Jump to content

Sheep in the Big City

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 69.125.89.103 (talk) at 17:06, 27 June 2007 (→''Sheep in the Big City'' in other languages). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Sheep in the Big City
File:Sheepinthebigcity.png
Sheep in the Big City title card
Created byMo Willems
StarringKevin Seal
James Godwin
Ken Schatz
Stephanie D'Abruzzo
Mo Willems
Christine Walters
Ruth Buzzi
Bradley Glenn
Country of origin United States
No. of episodes27
Production
Running time30 Minutes
Original release
NetworkCartoon Network
ReleaseNovember 17 2000 –
April 7 2002


Sheep in the Big City was an American animated television series which ran on Cartoon Network for two seasons, from November 2000 to April 2002. Created by Mo Willems, the bulk of the show follows a runaway sheep, Sheep, in its new life in the Big City with scenario similar to Toronto, Canada due to the appearance to a building similar to the CN Tower frequently appearing in the show. It also features several unrelated sketches and shorts, simillar to The Rocky & Bullwinkle Show. With an emphasis on more "sophisticated" (in particular, literal) humor, using multiple forms of rhetoric from the characters to the plots, it was more popular with older audiences. It was also unusual in featuring many comic references to film-making and television broadcasting, although this is often overlooked.

The first season is available on iTunes (except the pilot episode, which is only available as a bonus cartoon on the Powerpuff Girls DVD "Powerpuff Bluff").

The series will also be rerun in Britain on Cartoon Network Too sometime in 2007, possibly in January.[citation needed]

Plot

Fed up with living on Far Mer John's farm, Sheep, a sheep, moves to the Big City. Unfortunately, the Secret Military Organization, commanded by General Specific, wants to use Sheep in its new sheep-powered ray gun (with a sheep-shaped hole in it). So now Sheep is on the lam(b) from General Specific, who is assisted by sidekick Private Public, the Angry Scientist, a bunch of other military types, and, last but not least, by the Plot Device. In addition, Sheep has to come to grips with amassing quatloos 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 - Farmer John, Lisa Rental, and Swanky's owner, the sheep-hating Lady Richington. The episodes are also divided into chapters which is unusual for an animated show.

Style

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; each one's title, as the Narrator once quipped, is "some pun on the word 'sheep' or something." Fake advertisements are in between the chapters, and sometimes short skits are there as well, such as the Sombrero Brothers. The fake advertisements are usually of products from Oxymoron with the Oxymoron Spokesperson promoting it. Each product is usually of low quality, contrary to what one may think, or painful.

The show's most unique 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 the episode "Agony of De-Bleat" 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 purpose 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 frequently criticizes the television medium (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 doesn't quite get 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 Scot!" a Scotsman appears out of nowhere, saying, "Yes?"

Characters

Sheep: Sheep has a hard time with life -- between getting chased by the military and trying to see Swanky, the poodle he loves, without getting bonked on the head by Lady Richington with her stainless steel wig. Yet he still makes time to act in dish-washing commercials, travel through time, and get a job at a hip club. Sheep never talks, he only bleats.

Far Mer John: Sheep's original owner, also seeking to recapture him - although in a more mild-mannered way than General Specific. In one episode it is revealed that 'Far Mer' is actually Farmer John's first and middle name, not his job description.

Ben Plotz: The show's narrator. He often complains about the quality of the writing on the show, but overall he has an appreciation for the cast. His last name is "plotz," which is a pun because he is the narrator, who carries along the plot.

Plot Device: A machine that comes up with plans for General Specific such as disguising as water soup cooks to sneak into Farmer John's house. The device's name is a pun.

General Specific: The dimwitted leader of the Secret Military Organization, General Specific repeatedly tries to catch Sheep for his Sheep-Powered Ray Gun. He's never discouraged by his constant losses. His name is oxymoronic and he always speaks through clenched teeth.

Private Public: General Specific's right-hand man, Private Public is always right behind General Specific, and despite being much smarter, he would prefer to receive orders than give them. His name is also oxymoronic. His name is also a pun as private is the opposite of public or vise versa.

The Angry Scientist: He often gets his hump busted for being an Angry Scientist rather than mad, but he's the brains behind the organization, despite his extremely limited grasp of the English language. His inventions include the Sheep-Powered Ray Gun, the Clome, and a Time-Travel Bicycle. He often goes into fits of rage at General Specific when he calls him a 'Mad Scientist', and on one occasion he is called the 'Mad Chemist'.

