Shaun The Sheep (lost pilot of British stop-motion TV series; early to mid 2000s): Difference between revisions

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In 1995, the character Shaun the Sheep made his debut in Aardman Animatons' ''Wallace & Gromit'' short "A Close Shave". Like its predecessors it was produced entirely using the studio's signature hand-built stop-motion animation and proved to be a great success, winning an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film the same year.
In 1995, the character Shaun the Sheep made his debut in Aardman Animatons' third ''Wallace & Gromit'' short, "A Close Shave". Like its predecessors it was produced entirely using the studio's signature hand-built stop-motion animation and proved to be a great success, winning an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film the same year.


Aardman soon realized they had a breakout star on their hands in Shaun, the intelligent but mischevious young leader of a flock of sheep that prove invaluable to Wallace over the course of the short. With Shaun's merchandise sales surpassing that of the leads, the decision to create a spin-off series was the natural next step.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3684150.stm BBC news article announcing the ''Shaun the Sheep'' TV series.] Retrieved 24 Sep '22</ref>At some point in the early 2000s, after production wrapped on ''Chicken Run'' and before it began on ''Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit'', '''a pilot was made to pitch the series to broadcasters''',
Aardman soon realized they had a breakout star on their hands in Shaun, the intelligent but mischievous young leader of a flock of sheep that prove invaluable to Wallace over the course of the short. With Shaun's merchandise sales surpassing that of the leads, a spin-off series of his own was the natural next step.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3684150.stm BBC news article announcing the ''Shaun the Sheep'' TV series.] Retrieved 24 Sep '22</ref>At some point in the early 2000s, after production wrapped on ''Chicken Run'' and before it began on ''Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit'', '''a pilot was made to pitch the series to broadcasters'''.


==Production==
==Production==
Not much is known about the pilot's production save that it was evidently keyed to a somewhat lower budget than the final series, using smaller and less detailed sets and missing the framing device of the Farmer and his sheepdog Bitzer. From their appearance it seems that Shaun and the flock's models from "A Close Shave" were recycled - with the exception of Shirley - originally just 'the big fat sheep' - the only character who would move unchanged from the pilot to the series.
Not much is known about the pilot's production save that it was evidently keyed to a somewhat lower budget than the final series, using smaller and less detailed sets. It's unclear how far the eventual farm setting was developed, although concept art suggests Bitzer the sheepdog and the Three Bad Pigs in the sty next door were included somehow. From their appearance, it seems that Shaun and the flock's models were simply recycled from "A Close Shave", with the exception of Shirley - originally just 'the big fat sheep' - the only sheep character specially created for the pilot.
 
In the course of 2022, concept art of Shirley, Bitzer and other characters by Sylvia Bull was released on the official ''Shaun the Sheep'' Twitter account.<ref>[https://twitter.com/shaunthesheep/status/1531591326671769600/photo/1 Shaun the Sheep Twitter post on the pilot's concept art.] Retrieved 25 Sep '22</ref> A Twitter user called Random Sheep claimed to be the voice of one of the background sheep in the pilot; they also revealed Shirley's in-house nickname, which is assumed to have been changed to avoid negative stereotyping.<ref>[https://twitter.com/randomovine/status/1115877722763534336 A tweet from a user that voiced one of the sheep in the pilot.] Retrieved 25 Sep '22</ref>


==Availability==
==Availability==
This pitch pilot, like most such, was never aired on television or given any kind of official release. In 2004, the pilot was shown to the BBC, who would greenlight the series for production and airing on their spinoff channel for children, CBBC.<ref>[https://bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2004/09_september/23/shaun.shtml Second BBC News article on the ''Shaun the Sheep'' TV series.] Retrieved 24 Sep '22</ref> That same year various articles would be published by the BBC showing the only currently available screenshot from the pilot.  
This pitch pilot, like most such, was never aired on television or given any kind of official release. In 2004, it was shown to the BBC, who would greenlight a full series for their spinoff channel for children, CBBC.<ref>[https://bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2004/09_september/23/shaun.shtml Second BBC News article on the ''Shaun the Sheep'' TV series.] Retrieved 24 Sep '22</ref> That same year various articles would be published by the BBC showing the only currently available screenshot from the pilot.  


On April 17th, 2007, an article was posted on an Aardman exhibition featuring images of unseen material from ''Shaun The Sheep'', including one evidently from the pilot. Whether the film itself was shown at the exhibition is unknown.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/surrey/6564499.stm BBC News article announcing the Aardman with material from the show.] Retrieved 24 Sep '22</ref>
In 2005, a fire broke out at Aardman's storage warehouse, destroying many of the delicate production props (with the exception of those from ''The Curse of The Were-Rabbit'', which were either on tour or at Aardman's offices). This likely included the props from the ''Shaun'' pilot. Fortunately the master production tapes of all Aardman films remained safe in a separate location, presumably including the ''Shaun'' pilot film.


