10 Facts About... Shaun the Sheep

1. Shaun the Sheep burst on to our screens 30 years ago in Wallace and Gromit: A Close Shave...

Shaun climbed into the Knit-o-Matic machine, which sheared his wool and turned it into a sweater. Wallace named him Shaun as a play on the word ‘shorn’!

2. ...But it wasn't until 2007 that Aardman gave Shaun his own show.

The first episode is titled Off the Baa! – ‘off the ball’ – and follows Shaun and The Flock playing football with a cabbage.

3. Between 12 and 24 photos are needed for just one second of film.

The show is created using a traditional animation technique called stop-motion.

4. Recognise Shaun’s grunts, bleats and sighs? Shaun is voiced by Justin Fletcher – aka Mr Tumble from CBeebies.

John Sparkes, the narrator of Peppa Pig, voices both The Farmer and his dog Bitzer.

5. Shaun the Sheep is broadcast in over 170 countries!

The show’s lack of spoken dialogue makes it easy to broadcast around the world.

6. Shaun has over eight million followers on Facebook, making him one of the world’s most famous sheep.

Other famous sheep include Dolly, the first mammal in the world to be cloned, and Shrek, a very woolly sheep who evaded shearing for six years by hiding in New Zealand’s caves.

7. In 2022, Shaun the Sheep became the first woolly astronaut to join the European Space Agency.

He travelled over 1.5 million miles to the moon and back!

8. Shaun the Sheep has its own pre-school spin off series called Timmy Time.

The show follows the adventures of Shaun’s cousin Timmy – the littlest lamb of the Flock.

9. Sheep have an amazingly wide field of vision – between 270 to 320 degrees – because of their rectangle pupils.

Perfect for doing acrobatics….

10. This Christmas, Shaun the Sheep makes his European circus debut.

Shaun the Sheep’s Circus Show features the acclaimed Australian circus ensemble Circa.

Shaun the Sheep’s Circus Show comes to Aviva Studios this winter from 11 December 2025 to 4 January 2026. Find out more here.