What if RKO Radio Pictures remained open?/A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon

A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon (also known as Farmageddon: A Shaun the Sheep Movie or Shaun the Sheep Movie 2) is a 2019 stop-motion animated science fiction comedy film produced by Aardman Animations. Directed by Will Becher and Richard Phelan in their directorial debuts, it is a stand-alone sequel to Shaun the Sheep Movie (2015) and is based on the claymation television series Shaun the Sheep, in turn based on the 1995 film A Close Shave created by Nick Park. The film stars Justin Fletcher, John Sparkes, Kate Harbour and Rich Webber reprising their roles from the series and the previous film, whilst new cast members include Amalia Vitale, David Holt and Chris Morrell. In the film, Shaun and the flock encounter a cute alien with extraordinary powers, who crash lands near Mossy Bottom Farm. They have to find a way to return her home in order to prevent her falling into the hands of the Ministry for Alien Detection.

Plans for a sequel began in 2015, following the release of the first film. The film officially began production following the end of production of Early Man (2018). Richard Starzak was announced to return as director, however, in November 2018, the film was later announced to be directed by Becher and Phelan.

A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon was released on 18 October 2019 in the United Kingdom, while RKO Pictures released it in the United States on 13 December 2019.

Plot
In the town of Mossingham, Farmer John and his dog Bingo discover the landing of a UFO and flee from the alien who comes out of it. On Mossy Bottom Farm, Shaun and the flock try to enjoy their dangerous pastimes, only for Bitzer to stop them from their activities and ban them completely. After being banned from having a barbecue for dinner, Shaun decides to order three pizzas, but when the pizzas arrive, both Bitzer—who intercepts two-thirds of the delivery—and the flock discover the pizza boxes are completely empty.

The next morning, Shaun discovers a trail of pizza crusts and encounters the alien. The visitor introduces herself as Lu-La, an impish alien from To-Pa with extraterrestrial powers. When Shaun introduces her to the flock, she causes mischief with a combine harvester, damaging it while transforming a field behind the farm house into unintentional crop circles. Taking advantage of the recent news of alien sightings, the Farmer deduces he can create an alien-based theme park, "Farmageddon", in which he can earn money to afford a new harvester.

The Ministry of Alien Detection's (M.A.D.) leader Agent Red investigates the UFO claims. After discovering the UFO have disappeared, both John and Bingo are arrested. Meanwhile, Lu-La and Shaun track down the UFO, which is revealed to have been made invisible earlier. The pair try to get the UFO started but are unable to. Trying to recall how to start the spaceship and Shaun's query on a picture of her family, Lu-La transmits her memories to Shaun, revealing that she is actually a child and accidentally launched her parents' spaceship while playing on it. They also realise they need an egg-shaped sphere device to activate it. M.A.D arrives and captures the spaceship and take it to their headquarters.

At the base, Shaun and Lu-La slip out and manage to retrieve the device, while the others are distracted by Bitzer who has been following Shaun and is mistaken as the alien due to an alien-based suit used to promote "Farmageddon". Shaun and Lu-La restart the ship and manage to escape with Bitzer and head to To-Pa; en route, Shaun ignores Bitzer instructions not to touch anything on the ship, causing them to crash back to Earth. Seeing the UFO destroyed Lu-La is left broken hearted. Feeling remorse for what he had done, Shaun tries to find another way to get Lu-La home; he then discovers that the device can be used to contact Lu-La's parents back on her planet, but requires a signal at a greater height. Shaun decides that he and Lu-La attempt to reach the top of the Farmer's "Farmageddon" theme park signboard to be able to make contact.

With the help of the flock and Bitzer, Shaun and Lu-La climb the sign while the Farmer launches a show at the theme park. Meanwhile, Red arrives and chases Shaun and Lu-La up the signboard using a robotic device. Delaying her from capturing the alien and eventually pushing her down, Shaun manages to send a distress message, but Lu-La is captured. Her parents—Ub-Do and Me-Ma—arrive in time and reunite with their daughter. Red eventually welcomes the aliens, knowing they are aliens she saw as a child, starting her projects with M.A.D.. Shaun, Bitzer and the flock bid the aliens farewell, while "Farmageddon" received good reviews as the incident is regarded as part of the theme park's show's 'special effects'. Whilst on their way back to To-Pa, the aliens discover the Farmer on their UFO, prompting them to take him back to Earth.

