It’s the Year of the Horse per the Chinese zodiac, but if Shaun the Sheep has anything to say about it, 2026 is the Year of the Sheep. In film, that is. Summer began with The Sheep Detectives and ends with Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom, a clever romp from the studio behind Chicken Run and Wallace & Gromit.
Shaun the Sheep (Justin Fletcher) proudly tends a pumpkin patch on Mossy Bottom farm. But the Farmer (John Sparkes) accidentally destroys Shaun’s beloved pumpkins by accident. But the Farmer’s too distracted to care. He’s become embarrassed by his baldness, letting his insecurity get in the way of pursuing the local Vet (Nina Sosanya). Trying to work up the nerve to ask the Vet to a Halloween party, the Farmer shirks his duties on the farm, hoping to be a worthy suitor for the Vet.
Distraught over the loss of his pumpkins, Shaun discovers a newfound passion for becoming a mad scientist and devises a concoction meant to regrow them. But his concoction goes missing, and the Farmer vanishes not long after. If that wasn’t enough, a large, hairy beast begins terrorizing Mossy Bottom, frightening animals and humans alike. It’s a delightful send-up of classic horror creature features.
A creature feature for kids (and longtime horror fans).
Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom could just as easily be called Shaun the Sheep: Baby’s First Horror. References to Friday the 13th and Psycho abound without being over-the-top or age-inappropriate. It’s the kind of smart humor that has made Aardman a staple of family-friendly storytelling, rewarding eagle-eyed adults rather than creating mindless slop built on tired jokes or overly expositional dialogue.
That is, of course, because Shaun the Sheep is as dialogue-free as ever. Relying entirely on wordless grunts, coughs, and exhales, it’s a delightful throwback to silent films. As a series, Shaun the Sheep‘s humor has been derived from slapstick, visual gags, and well-timed audio cues. (A reference to Psycho‘s iconic score is a particular comic highlight.)
It’s a refreshing entry in an oversaturated market, but is a surprising retread of prior Aardman material in one crucial way. That the regrowing potion and the bald Farmer go missing right as a hairy beast begins to terrorize the town should come as no surprise to those familiar with Aardman’s filmography. Fans of Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit will remember the truth of that film’s own mysterious beast. It won’t come as a surprise to learn that something similar is the case here.
A story already told by Aardman.
One wonders why Aardman would choose to revisit such a specific element of a previous hit for Shaun the Sheep. Perhaps it’s because the trope of a mad scientist, and a creature emerging from an experiment gone awry, is such a staple of creature features. But the care of a handcrafted film is still so prominent that one cannot help but be thoroughly charmed. Every frame, every gag is so lovingly assembled that the innate charm of stop-motion radiates from the screen.
An 80-minute film featuring no dialogue may sound nightmarish in an era of attention-span-limiting animation. But Shaun the Sheep, as an entity, has been beloved for decades for a reason. Aardman’s formula of clever, gag-based storytelling is on full display here.
The bottom line
For seasoned Aardman fans, the truth of Mossy Bottom’s creature won’t feel like a huge surprise. But at the end of the day, Shaun the Sheep‘s most fantastical element is supposed to be the craftiness of the sheep, anyway. Hilarious, heartfelt, and a terrific dose of age-appropriate nods to classic horror, Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom is a charmingly winning film. And Shaun is such a delightfully clever sheep that one can only hope the Year of the Sheep will return.
Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom arrives in theaters September 18, 2026. Watch the trailer below.
Images courtesy of StudioCanal and GKIDS.
REVIEW RATING
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Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom - 8/10
8/10
Claire was once asked in elementary school why her go-to question was always, “Watch anything good lately?” It’s still her go-to question, because she loves hearing what other people are passionate about. She often sacrifices sleep in the hopes that she will one day clear her to-watch and to-read lists (a futile effort so far).
