With broadcast dates for the new series rapidly approaching, screen shots and pictures are beginning to appear in the press and online.
With that in mind I thought I'd treat you guys, Shaun's most loyal fans, to some exclusive screen shots I picked myself this afternoon.
The first is of Shaun and Bitzer...

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The flock get in a bit of a muddle...

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The feisty granny makes a welcome return...

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The pigs enjoy some bedtime reading...

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Shaun visits the chickens...

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Shaun encounters Pidsley...

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The end of a long day...

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Bitzer and the pigs look difforent!

COOL CHRIS ... we need more stuff!
Fantastic, lovely details, nice to see ya back!
The cat looks like a little bit as Garfield
Great work, only 13 days to start in German

"The cat looks like a little bit as Garfield" - He doesn't really, it's just the stripes.

thanks for the pics chris, i got the calendar the other day too.!

Ah, the infamous calendar!

why are the chractcers different? is it for one episode or thats the way there going to look now?

The changes are permanent.
I mentioned there would be changes to some of the cast when I started the production blog at the start of the year.
When we finished making series one a lot of the puppets had worn out and needed replacing, so we took the opportunity to solve some problems we had with the original designs.

ah thanks chris i remember you mentioned it now, its odd seeing the changes "new look" as as me and everybody has been used to the characters since 2007, and now they look different, its goign to be odd in the beginning for the design changes, the redesigns are fab though like the classic aardman mouth shapes for the naughty pigs, what are materials/how are the new bits made like bitzers "fur" etc.

Actually, the materials are the same as in series one. We use silicon for the parts of characters that we want to be durable and maintain a shape. We use plasticene in areas that we want to be flexible and sculpt.
Bitzer has a moulded silicon body, just as he had in series one but this time we've added a new "fur technique" into the mould. There are practical reasons for this - when we used to "plug in" Bitzer to a rig (for when he was flying through the air for example)it used to leave a visible hole on his smooth body which was difficult to repair. The new "furry" look helps to hide this problem... and he looks more cuddley!
We also made the main part of his head out of silicon this time - In series one it was purely plasticene and used to get very dirty, vary in colour compared to his body and change shape depending on who was animating him!

Cool love the new pictures but Bitzer looks scary kinda !

How did you manage to post pics ? Is it because you are staff ?

Anyway looking forward to the new series . Can you send me a buddy request ? I would be very gratefull if yoiu did.

thank chris for replying, will there be more behind the
scenes pics like modelmaking dept, on set etc? will there be any articles for the series like in 2007 , radiotimes etc?

Morning Jordan

I'll try and get a snap from inside model making but I have to be careful at the moment because we're sharing the workshop with other productions doing "top secret" things!
We had a lot of journalists at the studio a couple of weeks ago so there should be articles in the press over the next few weeks. Unfortunately I was out the whole week so probably won't get a mention start sympathy here please....

Oh I'm sure your work mates mentioned you!

hi chris thank for replying again is it possible to know which mags,websites, newspapers any articles or pictures will be in so i can look out for them

Awsome cant wait!! shaun the sheeps the best tv program ever!!!

Jordan - Sorry, no, I wasn't there!

The new pics look great. It will take a bit of getting used to the new fur for Bitzer. Since I am in the USA, I will have lots and lots of time to get used to it before I get to see series 2. I am waiting for the last two DVDs of series 1. Now if we could just get some of those nice toys in the states!

Bitzer looks Ugly Now sry

Wow Halloween Smiles I WAS ON TODAY and i didnt see these smileys

lol, he needs a shave

billter looks wierd

lol glb

it's like a plasticine dog homer... i'm not that fond of it.... i'm sure it'll be great though

I thinks he looks cool

I saw the first of the new episodes yesterday on German TV in Sendung mit der Maus. First of all the special on the production of Shaun was excellent and you should consider this to be included on one of the new DVDs.

I understand about the changes to Bitzer and the Farmer and the issue of getting dirty etc., but it will really take a long time getting used to it I am afraid. Given that I have seen these characters for literally hundreds of times (from an audience perspective, not like you from a maker's perspective) it is really strange seeing these changes and it is not just that they are different, I am not sure the changes are for the better. For example, the replacement jaw piece of the farmer does not look like a shadow where he is not shaven, but a piece separate from the face - the gap was clearly visible in movement and the mouths were less expressive in our minds (three heads and six eyes that saw the episode) for the farmer and for Bitzer.

You guys are doing a MAHVELLOUS job in general and the burden of producing something so beloved to many is surely not easy to carry, but we felt that you should know that we were surely more happy with smooth Bitzer and one piece face Bitzer and Farmer ... in any case, these changes are here to stay, we know, and we wish you all the best with finishing the next 20 episodes.

