Andrew Clennell
Friday September 24, 2004
The Guardian
Shaun the sheep has many of the trappings that come with his celebrity status as a character from Wallace and Gromit: lunchboxes, backpacks and clothing. But now he's to get his own television series.
In the great tradition of spin-offs Shaun, star of the Academy-award winning Wallace and Gromit film A Close Shave, will feature in a 40-part series, commissioned from Aardman Animations on CBBC, the BBC's digital channel for children.
Production will begin at the end of the year and the series will be transmitted on CBBC in 2006, the BBC announced.
Aardman, the creators of the film Chicken Run, which was the third highest grossing UK film ever in the US, with a box office total of more than £63m, is also working on a Wallace and Gromit feature film.
Shaun made his television debut on Christmas Eve 1996 in A Close Shave.
CBBC's controller, Dorothy Prior, described Shaun as "an adorable character with a big following".
"This is a great opportunity to introduce him and his new friends to a wide audience of children and no doubt their parents too," she said.
Aardman executive Miles Bullogh said he was "very happy to have secured such a strong UK platform", for what he called "a significant global property".
