Aardman Studios in England quickly became a fan favorite with their stop motion animation. They had a fun quirky way of making animals a bit more human with Creature Comforts and the Wallace and Gromit series of short films. Their claymation characters became iconic. During “A Close Shave,” Shaun the Sheep was able to steal the spotlight from the Oscar winning duo. They wooly character received his own TV show and starred in an Oscar-nominated movie (Shaun The Sheep Movie) in 2015. The film was such a hit that Aardman greenlit a sequel (something they hadn’t done for an original feature film before. A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon takes us back to the farm with a new visitor.
Things are a bit odd around Farmer John’s fields. Shaun the Sheep and his friends want to have a cookout, but get stopped. Shaun decides to save the evening by ordering pizzas to be delivered. That gets complicated when most of the order gets intercepted by Blitzer, the farm dog and a mysterious third party. Who is the mysterious third party? Farmer John and Blitzer found a crop circle in the fields. Is there an alien on the loose? When Shaun discovers a trail of pizza crusts, he’s led to a strange colored dog named Lu-La that doesn’t look local. He and Shaun became fast friends and cause havoc on the farm. Also causing problems are government agents lurking in the area after finding evidence of an alien encounter. Things get even more bizarre when Shaun, Lu-La and Blitzer take a spin in the UFO.
Like the previous The Shaun of the Sheep Movie, there’s no real dialogue. The characters communicate without words. This way you can watch the film with the kids without the talking over the plot. It’s a mostly visual film with odd noises to punctuate the action. There’s plenty of references to other science fiction films and TV shows such as Doctor Who, X-Files and 2001: A Space Odyssey. There’s even a theme park spoof.
A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon didn’t get a normal theatrical release because it came out around the time the pandemic stuck in early 2020. Before the cinemas were shutdown, parents were rather hesitant to take their kids to a movie theater for two hours of breathing around other people. Farmageddon ended up going wide via Netflix. The film was also nominated for an Oscar. If you’ve been collecting copies of Aardman films over the years, you can now put this intergalactic comedy on the shelf.
The video is 2.35:1 anamorphic. The 1080p transfer brings out the beauty of the stop motion universe that Shaun and Lu-La zip around. The audio is 5.1 DTS-HD MA. There is also a descriptive track. The subtitles are in English.
DVD with the movie and bonus features.
How to Draw Shaun (2:48) has an artist guide you through the process.
How to Draw Lu-La (2:42) will help you create your own alien.
Lu-La Slime Time (1:30) is a way to make your own slime at home. This will get messy.
25 Years of Shaun The Sheep (3:58) has Nick Park celebrate his memorable character. They knew the sheep would be a hit when he was embraced by The Spice Girls.
Get Crafty with Shaun and Lu-La (4:07) walks you through being able to make tree ornaments of the characters.
Making Farmageddon (3:16) has the directors talk about how they have the animators act out the roles on camera to see what they need to get the clay to do. This helps them capture the slapstick timing.
Super Natural Wood (1:01) has Lu-La and Shaun in an ad for yarn
Theatrical Trailer (1:55) takes Shaun into an alien adventure.
Shout! Factory presents A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon. Directed by Richard Phelan & Will Becher. Screenplay by Mark Burton & Jon Brown. Starring Justin Fletcher, John Sparkes and Amalia Vitale. Running Time: 86 minutes. Rating: Rated G. Release date: October 18, 2022.
