A spin-off in the Wallace & Gromit franchise, the series focuses on the adventures of Shaun, the eponymous sheep previously starring in A Close Shave, as the leader of his flock on an English farm.

The show was produced by Aardman Animations and was commissioned by the BBC and the Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR),[2] a member station of German public-broadcasting network ARD.

The comedic tone is a combination of slapstick and classic silent comedy, similar to that used in the Wallace & Gromit shorts.

Shaun the Sheep's first appearance was in Wallace & Gromit's third short feature, the Academy Award-winning A Close Shave.

As the youngest member of a flock of sheep, Wallace and Gromit work to save Shaun from being turned into dog food.

He was named Shaun as a pun on the word "shorn" after he was accidentally subjected to Wallace's automated sheep shearing machine.

This early version of Shaun shows a hint of his characteristic human-like bravado—among other things, wearing a sweater knitted from his own shorn wool, proving to be a major help in saving the day.

Although the original series is silent aside from sound effects, a Hindi-dubbed version seen on Nickelodeon India was redone with scripts and dialogue.

In the United States, a series of Shaun the Sheep shorts aired between commercial breaks on Disney Channel starting on 8 July 2007.

[8] On 19 February 2020, it was reported that the sixth series of Shaun the Sheep, subtitled Adventures from Mossy Bottom, was released on Netflix on 16 March 2020 in Spain, Poland, Turkey, and UAE.

[14] A second half-hour special titled Shaun the Sheep: A Winter’s Tale went into production in late 2020 and aired on Christmas 2021 on BBC One.

Adventures from Mossy Bottom features a new electronic version of the theme, a new intro episode sequence, and introduced new characters including a super-fast squirrel named Stash, a fancy neighbour Farmer Ben and his dog Lexi, and Rita the delivery lady.

"[22] Aardman developed a feature film Shaun the Sheep Movie,[34] written and directed by Richard Starzak and Mark Burton, which was financed by French company StudioCanal,[35] and was released on 6 February 2015.

There were plans for an anime adaptation in 2008 which got scrapped, Larry Bundy Jr. produced a series of character designs for the spin-off.

It centres on Timmy's own adventures as he attends nursery for the first time and learns how to interact and play with a variety of young animal friends.

[51] The 100-minute (1 hour and 40 minute) long musical/dance show features all the regular characters, including Bitzer, Shirley, and Timmy.

[54] In August 2022, The European Space Agency announced that Shaun would fly aboard the Artemis 1 mission which launched on 16 November 2022.

[59] In 2015, Shaun the Sheep starred in two public charity art trails to raise money for sick children in hospitals across the UK.

Using green screen technology, guests are able to "star" in a scene from the show, as well as meet other characters from the Aardman filmography including Wallace and Gromit and Morph.

[63] In 2021, Aardman announced the launch of a 30-minute immersive game experience to be located at Electric Gamebox venues in London, Manchester Arndale and Lakeside, Essex.