Usually the misadventures of Shaun the Sheep are doled out seven minutes at a time. However, Shaun the Sheep: The Farmer’s Llamas gives viewers a hilarious new 29-minute adventure! As the special opens, The Farmer and his dog Bitzer are decorating a cake for a baking contest at the town fair. As they drive into town, they are unaware that Shaun has stowed away. The Farmer and Bitzer are prepping the cake for the judges when a merchant arrives with three llamas. Shaun is instantly drawn to them, thinking they will make great new friends for the farm. So later, when the llamas are being auctioned off, he manipulates things so that The Farmer accidentally makes the winning bid. Once they return to Mossy Bottom Farm, Shaun is overjoyed, hanging out with his new friends—and neglecting the the other sheep. However, it’s not long before Shaun realizes he made a mistake, and that these llamas are a little too rambunctious. Now he must find a way to get rid of the llamas before they destroy the whole farm!

I have been a long-time fan of Aardman Animation, and this special just solidified that even more. The animation is fantastic—it is really astonishing what these animators are able to do with stop-motion. Everything feels so real and seamless that you forget that this was painstakingly done one frame at a time. The world the animators have created feels so real. The attention to detail is amazing, and music and lighting is utilized to add an even more cinematic feel to the show. In one scene Shaun is hiding in the darkened attic as one of the llamas searches for him, and you can see his shadow from the moonlight coming through the skylight—it feels like something straight out of horror film.

Shaun the Sheep has no dialogue and plays out like more of a silent film with a delightful score. However, it never feels like anything is missing—it is amazing how much the writers and animators are able to emote and explain with just grunts and squiggly lines. Plus, an added benefit of this style of production is that the show can be universally enjoyed by people of any age, no matter what language they speak.

While this special is not explicitly broken down into acts, the story seems to naturally fall across three acts, each with its own unique tone and feel. The first act is like a madcap comedy with the llamas running wild at the fair and Shaun manipulating the auction. The second act feels like a campus comedy where there’s this rivalry between the jocks and the nerds. Shaun starts hanging out with the “cool kid” llams—playing sports, swimming in the pool, and neglecting the other sheep who used to be his friends. The Farmer is like the dean who knows what’s going on, but finds any and every excuse to not get involved. And the final act of the special has a thriller feel as the llamas take over and threaten both Shaun and The Farmer, leading Shaun and the others to come up with a plan to stop this evil threat.

Shaun the Sheep: The Farmer’s Llamas utilizes the same world and characters of the Shaun the Sheep TV series, so the main characters are already well-established. But the special introduces us to some fun new characters. The llamas make a great addition to this world—each of them has a well-defined, unique personality.

There are a lot of layers to every scene, and there’s always something fun going on in both the foreground and the background. I found myself constantly laughing at what the other sheep were getting up to. And another character I particularly enjoyed was the man at the auction who is constantly laughing at The Farmer’s misfortune.

While I wish this special had been released on Blu-ray as well as DVD, the picture quality of the DVD is still quite nice. The colors are vibrant and the animation looks fantastic. The show’s score sounds excellent on the DVD’s audio track, and the various audio channels are utilized to add dimension to the animation. The DVD includes a digital copy of the film as well as a nice selection of bonus features including 2 behind-the-scenes featurettes for the special, an extended behind-the-scenes look at how the Shaun the Sheep TV series is made, and a pair of episodes from the second season of the series.

What’s Included:
Film: (29:17)

DVD:
• 480p / Widescreen 1.78:1
• Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1

Digital (Redemption Deadline 6/14/17):

• UltraViolet Digital Copy redeemable via Vudu, Flixster or CinemaNow

Extras:

• Meet the Llamas (4:28)
  Go behind the scenes with the filmmakers as they discuss the personalities of the the three llamas—Hector (the white one), the cunning, fun-loving leader/brains of the operation; Fernando (the one wearing the Peruvian hat and leg warmers), the younger, innocent, daft, goofy one; and Raul (the brown one), the hard, mean-looking muscle of the trio. Includes interviews with senior modelmaker Nigel Leach, director Jay Grace, and animators Steve Cox and Laurie, plus a look at some of the early animation tests.
  
• The Director’s Perspective (3:48)
  Director Jay Grace takes viewers behind the scenes to see all of the work that went into creating the short film, and how the characters were brought to life.
  
• Behind the Fleece (9:14)
  An animated Shaun take viewers on a step-by-step behind-the-scenes look at all of the various departments that help bring the world of the Shaun the Sheep series to life—Model Making, Art Department, Rigging, Animation, and Story & Edit. Includes interviews with creative director Golly, model maker Jim Parkyn, construction manager Matthew Healey art director Helen Javes, rigger Richard Modlen, animator Will Becher, assistant animator Rita Sampio, director Lee Wilton, editor Dan Williamson, and story artist Jess Jackson.
  
• Bonus Episodes
  A pair of episodes from the Shaun the Sheep series that tie into the general theme of the film.
  • Cheetah Cheater (7:05)
    (Series 2, Episode 11) After watching a nature documentary, the farmer’s cat dresses up like a cheetah and tries to scare the sheep.
  • Zebra Ducks of the Serengeti (7:05)
    (Series 2, Episode 28) A pair of ducks build a nest on top of the chimney and then find themselves covered in soot. Some tourists mistake them for a rare species of African Zebra Ducks, and so the farmer and Bitzer decide to create a tourist attraction to raise money, but Shaun doesn’t like losing his field and is on a mission to clean the ducks.
• Trailers (5:02)
  Trailers for Shaun the Sheep: The Movie, Norm of the North and Alpha and Omega: Dino Digs

Final Thoughts:

I thoroughly enjoyed watching Shaun the Sheep: The Farmer’s Llamas—the animation is superb and the story is well put together. The special is a fun, extended version of a TV show episode. There’s so much going on in every scene that you could watch this over and over and still find new fun-filled moments to laugh at. The disc looks and sounds great and contains some excellent bonus material that gives viewers an in-depth look at the tremendous amount of work that goes into bringing this world and these characters to life. I can’t recommend this DVD highly enough!