If you are looking for some good, clean family TV fun… or just looking for something fun to watch when you want to relax and you’re not afraid to watch an animated series, check out Shaun the Sheep!
Shaun the Sheep is a British stop-motion animated series created by Nick Park. I first discovered Shaun the Sheep years ago, when I discovered the Disney Channel.
I was late to the whole cable tv thing! I grew up in a small neighborhood that couldn’t get cable. The cable company felt that, even if every house in the neighborhood purchased cable, they would still not make enough money to support installing the cable infrastructure.
Once I bought a home of my own, as a young home owner, I could not afford cable tv. Because of this, I was near 36 years old before I discovered the many wonders of cable tv!
Having been a huge Disney fan for as long as I can remember, I could not wait to check out the Disney Channel and I loved it! Hannah Montana, The Wizards of Waverly Place and The Suite Life were my favorites. In hindsight, having grown up in an abusive household, these shows portraying (what I considered to be) perfect families were probably very unhealthy for me but they were A LOT of fun!
There were a few shorts that played in between the main shows and there are two that I particularly remember. One was called, As the Bell Rings, about a group of highschool students and the adventures they have between classes. The other short I remember is Shaun the Sheep.
I do not know if any of these shows are still on the Disney Channel or not but you can now watch the first 5 seasons of Shaun the Sheep on Amazon under the name of “Shaun the Sheep” and a 6th season on Netflix ,under the name of “Adventures from Mossy Bottom”.
There are also a couple of movies. The first movie is called simply “Shaun the Sheep: The Movie” and the other is called “Farmageddon”. Both movies are very cute and I definitely recommend the entire series and both movies.
In the first movie, Shaun and his friends travel to the big city to try to get the Farmer back, after the Farmer loses his memory and ends up in the city.
In Farmageddon, a small space creature accidentally comes to the farm and Shaun must help him get back home.
I’m not sure why the name was changed between Amazon and Netflix but Shaun is one of the main characters of the show and Mossy Bottom Farm is the farm that Shaun and the other sheep live on. They are cared for by Bitzer the dog, who takes his orders directly from the Farmer. Bitzer is a cross between a pet, a working dog and a personal assistant of sorts to the Farmer. Shaun and the other sheep act like typical farm animals when the Farmer is watching but when his back is turned they get into all kinds of mischief. There are no words spoken, just a series of baas, barks and mumbles but you fully understand exactly what is being said!
The opening theme song, “Life’s a Treat”, by Mark Thomas and Vic Reeves is absolutely wonderful! I find myself singing it all the time! The song is about life with Shaun and invites you to come see him.
The show is hilarious and endearing. The detail put into the sets is amazing, from the tiniest flowers to foot prints in the grass…Occasionally, if there is an episode that I think my husband would particularly enjoy, I “make” him watch it with me. The pizza episode on Netflix called “Baa-gherita” is one that I was sure he would like. He loves making pizza and he has always dreamed of an outdoor pizza oven, so when I saw this episode, I NEEDED to watch it with him!
In this episode, called Baa-gherita, the farmer and Bitzer build an outdoor brick kiln for firing ceramics. When the Farmer and Bitzer go off to do something else, Shaun discovers the oven and realizes that he is craving pizza, so he decides to bake himself a pizza. One thing leads to another and Shaun and the crew end up with a short lived but thriving pizza business…until they run out of firewood for the oven and end up burning all the money they made as fuel! Lol
I hope you get a chance to visit Shaun and friends on Amazon or Netflix. There are new characters added to the Netflix series, so if Amazon is available to you, I recommend starting with Shaun the Sheep on Amazon and working your way through the seasons and up to the Adventures from Mossy Bottom on Netflix. However, if Netflix is all you have available to you, then start there. You will not be disappointed!
Have fun!