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American animated television series From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sheep in the Big City is an American animated television series created by Mo Willems for Cartoon Network. The 9th of the network's Cartoon Cartoons, the series' pilot first premiered as part of Cartoon Network's "Cartoon Cartoon Summer" on August 18, 2000, before its official debut on November 17, 2000. It aired until April 7, 2002, with repeats airing until 2003.[1]
Sheep in the Big City | |
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Genre | Comedy |
Created by | Mo Willems |
Written by |
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Directed by |
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Voices of |
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Narrated by | Ken Schatz |
Theme music composer | Julian Harris |
Composer | Julian Harris |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 2 |
No. of episodes | 26 (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Executive producers |
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Producers |
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Editor | Dave Courter |
Running time | 22 minutes |
Production company | Curious Pictures |
Original release | |
Network | Cartoon Network |
Release | November 17, 2000 – April 7, 2002 |
Willems previously created The Off-Beats for Nickelodeon's KaBlam! before working on this animated show. The series follows a runaway sheep named Sheep in his new life in "the Big City", where he tries to avoid a secret military organization.[2] It also features several unrelated sketches and shorts, similar to those from The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends.[3] With an emphasis on sophisticated (in particular, literal) humor, using different forms of rhetoric from characters to plots, it included comic references to filmmaking and television broadcasting.
At the time, the premiere of Sheep in the Big City was the highest-rated premiere for a Cartoon Network original series.[4] The animation services for the series were handled by the Korean animation studio Rough Draft Korea.
Sheep lives happily on a farm with his friends. Unfortunately, a Secret Military Organization, led by General Specific, needs Sheep for its Sheep-Powered Ray Gun (with a sheep-shaped hole in it).[5]
General Specific will get Sheep at any cost, and, knowing that the farm is at stake, Sheep is forced to leave for the big city. Now Sheep is on the run from General Specific, who is assisted by his henchmen, Private Public, the Angry Scientist (who in the show is often wrongly referred to as 'Mad Scientist'), a bunch of other military types, and the Plot Device.
In addition, Sheep has to come to grips with the Big City and trying to romance his love, Swanky the Poodle. All the while, he has to avoid the attentions of a host of unwelcome characters—Lisa Rentel and Swanky's owner, the sheep-hating Lady Richington, wielding a stainless-steel wig.
Sheep in the Big City was created by Mo Willems, who began his career doing stage comedy in the 1980s and aspired to be an artist. Willems recalled in a 2001 interview, "My desire as a kid was to find a way to be funny and draw. Animation turned out to be the best way for me to do that."[6] After graduating from New York University Tisch School of the Arts, Willems began making short films for Sesame Street and writing for The Muppets.[6] He would also work on Nickelodeon's short-form animated series The Off-Beats, which had a similar art style to Sheep in the Big City.[6] Willems has stated that the work of Pablo Picasso has influenced his art style.[6]
Sheep in the Big City was broadcast alongside ten potential pilot shorts during Cartoon Network's "Cartoon Cartoon Summer" marathon on August 18, 2000. The series, along with The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy and Whatever Happened to... Robot Jones?, was greenlit by the network and would premiere on November 17, 2000. The series was broadcast for two seasons.
The show usually begins with a completely unrelated clip, which turns out to be a show that Sheep is watching. Sheep presses a button on his remote to change the channel, which segues into the theme song.
Each episode is divided into three chapters, and each episode and chapter title is a pun on the word 'sheep' or a related word. In the episode "To Sheep, Perchance to Dream!", one chapter is named "Some Pun on the Word 'Sheep'".
Fake advertisements are in between the chapters, and sometimes short skits, such as the Sombrero Brothers. The fake advertisements are usually of products from Oxymoron with Victor the spokesperson promoting it. Each product is usually of low quality (contrary to what one may think) or causes pain in some way.
The show's most unusual characteristic is its frequent breaking of the fourth wall. For instance, the vast majority of the characters make references to the show's structure, script, and, occasionally, its premise. For example, in episode 8, when General Specific finally captures Sheep, the Angry Scientist states that he didn't actually have the Ray Gun ready, thinking that they would never capture Sheep due to it "being so contrary to the set-up of the show". The Narrator is also a pivotal character, frequently interacting with the characters via voice-over (and sometimes directly, when other characters unexpectedly show up in his studio). He also criticizes the television medium itself (such as the fact that two-thirds of the final episode of the first season was actually composed of dream sequences) and the script, occasionally ad-libbing when he does not quite understand the script. He also tells the viewer to "just go with it" when the script seems to make no sense.
