5 Things We Learned From The Set Of Shaun The Sheep: The Beast Of Mossy Bottom [Set Visit]
by Rafael Motamayor · /FilmAdd SlashFilm on Google:
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There are few animation studios as beloved and iconic as Aardman Animation. For over 50 years, the English studio has introduced some of the best known stop-motion films and the most popular plasticine characters, including Shaun the Sheep and Wallace and Gromit. Its artists are responsible for the highest-grossing stop-motion film of all time thanks to "Chicken Run." Though the studio mostly deals in original characters and stories, it's also responsible for a phenomenal "Star Wars" short, and is working on a new "Pokémon" series in stop-motion.
After the success of "Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl," a movie that saw the triumphant return of international diamond thief Feathers McGraw, Aardman is returning to its other super popular character, Shaun the Sheep. Though Shaun is mostly known for the titular TV series that's been airing since 2007, the character is also the star of two feature films, "Shaun the Sheep Movie" and "A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon," which deliver delightfully whimsical adventures in stunning stop-motion animation.
Now, Aardman is back with another Shaun movie in "Shaun The Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom," the third film in the franchise. The movie is set to be released by GKIDS in the United States on September 18, 2026, and it's a Halloween film that sees Shaun turn into a mad scientist to try and save Halloween at the farm, while a mysterious beast wanders the woods.
Ahead of the release of the movie, /Film had the opportunity to visit the set of "The Beast of Mossy Bottom" at Aardman Animation studios in Bristol, England. While there, we learned about the production of the film, its influences, and much more, all while gushing at the elaborate sets and plasticine puppets.
This is a spooky movie
"Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom" takes place in the leadup to Halloween, right as the Farmer accidentally destroys the sheep's pumpkin patch. This leads to Shaun becoming a mad scientist to try and save the pumpkins, and thereby accidentally unleashing a huge monster upon the woods of Mossingham.
This is a more horror-inspired film than we've seen in the "Shaun the Sheep" series before. While on the set visit, we saw a big, creepy windmill that looks similar to the one in Universal's classic 1931 "Frankenstein" movie, while the titular beast looks fun and befitting a spooky film.
During a roundtable interview with directors Steve Cox and Matthew Walker, we learned that the people at Aardman looked at all sorts of horror films for inspiration. There are tributes to "Psycho" and "The Shining," as well as a transformation sequence straight out of "An American Werewolf in London," done practically with puppets and a lot of fur. That being said, the true classics were key to "The Beast of Mossy Bottom."
"We started with Hammer Horror and Universal Monsters," Walker explained. "The windmill was definitely influenced by Hammer Horror and that kind of gothic horror look." According to Walker, the team tried to emulate the look of those classics in a multitude of ways, including hand-drawing the lightning.
Though there are plenty of Easter eggs and references for horror aficionados, the Aardman team knows this will be many a kid's first foray into horror, so the film also just takes inspiration from broad tropes like the mad scientist, and Halloween imagery to set the stage for its spooky story. Gateway horror is important, as is horror that's kid-friendly (just think of how many '90s TV shows were scary!) and it's great that Aardman is adding to that tradition.
The Beast of Mossy Bottom is still family-friendly fun
Don't worry, it's not like Aardman is suddenly making a hardcore horror movie with Shaun the Sheep — though it did get dark and spooky with "Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit," one of the best stop-motion films ever made. This is still a family-friendly movie with plenty of humor for the whole family, and it was important for the directors to balance the scares with humor.
"The balance has been one of the trickiest elements of all of it. The main thing being the scary factor," Steve Cox said. "We want to make sure it was universal for all ages. So we're keeping the comedy. Whenever we have a scary moment, we always have a comedy moment afterwards to undercut those moments. So that was most important. But we've tried to put in as many tropes, and as many horror film tropes, in as possible without it being scary."
Indeed, as much as "Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom" finds inspiration in more adult and truly scary horror movies, it's also more akin "Scooby-Doo" — not only in tone, but in visuals. According to Cox, they wanted to give the film a brighter and more colorful look that would appeal to families and kids, rather than fully embrace a gothic horror film aesthetic. This meant ultra color, ultra '80s neons.
