffer
Richard "Tricky" Hosken
Electricians
Pete Marshall
Clive Scott
Adam VernonTECHNICAL AND PIPELINE
Systems Support Technician
Toby Chilcott
Electronics Engineer
Dave Roberts
Mechanical Engineer
Nathaniel Poate
Engineering Trainer
Lew Gardiner
Software Developers
Ian Wootten
Stuart Bruce
John Morrissey
Motion Control Engineer
Robert Gregory
POST PRODUCTION
Post Production Supervisor
Tom Barnes
Credit Design
Gavin Lines
Re-recording Mixer
Adrian Rhodes
Sound FX Editor & Re-recording Mixer
Antony Bayman
Foley Editor & Mixer
Julien Pirrie
Foley Editor
Mathias Schuster
Assistant Sound Editors
Robert Hardcastle
Peter Warnock
ADR Recording
Mark Appleby
Simon DigginsPeter Gleaves
Loop Group Arranger
Vanessa Baker
Loop Group Voices
Tom Collingwood
Dona Croll
Naomi McDonald
Adam Rhys Dee
William Vanderpuye
Re-recording Studios
Goldcrest Post Production Ltd
Halo Post Production Ltd
Post Production Producers
Moira Brophy
Gemma McKeon
Studio Engineer
Robert Weatherall
Studio Assistant
Robbie Scott
Desk Technician
Jonathan Rush
Mix Technician
Jo Jackson
Dialogue Recording Studio
Films at 59
Dialogue Recording Engineer
Chris Domaille
Digital Intermediate by
Technicolor Creative Services
Digital Intermediate Colourist
Max Horton
Digital Intermediate Producer
Begoña Lopez
Digital Intermediate Editors
Michael Crusz
Digital Intermediate Executive Producer
Matt AdamsMUSIC
Music Editor
Kirsty Whalley
Additional Temp Music Editor
John Warhurst
Music Performed by
The London Metropolitan Orchestra
Music Conducted by
Andy Brown
Guitar
Tim Wheeler
Stuart Wilkinson
Banjo
Sagat Guirey
Ukulele
Paul Saunderson
Fiddle
Jake Walker
Harmonica & Wurlitzer
Tim Carter
Piano
Kenny Dickenson
Vibraphone & Xylophone
Steve Wright
Trumpet
John Barclay
Bass
Chris Laurence
Drums
Stuart Wilkinson
Restaurant Piano
Sally Heath
Baa Baa Shop Quintet
Daisy Chute
Chad Hobson
Camilla Kerslake
Ben Thapa
Kieran Morris
Baa Baa Shop Quintet Arranged by
Daisy Chute
You're Mine' Arranged and Performed byChad Hobson
'Big City' Produced by
Craigie Dodds
'Life's A Treat' (Rizzle Kicks Mix) Produced By
Ben Cullum
Rizzle Kicks
Orchestrations
Jessica Dannheisser
Julian Kershaw
Music Programming and Arranging
Paul Saunderson
Steve Wright
Music Recorded at
Abbey Road Studios, British Grove and Northpole
Music Mixed at
Northpole
Music Recording Engineers
Lewis Jones
Jason Elliot
Poppy Kavanagh
Matt Jones
Music Production Co-ordinator
Josine Cohen
Music Production Assistants
Marli Wren
Lillie Harris
VISUAL EFFECTS
Visual Effects by
Axis Visual Effects Ltd
Visual Effects Supervisors
Howard Jones
Carl Chittenden
CG Supervisor
Grant Hewlett
VFX Producer
Melanie Byrne
VFX Production CoordinatorElla Askew
VFX Production Assistant
Charlotte Curran
Visual Effects Artists
Craig Higgins
Cyrille Gophier
Hugh Brazier
John McLaren
Kamaljit Bains
Karen Kelly
Ivelina Dobreva
Mike Shirra
Owen Revell
Ricardo Musch
Val Wardlaw
Joe Thornley Heard
Gretchen Hilmers
Motion Graphics Artist
Ciaran O'Connor
STUDIO SUPPORT
HR Manager
Natalie Collier
Facilities Manager
Glenn Collins
Senior Chef
Alistair Gue
Catering Assistant
Ibrahima Ndiaye
Facilities Assistant
Fay Morgan
IT Support Technicians
Luke Padfield
Mark Keightley
William Fuller
MARKETING AND PR
Unit Publicist
Arthur Sheriff
Marketing & Brand ManagerLucy Wendover
Assistant Brand Manager
Rachael Peacock
Marketing Production Managers
Jacky Priddle
Louise Holmes
Marketing Production Co-ordinator
Ellie Knaggs
Unit Stills Photographers
James Fisher
Chris Johnson
Director, Additional Marketing Material
Nigel Davies
Brand Creative Lead
Danny Heffer
Promotions Manager
Nikki Beckett
EPK Producer
Rob Done
FOR AARDMAN
Features
Development Executive James Higginson
Features Coordinator Michelle Rogers
Executive Assistants
Zena Allen
Alison Cook
Eli Donovan
Fran Hawley
Angie Last
Emily Metcalfe
Molly Van Den Brink
Digital
Creative Director Dan Efergan
Head of Digital Production Lorna Probert
Senior Digital Producer Laura Chilcott
Online Community Manager Katie McQuin-RobertsDigital Team
