Behind the scenes: how Aardman built the Shaun the Sheep horror movie
Aardman Animations in Bristol is in the final stretch of production on its new stop-motion feature, Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom, drawing on classic horror influences. The film opens in the UK on 18 September.
Inside a nondescript industrial unit in Bristol, animation studio Aardman is deep into production on its newest feature, Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom. Around 300 staff work across roughly 40 miniature sets, with about 30 animators each producing only around two seconds of finished footage per day using traditional stop-motion techniques with plasticine models.
A gentle kind of horror
The film draws inspiration from horror classics including Psycho, Nosferatu, Frankenstein and The Shining, but the filmmakers deliberately toned down the scares given the young target audience. Co-director Matthew Walker says an early version of a home-invasion sequence was judged "too intense" and had to be reworked.
A modern, inclusive world
The production team has worked to keep the fictional village of Mossingham contemporary and inclusive, with the film featuring a same-sex wedding, a delivery-service gag and a diverse cast of characters. While the filmmakers say they avoided making direct political statements, they acknowledge that the film's climactic scene, in which a mob with pitchforks pursues a misunderstood "monster", echoes the dynamics of present-day populism.
Celebrating 50 years
The production comes as Aardman marks its 50th anniversary. Founded in 1976 by Peter Lord and David Sproxton, and later joined by Nick Park, the studio has won four Oscars and 18 Baftas. Its debut feature, Chicken Run, remains the highest-grossing stop-motion film ever made, while the Shaun the Sheep TV series has been sold to more than 170 territories, spawning theme parks and even an unofficial themed restaurant abroad. Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom is released in UK cinemas on 18 September.
