Review: 'Shaun the Sheep' collection provides plenty of laughs

Posted Tuesday, February 7, 2017 at 2:24 PM Central
Last updated Tuesday, February 7, 2017 at 2:25 PM Central

by John Couture

It's funny how quickly that kids can change their taste. Sometimes, their infatuations can last for years, but other times, they can fall in and out of love with something over a matter of hours. Oh, to be young and fickle.

In many ways, I envy this trait that we all seemingly grow out of. By the time you reach your twenties, you know what you like and what you don't. In fact, as we tend to migrate to others with similar tastes, we tend to surround ourselves with an echo chamber that just reinforces our life's decisions and tastes.

I wasn't an early adopter when it came to Wallace & Gromit, but I've truly developed an appreciation for their work over the years. Shaun the Sheep is a spinoff that I've rather enjoyed even more than the original series. So, I guess you can teach an old dog new tricks.

When I reviewed the Christmas collection last year, my kids didn't seem to really like Shaun the Sheep. But, I guess something got through.

When I brought home Shaun the Sheep: Seasons 3 & 4 for review a couple of weeks ago, both of my kids were excited. They immediately loaded the first disc in the Blu-ray player and off we went.

I watched with awe as they genuinely seemed to enjoy the episodes more and more as each disc progressed. That's the other things that I noticed about kids, they are uniquely geared to embrace the values of the binge society that we have created. They know what they like and they want to see as much of it as possible, as quickly as possible.

Needless to say, less than half a day later, we had watched all 50 episodes and as much as I love Shaun the Sheep, I have to admit that this marathon session tested my love and patience. But that's the good thing about Shaun the Sheep, the stories are such that they are a refreshing respite from the normal mind-numbing attributes of typical children's programming.

There aren't any bonus features on this collection, but really after 6 hours of content, do you really need more? Well, I, for one, would love to see some of the behind the scenes stuff. This type of animation is extremely time consuming and it truly is awe inspiring to see it all come together effortlessly.