In the stop-action claymation world of Nick Park’s Aardman Studio, pets and domesticated animals not only display more common sense than their human overlords, they often possess specific skills that would put tech bros like Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg to shame. Gromit, the pet canine of inventor Wallace in Aardman’s most famous series, is arguably the genius behind the duo’s creations, and the more juvenile Shaun the Sheep, who first gained exposure in a Wallace & Gromit short, demonstrates similar talents in his new feature-length film, which is essentially a horror comedy, but part of the horror is what can go wrong with technology that is not properly vetted.
Timing is often everything with Aardman, and this latest adventure takes place before and during Halloween. The farm animals Shaun lives with are looking forward to the holiday when their dumb farmer-master accidentally destroys the pumpkin patch that Shaun has so lovingly cultivated. Deflated but not defeated, Shaun, using a science manual, concocts a growth formulation that will bring the pumpkins back to life quickly, but the process gets out of hand and the pumpkins grow to monstrous size. Moreover, some of the serum contaminates the farmer’s bathroom and gets into his own hair growth medication (he’s bald), and once the formula does its stuff too well, he essentially turns into Bigfoot; or, at least, that’s what the folks in town mistake him for, resulting in a Frankenstein-styled persecution campaign, complete with torches. The script mostly cycles through horror cliches for its jokes (watch out for the Psycho reference), but also finds time for Aardman’s typical sentimental side, which is mainly concentrated in the subplot of the local female veterinarian falling in love with the farmer even while he’s covered with fur and despite his intelligence issues.
Unlike the previous two Shaun features, this one feels more like the TV show, which is not a complaint. Essentially, the slight plot is there to string together the wildly inventive slapstick set pieces, something that Aardman has always excelled at. It should be noted that The Beast of Mossy Bottom was not directed by Park (Steve Cox and Matthew Walker, if you’re keeping score), which may explain the relative lack of cohesion. Few writer-directors in the animated world outside of Pixar possess Park’s totally harebrained approach to storytelling, best represented by his masterpiece The Wrong Trousers. Shaun is a spinoff, but a proud one.
Opens Oct. 23 in Tokyo at Marunouchi Piccadilly (050-6875-0075), Shinjuku Piccadilly (050-6861-3011), Shibuya Humax Cinema (03-3462-2539).
Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom home page in Japanese
photo (c) 2026/Aardman Animations Ltd & Richard Davies
