Aardman director Will Becher said “Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom” could reach Chinese cinemas in October, speaking at a panel discussion at the Shanghai International Film Festival, where he is serving as chair of the animation jury alongside Indian filmmaker Gitanjali Rao and Chinese animator Yu Shui.
Becher, who co-directed “A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon” with Richard Phelan, also revealed during the conversation that he is developing a feature film blending live-action and animation in equal measure, with financing currently being sought. He estimated production would take approximately two years once funding is secured.
“In the studio, we’ve just finished making a new ‘Shaun’ movie,” Becher said, referring to “The Beast of Mossy Bottom.” “It’s a Halloween-themed movie with a hairy monster.”
Rao, whose debut feature “Bombay Rose” opened Critics’ Week at the Venice Film Festival in 2019, said she too is in the fundraising phase for her next film, a hybrid live-action and animation project. The director noted that the Indian animation industry remains structurally disadvantaged compared with the country’s commercial film sector, with independent animators routinely forced to seek international co-production partners – primarily in France – to finance original work.
“I would not make a very deliberate attempt, but I would remain honest, I would remain sincere and I would remain authentic,” Rao said of her approach to making films for global audiences.
Yu Shui, whose short “Nobody” – part of the anthology series “Chinese Fables” – generated significant audience and critical attention on its original release, said his immediate priority is the feature-length expansion of that property. He noted that the domestic Chinese market represents a structural advantage unavailable to most animation industries, given its capacity to sustain local productions without requiring overseas distribution.
On the question of whether animators should calibrate their work for global comprehension from the outset, all three jury members pushed back against overt calculation. Becher described the Aardman approach as making films that first make the filmmakers laugh, citing the observation that jokes written for British audiences had been received by German viewers at screenings of “A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon” as satire directed specifically at Germany. Rao argued that contemporary audiences can pursue context independently, and that the task of the filmmaker is to construct work in layers – with at least one layer accessible to any viewer anywhere.
Yu, who screened “Nobody” for Becher at SIFF, said feedback from international viewers had sharpened his awareness of the challenges facing Chinese animation’s global expansion, and that he plans to factor cross-cultural legibility more actively into future productions.
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