Oh yes - we totaly agree with you baaah.
I was SHOCKED because bitzer really looked like "a puppet on a string" with those strange moves of his mouth and the two colored fur.
PLEASE BRING OLD BITZER BACK - he is not the same anymore.
Shaun I think is OK though he "shines" alot more. The farmer I don't mind BUT BITZER NEEDS TO BE REMODELED. He has lost his charming character now with all that fuzzy white fur, his mimic has totally changed - as if he was his own grandfather. We really really are very upset..
If it is a "time thing" that with the new figures the production can go faster I'd rather wait longer for the new series than looking at UGLY SCARY BITZER - again: PLEASE BRING THE OLD ONE BACK!!

Hi!

I am really a big "Shaun the Sheep" fan and loved the show from the very beginning, even more than I love the "Wallace & Gromit" films (if that is possible) and "Chicken Run".

I was so much looking forward to new episodes of "Shaun".
But now, having seen three episodes of the new season here in Germany I can only say I am so terribly disappointed and shocked about the visual changes which have been made especially to Bitzer and the Farmer.
In fact, my disappointment is the reason why I registered in this forum - to be able to share my thoughts on the whole situation to other people loving "Shaun" and the people responsible for the production who have just done such an adorable job on the first 40 episodes.

My first thought about Bitzer's and the Farmer's new look was: "Oh my god, the financial crisis has reached Aardman, as well."
I think it is very obvious why the lower part of the faces of these two characters have been changed to incorporate separate "mouth pieces" which can be replaced faster and easier for different mimic expressions: Just to reduce costs and produce more shots in less time.

The problem is: The changes result in completely different characters which are no longer recognizable to me as the beloved ones from the first 40 episodes I have seen numerous times.
In fact Bitzer and the Farmer do not seem "real" to me anymore, because their mouths just do not belong to the rest of their bodies so I am taken out of the "illusion" immediately.
Additionally, in my opinion Bitzer's new furry look (and the fact that the lower part of his face now has a different colour than before) makes this a completely different dog.

Did the people at Aardman think that we - as the audience - would not notice or would not care?
I really adore the first 40 episodes of "Shaun the Sheep", but if the new look of Bitzer, the Farmer and other characters was the price for having a new season, I think it would have been best, if there was no new season of "Shaun" at all.
I feel very sad and will not continue to watch the new episodes of my favourite animation series - as long as the whole new look is not reversed to the old one.

DotWin

I have also watched the first 2 epsiodes on Kika, and to be honest I am also very disapointed on the change of characters. Well I could live with the modified farmer, but Bitzers fur is really nasty

But the biggest disapointment is that the naughty pigs are gone from the episiodes. Those pigs, which try to reassemble the naughty pigs in the season 2 episodes have lost all their expression in the face all... everything. They are something different, maybe class B actors, but not the naughty pigs

And the cat: The original cat was something special, not a cat every other comics has. And now: You have a cheap Garfield replica

ok, that's it maybe the story of the episodes can outweigh the loss of the characters

Hermann

I wasn't happy with the character changes, too, but the laughing stories outweighted this with me. I liked the first two new episodes on KiKa yesterday.
BTW Would it be possible to publish English titles for these 10 new episodes, pls?! I am storing all the recorded episodes on a sampler-DVD and I am adding to them forced subtitles in English and Czech in addition to the German ones... Thanks in advance!
Stan

Hello forum. Gareth Owen here, producer of the new series of Shaun the Sheep. Just thought I'd step in and say something. I understand how some of you must feel at having your beloved characters change but hopefully, like Stan & Hermann, you will see that the most important thing is that we have made some great stories that I guarantee will make you laugh. You will get used to the changes after a few episodes and if you can't (DotWin!) we are truly sorry that you feel this way and that you will miss out on 40...well, 39 brilliant episodes. It's true that if we hadn't made these changes we would not have been able to make a series as ambitious as we have but aside from that, we have made puppets that we believe are an improvement on the first series. Obviously everyone's entitled to their own opinion! That’s just mine and most people at Aardman’s.

BTW Jordan, the journalists we have had so far have been from TV Times, National Geographic Kids, Sky TV, Telegraph and this one for the German fans http://www.fr-online.de/top_news/?em_cnt=2016486& although I’m sure he’s being rude about my hair, which I also changed for series 2.

This was Bitzer's reaction when he looked in the mirror for the first time. He's over it now and quite enjoying his new furry self.

