Shaun The Sheep Movie

The ovine adventures of the TV teen sheep become "Shaun the Sheep Movie" in Aardman Animation's awesome new Claymation, almost dialog-less thriller (voice actor Justin Fletcher provides Shaun's grunts, gasps and yawns).

"Be careful what you wish for," advises producer Julie Lockhart in the "Behind the Scenes" extra, for Shaun dreams of having one day off from the grind of his repetitive farm life, which leads to misadventures in The Big City, including social media commentary, Banksy references, and a brief incarceration (where the resident thug has "bark" and "bite" tattooed on his respective digits).

"When you take these characters from the small screen to the big," says co-writers and co-directors Richard Starzak and Mark Burton, "You have to take them out of their comfort zone, take the flock away from the farm."

Executive producer Peter Lord agrees, and creator Nick Park likens his Shaun creation to a 12-year-old kid, testing his literal and figurative boundaries, a mix of "surreal and slapstick," complete with a fully orchestrated soundtrack.

The model makers acknowledge the shift to the larger format by utilizing more "eye acting," and say they went for "out of control, pantomime horse-like" movement, and that everything must be created from scratch including bicycles. The media is foam latex skin, into which the animators "breathe life."

In "Meet the Characters," Shaun emerges as "new kind of woolly hero," and a favorite is new friend Slip, a streetwise, scruffy orphan dog who just wants a family of her own.

Timmy is the youngest sheep, "a cheeky toddler always getting into mischief," and Trumper is the menacing animal containment villain.

The "Parody Poster Gallery" features stills of "The Fantastic Flock," "The Hunger Games: Eating Hay," and "Mutton Impossible: Rogue Bacon" (referencing a "Ferris Bueller/Three Little Pigs" movie moment).

The film is fabulous, fun and fraught with the foibles of family, perfect for the holiday season.

"Shaun the Sheep Movie"
Blu-ray & DVD Combo Pack
$19.99
http://shaunthesheep.com/movie