Literal humor is also important to the show's style. Phrases and expressions such as "Hold the phone!" or "wild goose chase" are usually followed by literal interpretations of the phrase mentioned. A running gag in the show, for example, is that whenever a character exclaims "Great Scott!" a Scottish man appears and says, "Yes?" Another example is that, whenever the phrase "Hold the phone!" is said, Lisa Rentel is seen holding a phone.
No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Prod. code |
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Pilot | "In the Baa-ginning" | Mo Willems | Mo Willems | August 18, 2000[11] | 000 |
Sheep leaves Farmer John's farm in pursuit of a happy life in the big city. Guest Stars: Christine Walters |
No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Prod. code |
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1 | "Be Still My Bleat-ing Heart!" | Karen Villarreal | Mo Willems | November 17, 2000[7] | 101 |
Sheep falls in love with a poodle named Swanky. Unfortunately, Swanky's owner, Lady Richington, hates sheep. Guest Stars: Christine Walters | |||||
2 | "To Bleat or Not to Bleat!" | Mike de Seve | Mo Willems | November 24, 2000 | 102 |
A girl named Lisa Rentel "saves" Sheep from General Specific so that she can keep him as a pet against his will. | |||||
3 | "Belle of the Baaaah!" | Maurice Joyce | David Wain | December 1, 2000 | 103 |
Sheep gets more than he bargained for when he accidentally swallows a diamond and becomes the center of the town's attention. | |||||
4 | "Going Off the Sheep End!" | Sue Perrotto | Joey Mazzarino | December 8, 2000 | 104 |
Sheep tries to get Swanky's attention by making changes to himself. | |||||
5 | "Can't Live Without Ewe!" | Karen Villarreal | Mo Willems | January 12, 2001 | 105 |
Sheep enters a fake sheep convention set up by the military wearing a mustache. Farmer John misses him, and hires the German Shepherd to bring Sheep home. | |||||
6 | "15 Muttons of Fame!" | Maurice Joyce | Mo Willems | January 26, 2001 | 106 |
When an agent for a dish washing commercial discovers Sheep, he decides to become a model to avoid General Specific. However, he might have to sacrifice his friends in the process. | |||||
7 | "Home for the Baaa-lidays!" | Karen Villarreal | Mo Willems | December 29, 2000 | 107 |
Sheep returns to the farm for the holidays, with General Specific in hot pursuit. | |||||
8 | "The Agony of De-Bleat!" | Sue Perrotto | Mo Willems | March 2, 2001 | 108 |
General Specific finally captures Sheep and fires all of his soldiers. However, the crew decides to free Sheep to get their jobs back. | |||||
9 | "Baaa-ck in Time!" | Karen Villarreal | Joey Mazzarino | March 23, 2001 | 109 |
Sheep travels through time to find a better life. | |||||
10 | "Fleeced to Meet You!" | Maurice Joyce | Mo Willems | June 10, 2001 | 110 |
General Specific hires X-Agent to befriend Sheep and entrap him so they can use him for the sheep powered ray gun. X-Agent successfully entraps Sheep but later changes his mind because he realizes that friendship with Sheep mattered more. | |||||
11 | "A Star Is Shorn!" | Maurice Joyce | David Wain | June 24, 2001 | 111 |
Sheep discovers his talent for spinning plates. | |||||
12 | "Mistaken Identi-Sheep!" | Sue Perrotto | Joey Mazzarino | July 8, 2001 | 112 |
A sheep-like creature robs the town, while Sheep is blamed. | |||||
13 | "To Sheep, Perchance to Dream!" | Karen Villarreal | Mo Willems | July 29, 2001[8] | 113 |
An episode about the nightmares of people in the Big City. |
No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Prod. code |
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14 | 1 | "Wish You Were Shear!" | Karen Villarreal | Story by: Mo Willems Weird Bits by: Joey Mazzarino | December 2, 2001[9] | 201 |
Sheep buys a bone for Swanky as an anniversary gift, but a dogcatcher (who mistakes Sheep for a dog due to the bone) throws him in the pound, where he is adopted by Lisa Rentel. Guest Stars: Fran Brill, Christine Walters | ||||||
15 | 2 | "Baah-Dern Times" | Sue Perrotto | Mo Willems | December 9, 2001 | 202 |
