STORYLINE: On Halloween Eve at Mossy Bottom Farm, excitement turns to dismay when the clumsy Farmer ruins the pumpkin patch. Shaun tries fixing it with science experiments, but things go wrong when a wild beast appears in the woods.  (IMDb)

   A sustainable farm was the topic of conversation, in the 2018 documentary The Biggest Little Farm.  Mr Popper had his penguins in the 2011 feature Mr Popper’s Penguins, starring Jim Carrey.   Babe is brought to the farm in the 1995 family feature, Babe.  The flock returns to their farm, in the new animated movie Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom.

    You can do a lot with an image, or in the case of a motion picture, a series of images.  Dialogue is a key element is propelling a story forward. Every now and again, a movie is released, depending on its imagery only, to tell its story.  The Oscar winning animated feature Flow (2024) did this masterfully.  Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom, much like it’s predecessors, is an animated film that forgoes dialogue, and relies on images for its narrative.

    This film is a family friendly feature.  The Halloween like story that unfolds reflects that.  Instead of being a fright fest, the Shaun the Sheep sequel, as the others in the series do, is silly.  The film fills its 81 minute runtime with amusing sight gags, that is Three Stooges style visual humor. 

    The story itself takes the Frankenstein tale, and turns into a movie that would entertain, rather then frighten, a younger viewer. It’s not as clever, not as entertaining, as Tim Burton’s animated Frankenstein feature, Frankenweenie (2012) but Tim Burton’s imagination is in a league of its own. 

    Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom has its moments that will cross the age gaps.  The film could of used a few more of these moments sprinkled in.  The ones there, were creative.  There plenty of visual jokes that the target audience should enjoy.

    Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom is a dialogue free, family friendly animated take on the classic Frankenstein tale.  The release is just in time for the start of the Halloween season. 

   Until next time, I will see you at the movies!