In 2005, a fire broke out at Aardman's storage warehouse, destroying many of the delicate production props (excluding those from ''The Curse of The Were-Rabbit'', which were either on tour or at Aardman's offices). This likely included the props from the ''Shaun'' pilot. Fortunately the master production tapes of all Aardman films remained safe in a separate location, meaning the pilot film most likely remains in Aardman's archives.
On April 17th, 2007, an article was posted on an Aardman exhibition featuring images of unseen material from ''Shaun The Sheep'', including one evidently from the pilot. Whether the film itself was shown at the exhibition is unknown.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/surrey/6564499.stm BBC News article announcing the Aardman with material from the show.] Retrieved 24 Sep '22</ref>
 
In May of 2022, concept art of Shirley was released on the official ''Shaun the Sheep'' Twitter account, which further revealed that the concept artist for the pilot was Sylvia Bull.<ref>[https://twitter.com/shaunthesheep/status/1531591326671769600/photo/1 Shaun the Sheep Twitter post on the pilot's concept art.] Retrieved 25 Sep '22</ref> A Twitter user called Random Sheep claimed to be the voice of one of the background sheep in the pilot; they also revealed Shirley's original nickname, which they assumed was changed to avoid negative stereotyping.<ref>[https://twitter.com/randomovine/status/1115877722763534336 A tweet from a user that voiced one of the sheep in the pilot.] Retrieved 25 Sep '22</ref>


==Gallery==
==Gallery==
<gallery mode=packed heights=250px>
<gallery mode="packed" heights="250">
ShirleyConceptArt.jpeg|Concept art of Shirley made for the pilot by Sylvia Bull.
File:ShirleyConceptArt.jpeg|Concept art of Shirley made for the pilot by Sylvia Bull
File:Bitzer1.jpg|Concept art of Blitzer made for the pilot by Sylvia Bull
File:Blitzer2.jpg|More concept art of Blitzer made for the pilot by Sylvia Bull
File:Pigs2.jpg|Concept art of The Pigs made for the pilot by Sylvia Bull
File:ShaunAction1.jpg|Shaun's first set of action poses made for the pilot by Sylvia Bull
File:ShaunAction2.jpg|Shaun's second set of action poses made for the pilot by Sylvia Bull
File:Timmy1.jpg|Concept art of Timmy made for the pilot by Sylvia Bull
</gallery>
</gallery>
==See Also==
*[[Aardman Animations (found Cuprinol stop-motion TV ads from British animation studio; 1988-late 1990s)]]
*[[Aardman Animations (partially found stop-motion commercials from British animation studio; 1980s-2010s)]]
*[[A Grand Day Out (lost Peter Hawkins' "Gromit" dialogue from stop-motion animated film; 1989)]]
*[[Lurpak (partially lost Aardman Animations commercials for Danish butter brand; 1990s)]]
*[[Pib and Pog (lost original college animation of stop-motion short; early 1990s)]]
*[[Sumitomo Life (found "Wallace & Gromit" commercial for Japanese insurance company; 2000-2001)]]
*[[Wallace & Gromit Alive On Stage In A Grand Night Out (lost recording of stage show; 1997-1998)]]
==References==
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}

Latest revision as of 23:37, 25 February 2023

ShaunTheSheepPilotScreenshotFull.jpg

A screenshot supposedly from the pilot.

Status: Lost

In 1995, the character Shaun the Sheep made his debut in Aardman Animatons' third Wallace & Gromit short, "A Close Shave". Like its predecessors it was produced entirely using the studio's signature hand-built stop-motion animation and proved to be a great success, winning an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film the same year.

Aardman soon realized they had a breakout star on their hands in Shaun, the intelligent but mischievous young leader of a flock of sheep that prove invaluable to Wallace over the course of the short. With Shaun's merchandise sales surpassing that of the leads, a spin-off series of his own was the natural next step.[1]At some point in the early 2000s, after production wrapped on Chicken Run and before it began on Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, a pilot was made to pitch the series to broadcasters.

Production

Not much is known about the pilot's production save that it was evidently keyed to a somewhat lower budget than the final series, using smaller and less detailed sets. It's unclear how far the eventual farm setting was developed, although concept art suggests Bitzer the sheepdog and the Three Bad Pigs in the sty next door were included somehow. From their appearance, it seems that Shaun and the flock's models were simply recycled from "A Close Shave", with the exception of Shirley - originally just 'the big fat sheep' - the only sheep character specially created for the pilot.

In the course of 2022, concept art of Shirley, Bitzer and other characters by Sylvia Bull was released on the official Shaun the Sheep Twitter account.[2] A Twitter user called Random Sheep claimed to be the voice of one of the background sheep in the pilot; they also revealed Shirley's in-house nickname, which is assumed to have been changed to avoid negative stereotyping.[3]

Availability

This pitch pilot, like most such, was never aired on television or given any kind of official release. In 2004, it was shown to the BBC, who would greenlight a full series for their spinoff channel for children, CBBC.[4] That same year various articles would be published by the BBC showing the only currently available screenshot from the pilot.

In 2005, a fire broke out at Aardman's storage warehouse, destroying many of the delicate production props (with the exception of those from The Curse of The Were-Rabbit, which were either on tour or at Aardman's offices). This likely included the props from the Shaun pilot. Fortunately the master production tapes of all Aardman films remained safe in a separate location, presumably including the Shaun pilot film.

On April 17th, 2007, an article was posted on an Aardman exhibition featuring images of unseen material from Shaun The Sheep, including one evidently from the pilot. Whether the film itself was shown at the exhibition is unknown.[5]

Gallery


See Also

References