The Disney Channel has acquired the children’s TV property “Shaun the Sheep” from Aardman Animations.
The international hit, which just won the Annecy Animated Film Festival’s Cristal Award for best TV production, will launch July 8 at 8:55 p.m. The interstitials will bow each Sunday, then run throughout the week between Disney Channel series.
“Shaun the Sheep” follows the comedic stories of a young sheep who leads his barnyard pals into all sorts of adventures. The character was first introduced in the Oscar-winning “Wallace & Gromit” short “A Close Shave,” from Aardman and Nick Park.
“Aardman Animations represents the platinum standard in stop-motion animation and ‘Shaun the Sheep’ brilliantly captures the unique brand of humor for which they have become world famous,” said Disney Channel Worldwide prexy Gary Marsh.
Project is targeted toward kids age 5 to 10. “Shaun the Sheep” has already been sold to 145 territories, including Australia, Spain, Germany, France, Japan and India.
” ‘Shaun’ was always destined to be the star of his own show,” said Aardman head of broadcast Miles Bullough, who also exec produces the series. “The show has been hugely popular with broadcasters around the world.”
Aardman is known for its work on the Oscar-winning feature “Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit,” as well as the films “Flushed Away” and “Chicken Run.”