Ben Curtis
Keith Kilpin
Ricky Martin
Sarah Matthews
Ben Meek
Finance & legal
Business Affairs Manager Layla Stapenhurst
Finance Manager Joanna Cave
Payroll Administrators Kim Jones
Faith Musandu
Studio Infrastructure
Head of HR Paula Newport
Head of IT Howard Arnault-Ham
Senior Systems Administrator David Waters
Senior Support Technician Colin Coulter
Senior Networks Consultant Richard Crocombe
Operations Manager Tony Prescott
Catering Manager Stuart Briggs
Communications Assistant Jo Johnson
Technical Support Paul Reeves & Nathan Sale
Film Archivist Tom Vincent
MUSIC
‘Feels Like Summer’
Written by Ilan Eshkeri, Nick Hodgson & Tim Wheeler
Performed byTim Wheeler
Published by Aardman Music Publishing/Universal Music Publishing Ltd & Imagem & Tim Wheeler
‘Shaun the Sheep – Life’s A Treat’
Written by Mark Thomas
Performed by Mark Thomas & Vic Reeves
Published by Aardman Music Publishing/Universal Music Publishing Ltd
‘Rocks’
Written by Bobby Gillespie, Robert Young & Andrew Innes
Performed by Primal Scream
Published by EMI Music Publishing Ltd & Universal Music Publishing Ltd
Courtesy of Sony Music Entertainment UK Ltd & Warner Bros. Records
‘Search For the Hero'
Written by Paul Heard & Michael Pickering
Performed by M People
Published by EMI Music Publishing Ltd & Universal Music Publishing Ltd
Courtesy of Sony Music Entertainment UK Ltd
‘Big City’
Written by Ilan Eshkeri & Nick HodgsonPerformed by Eliza Doolittle
Published by Aardman Music Publishing/Universal Music Publishing Ltd & Imagem
‘More Wheels Cha Cha’
Written by Norman Petty, Richard Stephens & Jimmy Torres
Performed by Kirsty Whalley
Published by Campbell Connelly & Co Ltd courtesy of Music Sales Creative
‘Strange Adagio for Barbers'
Written and performed by John Matthews & Stuart Bruce
Published by 23rd Precinct Music Ltd/Notting Hill Music
Courtesy of Banoffeesound
‘Bad to the Bone’
Written by George Thorogood
Performed by George Thorogood and the Destroyers
Published by Universal/MCA Music Ltd
Courtesy of Capitol Records, LLC under license from Universal Music Operations Ltd
‘I’m A Wonderful Thing, Baby’
Written by August Darnell & Peter Schott
Performed by Kid Creole & The Coconuts
Published by Bug Music Ltd, a BMG Chrysalis Company & Schott in the Dark Music
Courtesy of Warner Bros. Records & Universal-Island Records Ltd under license from Universal Music
Operations Ltd.
‘Home’
Written by Dave Grohl, Taylor Hawkins, Christopher Shiflett & Nate Mendel
Performed by Foo Fighters
Published by Bug Music Ltd, a BMG Chrysalis Company & Universal/MCA Music Ltd/Flying Earform
Music
Courtesy of Roswell Records Inc. / Sony Music Entertainment Inc
‘Amazing Adventures of Morph'
Written & performed by Andy Clark
Licensed by KPM Music Limited
‘Shaun the Sheep – Life’s A Treat’ (Rizzle Kicks Mix)
Written by Mark Thomas, Jordan Stephens, Harley Alexander-Sule & Ben Cullum
Performed by Mark Thomas, Vic Reeves & Rizzle Kicks
Published by Aardman Music Publishing / Universal Music Publishing
‘House of Fun’
Written by Michael Barson and Lee Thompson
Performed by Madness
Published by EMI Music Publishing Ltd
Courtesy of Union Square Music and Stirling Holdings Ltd and Geffen Records under licence from
Universal Music Operations Ltd
©2014 Aardman Animations Limited and Studiocanal S.A.All Rights Reserved
Aardman Animations Limited and Studiocanal S.A. are the authors of this film (motion picture) for the
purpose of copyright and other laws.
WITH THANKS TO
Mark Thomas
Miles Bullough
John Maher
Gregory Perler
Rob Sprackling
John Smith
Rob Dudley
Phill Jupitus
Peter Serafinowicz
Tom Morris and the Bristol Old Vic
Lewis Morley Archive, LLC
Louie Nicastro
Sil Willcox
Luke Griggs
Nancy Jones
"Silence of the Lambs" homage courtesy of MGM Media Licensing
Getting a bang on the head can be serious. For more information and support contact Headway the brain
injury association by visiting www.headway.org.uk or calling the helpline on 0808 800 2244.
shaunthesheep.comYou can also read
