I have been watching this season of Shaun the Sheep on and off recently and was reminded by it by the rather surprising failure of Aardman to win the best animated short Oscar for their most recent Wallace & Gromit film. I have not seen the winner so have no opinion on that other than having gotten used to Aardman being the Pixar of that category – ie they will almost always win it. Anyway, awards to one side it is hard to deny that Aardman continue to produce quality material with the animation being as precise as the comedy and season 1 showed that this high standard was as much applied to their Oscar winning shorts as it is to this TV show spin-off from one of their Wallace & Gromit shorts.
Season 2 continues this trend by producing twenty or so 6 minute episodes which manage to produce laughs from a diverse audience – in my case two adults in their early thirties. The best thing about the show is that it makes it look easy to do this even though this is far from the truth. Many children's animations on TV will be unappealing to an audience beyond the target, or they will include material that is aimed at an older audience alongside the material aimed at children, it is not too often that the same material will work for both. Here though we continue to have good visual and physical comedy that all ages can enjoy. Even for someone of my age (who is reasonably mentally stable) there are a handful of good laughs in each episode along with a general sense of amusement that is charming.
It is not all good though and this second season is not as good as the first one was. The animation is part of it. Generally it is as slick and as impressive as before but for some reason both the farmer and Bitzer have had their features changed in a way that looks a lot more basic and crude. Others have noticed this and suggested budget constraints but I cannot see how these changes reduce costs – all I can tell you is that they serve to make these characters look more basic than they were before. The second weakness is that, in order to make things happen, the writers are stretching for more scenarios this time round. Of course all of the plots are fantastical in base concept but where season 1 had a good foundation of straightforward hi-jinks, season 2 has more elaborate plots involving giant sheep, aliens and so on. Again this is a minor "weakness" because as long as they are funny it doesn't really matter.
Season 2 may not be quite as good as the first season but Shaun the Sheep continues to be a nice simple family delight that will produce laughs for all ages. It is clean, charming and funny and it is hard not to love it as a result.
Season 2 continues this trend by producing twenty or so 6 minute episodes which manage to produce laughs from a diverse audience – in my case two adults in their early thirties. The best thing about the show is that it makes it look easy to do this even though this is far from the truth. Many children's animations on TV will be unappealing to an audience beyond the target, or they will include material that is aimed at an older audience alongside the material aimed at children, it is not too often that the same material will work for both. Here though we continue to have good visual and physical comedy that all ages can enjoy. Even for someone of my age (who is reasonably mentally stable) there are a handful of good laughs in each episode along with a general sense of amusement that is charming.
It is not all good though and this second season is not as good as the first one was. The animation is part of it. Generally it is as slick and as impressive as before but for some reason both the farmer and Bitzer have had their features changed in a way that looks a lot more basic and crude. Others have noticed this and suggested budget constraints but I cannot see how these changes reduce costs – all I can tell you is that they serve to make these characters look more basic than they were before. The second weakness is that, in order to make things happen, the writers are stretching for more scenarios this time round. Of course all of the plots are fantastical in base concept but where season 1 had a good foundation of straightforward hi-jinks, season 2 has more elaborate plots involving giant sheep, aliens and so on. Again this is a minor "weakness" because as long as they are funny it doesn't really matter.
Season 2 may not be quite as good as the first season but Shaun the Sheep continues to be a nice simple family delight that will produce laughs for all ages. It is clean, charming and funny and it is hard not to love it as a result.
