Shaun the Sheep: Season One

Why haven't our friends in Great Britain been making more Wallace & Gromit movies? It's because they have been making Shaun the Sheep episodes for the BBC. Never heard of Shaun? We hadn't either until we saw a trailer on a Wallace & Gromit DVD. We checked our local library system and found a small collection of Shaun episodes featuring the smartest sheep of them all. We loved them and wanted more.

Now the producers have released Shaun the Sheep: Season One, which includes 40 comic episodes of Shaun and his farmyard friends, which include a mischievous flock of sheep, three smart aleck pigs, an easily angered bull, and Bitzer, the well-meaning dog who tries to keep them all in line. Bitzer takes his commands from the Farmer, a hapless human who never sees all the mayhem around him. Every day brings some new adventure.

One of my favorite episodes begins with the Farmer buying a new CD music system that he saw in a catalog. When he gets it, he dumps the old turntable and his records on the junk pile at one end of the sheepfold. Shaun and the flock find them and set up a disco inside the barn, while the Farmer struggles with the directions to his new CD system. The pigs don't want to miss the party. The Farmer hears music but can not find its source. I've told you enough about that. I don't want to spoil the fun. In another great episode, Timmy the youngest sheep sneaks into the Farmer's house to watch horror videos and eat pizza in the living room. Bitzer and Shaun have to save him from being caught.

The clay animation is amazing and the stories are great for any age. Because no words are ever spoken, you don't even have to speak English to enjoy them. More libraries should stock Shaun the Sheep.

Shaun the Sheep: Season One. Hit Entertainment, 2010. 2 compact discs. ISBN 0884487108554