As Matthew Walker added, the key was leaning into "those Halloween colors and purples, and oranges, greens, so it's a key color palette of the films, it still feels like it's in the Halloween genre, but it's really colorful and not too dark and gothic."
This was evident in the sets themselves, with the on-set lighting recalling a "Scooby-Doo" cartoon with the bright purples and oranges, and still evoking Halloween and spooky times without being too frightening.
It was tricky to make the film feel fresh
Even though this is just the third "Shaun the Sheep" film, the characters have been around for nearly 20 years, across nearly 200 short films. That means coming up with new stories that haven't been done before and that are tailored for the big screen is a challenge.
According to Matthew Walker, the solution was to focus on a different relationship in each film. If the first "Shaun the Sheep" movie was about the relationship between Shaun and his father figure of the Farmer, and the second film was about the sibling relationship between Shaun and Bitzer the dog, then "The Beast of Mossy Bottom" is set to be focused on the family relationship between Shaun and the flock at large. For Shaun, this means placing him kind of on opposing sides with the flock, as his obsession with trying to revive their destroyed pumpkin patch leads to him turning to mad science. This alienates Shaun from the rest of the flock, resulting in some classic Aardman comedy packed with a healthy amount of heart.
But it's not just Shaun that gets a new kind of story this time, because "Shaun The Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom" also has a strong focus on the Farmer. New for this movie is the Farmer having body issues, specifically becoming self-conscious about his hair and struggling with accepting his baldness. It makes for a compelling story for the Farmer, especially because there's another new element for the franchise introduced in the movie: a romance for the Farmer.
The film started out as a Valentine's Day special
"Shaun The Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom" may not sound or look like the kind of film that would include a romance. It's a creature feature inspired by Hammer Horror and "Scooby-Doo," starring a bunch of sheep.
And yet, this film actually started out as a Valentine's Day special, according to Matthew Walker. The original idea was always that the Farmer would be self-conscious about his hair, and his confidence issues resulted in stop-motion zaniness. "Once we developed into this Halloween film concept, that part of the story remained," Walker said. "In terms of Shaun's arc in the story, that took a few iterations to figure out what that would be and about this idea of both the farmer and Shaun are messing with nature to solve problems."
The Farmer's issues come after he meets a woman, a brand new character known as the Vet. She is, well, a veterinarian, one who takes a liking to Shaun, the flock, and the Farmer. From what we saw of the film and how the crew described the character, she brings a fresh new dynamic to the story as an outsider who isn't used to the madness that tends to surround the Farmer's animals, but who is no stranger to animals. It's a fun character to watch, and her story with the Farmer and their blossoming romance makes for an exciting contrast to the Halloween spookiness.
There's a good mix of traditional and digital tools
When it comes to animation, there is no medium as tactile and hand-made as stop-motion. At a time when digital effects are dominating the filmmaking process and AI is already creeping into your favorite franchises, stop-motion feels like a champion of traditional cinema.
This applies to "Shaun The Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom." Seeing the production of the film at Aardman Animation — the massive sets built by hand with hundreds of people getting involved in the creation of every tiny aspect of the film, huge workshops for costumes, puppets, props, and more — felt almost like magic. There is a commitment to keep the film as tactile and hand-made as possible. But that doesn't mean the crew of the film is absolutely and inherently against using the tools available.
Though no AI was used in the making of "Shaun The Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom," there are digital effects used. For directors Matthew Walker and Steve Cox, the film represents a homage to the movies they grew up with in the '80s, at a time when digital effects were starting to be used but they still felt like tools that aided other techniques rather than being the be-all and end-all. Even when digital was used, the team tried to replicate the look of practical effects, like with clouds and water effects.
"What we really like about 'Shaun the Sheep' is you can see that craft," Walker said. "You can see the thumbprints, you can see the boil in the fabrics and stuff and it's a very appealing tactile world. And so with the effects, we didn't want to be too slick. We wanted it to have that kind of slightly old-fashioned look."
"Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom" hits theaters on September 18, 2026.