With the entire cast of "Sheep in the Big City" sick, the audience shall instead, watch an old black-and-white silent film featuring the ancestors and relatives of the cast. Guest Stars: Fran Brill | ||||||
16 | 3 | "Flock, Up in the Sky!" | Mr. Warburton | Mo Willems | December 16, 2001 | 203 |
X-Agent returns and swears to protect Sheep from General Specific, but Sheep doesn't want his help. Guest Stars: Christine Walters | ||||||
17 | 4 | "My, How Ewe Have Changed!" | Karen Villarreal | Mo Willems | December 23, 2001 | 204 |
Sheep is invited back to Farmer John's farm for a reunion. | ||||||
18 | 5 | "Party of the Shear!" | Sue Perrotto | Mo Willems | February 17, 2002 | 205 |
To escape the clutches of the secret military organization, Sheep enters a dance club which General Specific is "not cool enough for." | ||||||
19 | 6 | "The Wool of the People" | Mr. Warburton | Mo Willems | February 10, 2002 | 206 |
General Specific cannot capture Sheep because of a law implemented by the mayor of the Big City, but with the current mayor leaving office, he campaigns to be the new mayor. | ||||||
20 | 7 | "Daddy Shear-est!" | Karen Villarreal | Mo Willems | February 24, 2002 | 207 |
Private Public is visited by his father, General Public, who assists him in trying to capture Sheep. Guest Stars: Jerry L. Nelson | ||||||
21 | 8 | "The Wool Is Not Enough!" | Sue Perrotto | Story by: Mo Willems Weird Bits by: David Wain | March 3, 2002 | 208 |
Tired of the Angry Scientist's failures, General Specific hires Dr. Oh No No No to help him capture Sheep. However, the doctor has own his agenda. | ||||||
22 | 9 | "Beauty and the Bleats!" | Mr. Warburton | Mo Willems | March 10, 2002 | 209 |
Sheep is turned into a human-sheep hybrid by a Genie to get in Swanky's new mansion. | ||||||
23 | 10 | "An Officer and a Gentle-lamb!" | Karen Villarreal | Mo Willems | March 17, 2002 | 210 |
The military organization gets Sheep fired from his job as barber and he sets out to find a new job. Guest Stars: Ruth Buzzi, Christine Walters | ||||||
24 | 11 | "Oh, the Ewe-manity!" | Sue Perrotto | Story by: Mo Willems Weird Bits by: Joey Mazzarino | March 24, 2002 | 211 |
General Specific cannot capture Sheep because he is too small for his net, so he makes him grow to the size of a giant using an enlarging ray. | ||||||
25 | 12 | "Here Goes Mutton!" | Mr. Warburton | Story by: Mo Willems Weird Bits by: Joey Mazzarino & Mo Willems | March 31, 2002 | 212 |
Farmer John becomes a football player, while Sheep comes down with amnesia from a hit on the head. | ||||||
26 | 13 | "Baa-hind the Scenes!" | Karen Villarreal | Mo Willems | April 7, 2002[10] | 213 |
Sheep and his manager have a lunch meeting behind the scenes. General Specific tries to cancel the show, but is talked into leaving Sheep alone by the show's writer when he is threatened with being replaced by a new character. Guest Stars: Christine Walters |
The first season was available on iTunes. However, it was taken off of iTunes for unknown reasons. In the United Kingdom, three episodes (excluding the pilot) were released on a DVD in region 2 format.[12] The pilot is on the Powerpuff Girls "Powerpuff Bluff" DVD and also on the Powerpuff Girls "Dream Scheme" VHS tape (although there was an intentional mislead on the back cover of the tape saying it has a bonus episode of fellow cartoon Courage the Cowardly Dog).
In 2022, most of the series became available for streaming on HBO Max in Latin America with both English and Spanish dubs available.
In July 2000, Lisa Richardson, then-Vice President of Entertainment Marketing at Turner Network Sales, announced a promotion for Sheep in the Big City as part of a larger advertising effort for Turner Broadcasting System.[13] From May 28 until July 8, 2001, Subway restaurants promoted Sheep in the Big City by including one of four toys based on characters from the series in their Subway Kids' Pak meals in the United States and Canada.[14]
Sheep has a cameo role in the OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes crossover special "Crossover Nexus", as one of the many Cartoon Network heroes who is summoned and defeated by Strike.