If you have young ones in your life and are looking for something to sit down and watch with them, something that both you and they might thoroughly enjoy, look no further than either Shaun the Sheep or Timmy Time – seriously, I can’t stress (or recommend) this highly enough! :)

Shaun the Sheep (2007)

Shaun the Sheep is a British stop-motion animated children’s television series created by Nick Park and produced by Aardman Animations, a spin-off from their famous and much loved Wallace and Gromit franchise, starring Shaun the Sheep from the “A Close Shave” episode as its main protagonist. It first aired in March 2007 and went on to spawn at least 80 odd 6 minute long episodes, never mind a whole lot of specials. The series has also inspired its own spin-off show, Timmy Time, which is aimed at younger viewers (which I mention a little later).

A premise of the series is that Shaun the sheep exhibits human intelligence, creativity, and behaviour in a farm setting, which usually provides a situational comedy conflict which Shaun must resolve before the end of each episode. Recurring themes include the characters evading the sheepdog Bitzer (though he is sometimes with the sheep in their escapades) and avoiding discovery by the Farmer.

Episodes are very much a combination of slapstick and classic silent comedy in Aardman’s recognizable animation style. There is no spoken dialogue, only simple grunts, bleats and sighs, all of which are used to generate the wonderfully enjoyable atmosphere that makes up Shaun the Sheep.

Episodes are fun, lighthearted, contain plenty of references to popular culture, and with its awesomely cute visual style (not to mention its particularly catchy theme tune), it is guaranteed to entertain both young and old!

Highly, highly recommended.

Related Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaun_the_Sheep

Timmy Time (2009)

Whilst Shaun the Sheep caters for young children, Timmy Time caters for even younger, pre-school children, taking Shaun the Sheep’s already successful and enjoyable formula, and lightening it up even further, in terms of both color palette and lessons taught.

Timmy Time is a stop-motion animated comedy series created by Jackie Cockle and produced by Aardman Animations. It started broadcasting in 2009 and is a spin off from the Shaun the Sheep animation, which itself is a spin off from the Aardman series Wallace & Gromit, and has spawned 70 odd 10 minute long episodes thus far.

In this series, Timmy and his friends have to learn to share, make friends and accept their mistakes. They are supervised by two teachers, Harriet the Heron and Osbourne the Owl.

As with Shaun the Sheep, Timmy Time doesn’t feature any dialogue, but instead a variety of grunts and animal noises pass as the storytellers. There is a lot of slapstick comedy to be had, as well as loads of life lessons, all wrapped in a wonderfully cute and highly colorful stop-motion animation style.

Highly recommended if you have a very little one, like my little Jess for example! :)

Related Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timmy_Time