In a mid-credits scene the Farmer, now back on Earth, tries out his new harvester, whilst Bitzer and the flock play frisbee. The frisbee blows into the field where the Farmer is, entering the harvester, clogging the machinery, causing it to blow up, promptly scaring Shaun, Bitzer and Timmy.

In a post-credits scene, a Hazmat, the workers of M.A.D., reveals himself to be a clay version of Professor Brian Cox; he plays the song "It Couldn't Get Better" on an electric piano, only for Timmy, in his pyjamas, to come and unplug it, claiming it's too loud.

Cast

 * Justin Fletcher as Shaun, the main character and leader of the flock
 * Fletcher also voices Timmy, Shaun's cousin and the smallest sheep of the flock
 * John Sparkes as Bitzer, the sheep dog of the farm and Shaun's best friend
 * Sparkes also voices the Farmer, the owner of the farm
 * Amalia Vitale as Lu-La, a mischievous female alien who befriends Shaun.
 * Vitale also voices Me-Ma, Lu-La’s mother.
 * Kate Harbour as Timmy's mum
 * Harbour also voices Agent Red, who is determined to track down the aliens to prove their existence. When she was young, she had encountered them and talked about it to her classmates, only to be laughed at.
 * David Holt as Mugg-1N5, a robotic probe.
 * Richard Webber as Shirley, a fat sheep
 * Webber also voices Ub-Do, Lu-La’s father.
 * Simon Greenall as the twins, two sheep
 * Emma Tate as Hazel, a member of the flock
 * Andy Nyman as Nuts, a sheep with strange eyes
 * Chris Morrell as Farmer John
 * Joe Sugg as Pizza Boy

Production
On 14 September 2017, StudioCanal announced it was working with Aardman on a sequel to Shaun the Sheep Movie. On 25 October 2016, under the working title, Shaun the Sheep Movie 2, Aardman confirmed a sequel would go into pre production in January 2017 with Richard Starzak, co director of the first film, returning.>

In November 2018, it was announced that Aardman employees Richard Phelan and Will Becher would be co-directing the film, with Starzak still attached as director, due to Peter Lord and David Sproxton giving majority of ownership to employees to keep the company independent.

Music
The music for the film is composed by Tom Howe. It was initially believed Ilan Eshkeri, who composed the music for Shaun the Sheep Movie, would return, but these rumours were false.

The theme tune for the film is titled "Lazy" and is written by Howe and performed by The Vaccines and Kylie Minogue. Furthermore, like the previous film, the film incorporates a remix of series theme tune "Life's a Treat". Both Mark Thomas and Vic Reeves return to perform the remix and are joined by Nadia Rose.

Release
A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon was first released in Germany on 26 September 2019 while in the United Kingdom, it was released on 18 October 2019. Originally intended to release theatrically in the United States on November 3, 2019, RKO Pictures and RKO Animation bought the distribution rights for the U.S., Canada and Latin America and pushed the American release date to December 13, 2019.

Marketing
In January 2018, it was announced that the teaser of the film would play theatrically in front of the other Aardman film, Early Man, worldwide, revealing the film's new title and synopsis. On 7 December 2018, Aardman announced through their social media that the teaser trailer for the film along with release dates would be arriving the following week. The teaser trailer was released on 11 December 2018, followed by the first official trailer released on 1 April 2019. On 3 July 2019 the second trailer was released.

Box office
As of 29 December 2019, A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon has made $40.2 million, with the top-grossing country being U.K ($9.1 million), Germany ($6.6 million) and France ($5.4 million). It currently ranks as the 16th highest-grossing stop-motion animated film of all time.

Critical response
The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes records 98% positive reviews based on 43 critics and an average rating of 7.49/10. The critical consensus reads, "A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon retains the charm of its small-screen source material while engagingly expanding the title character's world." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 80 out of 100, based on 7 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Video game
A movie adaptation of Home Sheep Home, entitled Home Sheep Home: Farmageddon Party Edition was released on Nintendo Switch and Steam in October 2019. In the game, Shaun, Shirley and Timmy find their way back to the green grass of home, all hosted by Lu-La.