Lady Richington: The owner of Swanky the Poodle, the object of Sheep's affection, Lady Richington is quite rich. She owns the majority of the city and is never seen without her gaudy jewelery and lavish clothing. While she may not look very intimidating, she has a severe hatred of sheep in general, and will not hesitate to pummel them into fluffy pulps with her stainless steel wig.

Ranting Swede: Ranting Swede rants about old cars, pianos, supermarkets and a variety of other topics. His rants appear at the end of every single episode, except the final one, which is done in reverse order. Once, he rants that he is tired of ranting, then realizes he's already done it by accident. He was once replaced by the Ranting Norwegian, who wasn't actually ranting. Rather, he was simply speaking nicely about things, the exact opposite of the Swede.

Lisa Rental: A girl who thinks Sheep is a "cutesy wootsey dog" and wants him desperately. She also loves to refer to Sheep as "Doggy Woggy Smoggy Foggy Loggy Toggy...etc." Her name is a pun on the words "lease" and "rental".

Oxymoron: An ox who debuted in numerous "phony bolonee" advertisements for the Oxymoron company. He also makes cameos in some episodes. His name is a parody of oxymoron, a phrase in which an adjective that means the opposite of the noun that it describes is used (e.g. a smart idiot, a planned coincidence.)

The Oxymoron Spokesman: An obnoxious salesman who usually hosts the Oxymoron commercials. The other people in the commercials do not usually expect him to show up, and often demand to know who he is when he does, but he never tells them.

Swanky: A poodle that is Sheep's unrequited love, who, luckily, gives Sheep some attention. She is owned by Lady Richington.

General Lee Outrageous: A rival to General Specific and his cousin that appears in two episodes. He is similar in appearance to General Specific but his uniform is brightly colored and sparkly. He also has gold teeth and sunglasses. His name is a pun on the words "generally outrageous"

The Clomes: A clome is a bear-like creature. In the clome's first appearance, the Angry Scientist creates a clome using Sheep's DNA in order to test the Sheep-Powered Ray Gun; the clome invariably causes it to explode, as well as knock its own, apparently detachable, head off. The clomes are also seen in the season 1 finale, when Sheep orders someone to "send in the dancing clomes." The clomes do not talk or do much of anything.

Pop culture references

  • Sheep has had a number of cameo appearances on Codename: Kids Next Door, a show that Mo Willems worked on, and that Mr. Warburton, who also worked on Sheep in the Big City, created. These cameos include a toy version of him as one of Numbuh 3's stuffed animals, an adult criminal in a costume resembling him, his show being shown on the KND's television, and the Delightful Children from Down the Lane being transformed into sheep that look like him. Sheep also makes an appearance on The Brak Show as a small stuffed plush on Brak's bulletin board.
  • In the episode where Sheep is adopted by Lisa Rental (who thinks he's a puppy,) Lisa's prepared residence for Sheep is Snoopy's doghouse, colored red and white. Sheep even tries to sleep on his back, on top of the doghouse, from its trademarked side view, complete with pseudo-Vince Guaraldi musical accompaniment, but keeps falling off.
  • One advertisement for Sheep in the Big City is modeled after an ad for Sex in the City, most likely for its very similar titles but with no sexual content.
  • In the episode "Be Still My Bleating Heart", Scooby Doo and Shaggy's shadows made cameos when General Specific, Private Public, and the soldiers were tip-toeing after Sheep.
  • In the episode "Home for the Baah-lidays," creator Mo Willems' books, such as "Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late!" and "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!" can be seen at the dinner table at the farm.
  • In the first episode, Sheep is lying down watching TV, it says "SILENCE OF THE LAMBS" on the TV screen.
  • In the pilot episode, after a miscommunication, General Specific shouts, "I don't want to hear about Meryl Streep's sarong!" to his assistant, Private Public.

Trivia

  • In one episode General Specific says "You can't clone a sheep you moron! Everybody knows that!" This is reference to the fact that the first mammal to be cloned was a sheep.
  • The final episode of season 1 turns the entire premise of the series on its ear, with a surprise shock ending which shows that Sheep is actually the villain trying to catch Ben Plotz to build a narrator powered ray-gun.

Sheep in the Big City in other languages

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Sheep_in_the_Big_City&oldid=140992437"