Shaun the Sheep is heading to the big screen for his third feature-length film, Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom, arriving on September 18. The stop-motion adventure from Aardman, the studio behind Wallace and Gromit, sees Shaun and his flock preparing for Halloween. When their pumpkin patch yields disappointing results, Shaun resorts to a mad science experiment involving a growth formula, which inadvertently unleashes a hairy beast terrorizing the farm.
Directors Matthew Walker and Steve Cox, both veterans of the Shaun the Sheep TV series, found the transition from short-form television episodes to a feature film presented unique challenges, particularly due to the complete lack of dialogue. "Holding the whole story in your head is a massive one," Cox told Polygon. "The seven-minute episodes are based around a gag, so you know exactly where you're going with those things. But to weave in these emotional stories, these nice, long, slow-burn arcs for all the characters, and to have them pay off in a satisfying way, that's one of the trickiest elements of it."
The film's narrative evolved from an initial idea for a half-hour special. "At some point it was decided this could be a Halloween special," explained Walker. "That was roughly around the time when Steve and I became involved. We immediately had so many ideas, and the story just kept growing. There came a point where we realized this is too much story for a half-hour special. We decided this could really work as a feature."
Horror Inspirations
The filmmakers drew heavily from classic horror cinema for inspiration. "Frankenstein and Wolfman jump out," Cox noted, with Walker adding that Hammer horror and Universal Monsters were initial touchstones. The team also incorporated tropes from the mad scientist and angry mob archetypes. Beyond direct horror influences, the directors looked to films from the 1980s and 90s, citing John Carpenter and Steven Spielberg as key inspirations. "All the tropes that are available throughout the history of horror films, we kind of picked out our favorites," Cox said. "We wanted a home invasion, we wanted like an An American Werewolf in London scene... We wanted a jump scare in a mirror, we wanted all these things. It's like going shopping and picking up all these great ideas."
Directing Without Dialogue
Cox highlighted the importance of nuanced acting in the stop-motion animation for a feature-length film, contrasting it with the more gag-driven nature of the TV series. "Our animators are like top Hollywood actors in our minds," he stated. "They're able to deliver a story and deliver those emotions really well. That's not as important in a series, but here, we've got a nice emotional story where you need to feel those feelings of the characters."
The development process involved extensive collaboration with writers Mark Burton and Giles Pilbrow to ensure the story's emotional depth and character arcs paid off satisfactorily over the longer runtime. The team focused on refining the narrative during pre-production to craft an authentic and emotional experience for the audience, all conveyed through Aardman's signature visual storytelling.