Best wishes

Gareth

Click here to view the full image

Hello Gareth,
i must give my statement after so much criticism. The people here talk about "we all" and "all fans" but thats not true. Maybe i stand for a minority but i will say: "I like the new episodes and i accept the changes!" I cant understand why there is so much criticism about the little things that changes. I cant understand! I am glad to get 40 brand new episodes and i will watch (and buy) every of them. You at Aardmans had done a great job, pls dont be angry about the postings from other peoples. I think STS series 2 takes its way to the hearts of the fans - the mostly fans and i will thank you for the laughing you bring in our really bad times.
http://www.majhost.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=2418322
Chris from Germany and whole family

Hi Gareth and thanks for the nice picture of "scared Bitzer"!
Stan

Hi Gareth, Chris,

I am as well quite disappointed about the changes. I couldn´t send my comments here yesterday for some reason, and sent them directly to aardman to forward them to Christopher. I hope the email has arrived.

Anyway, Gareth, I think your answer to the criticism of quite a lot posters here is a bit short. It seems to boil down to "if you don´t like the changes, I can´t help it, and it´s your problem".
Just to be sure: if many fans do not like the new look of the characters, then that is mainly your problem, for obvious reasons.

You say, the new design is an improvement - could you please go into more detail why this is supposed to be so? Most of the participants here, including me, seem to think the contrary. Please help us to understand.

Best wishes,
Peter

Hi!

I'm not sure, but my personal opinion is, that while it might be an improvement regarding making the production easier, it is definitely not an improvement regarding the mimic expressions or to sell the illusion.

Just look at the new Bitzer in the images here and the old one in the "Meet the Flock" department.
I think the old one is far superior and both versions do not have much in common.

DotWin

Hi Y'all. Sorry my response was short Peter, I'm pretty busy in the production of the last 20 episodes. Thank you Chris and family for your positive note of encouragement - we're not angry at all! I'm not going to enter into a aesthetic debate on "what looks good and what doesn't" as everyone has their own opinion and they are entitled to that. Look at the changes in Wallace and Gromit from their first outing in "Grand Day Out" to "A Matter of Loaf and Death"!

Although there are some people who (very understandably) don't like change, there are many who prefer the new look.
Like I said, it really was a decision we had to make - they either changed so that we could shoot faster or there would be no more Shaun. So quite an easy decision really.
That's the difficulty of producing a second series of a stop-frame production with production values as high as we are hitting.

We haven't changed the personality of the characters and we never will, I just hope that most of the fans can see past this necessary physical change and appreciate the fact that there's a whole new series to enjoy rather than no more Shaun at all!

...and we'd all be out of a job.

Cheers
Gareth

hey gareth thanks for replying,i will look out for teh articles and hope i dont miss them!, i think ive got used to the characters already i wasnt sure at first too, but they have grown on me.

as Aardman knows by now surely i love behind the scenes stuff , so please keep them comming. what happens after the final 20 episodes, sets put in storage, models given to me hehe! , there should be an art of shaun the sheep book , like creating creature comfrots book in 2003. also i hope there more longer behind the scenes on teh dvd releases. i cant wait for the episodes, what about merchandise any news on that surely there must new new products to go with series 2 but also the new redesign thanks again please reply

I believe, if you show Shaun to kids and adults at the same time, both groups will laugh in some places at different times. This is because kids love the story, love the tricks Shaun does, but adults laugh about cameos, about the expression of the faces and the bitter british jokes (Shaun season 1 was british, I liked it. So it is obvious for me that with season 2 many adults suffer from their beloved 'features', which Shaun had for them.
(Wallace and Gromit in my opinion is still that bitter-sweet british)

Maybe the lack of body language is more obvious to adults than to kids.


On the other hand Shaun is bought by Kika and is coproduced by WDR, the 'Sendung with the mouse', and is not aired by ARTE (german/french 'intellectual' channel' So to be fair, I have to live with it, I am not the main target for Shaun, and kids are the majority, and they don't care about the changes so much

Well, my 7 year old daugther complained, that Bitzer is now disguised as fox, she asked me why? Furthermore she noted that the new pigs are just pigs but not naughty So also the kids feel the changes a little bit, but they don't care in depth. It is not their focus.

A few questions to Gareth
o) What is the ratio in effort to do the e.g pigs in the old
and new way? Or the farmer?

o) Was the budget for the first season more/equal or less
as for the second season?

o) Why didn't you do the characters in the first season
already as in the seconds season. You would have saved
money in the first season.... technical reasons?

Kind regards

Hermann

i dont think aardman want to talk about expenses lol, its supposed to be a fun blog, not a money/earnings situation.

Hi marvelous Aardman-Team.
Thanks for the new (and old) episodes of shaun and his friends. we all love this really cool stuff you have done and will do. our family (from 3 to 43 years) can`t get enough! But there is one things we pray for. Bring back the old bitzer and the old cat. it would be very very hard to accept the new ones. Sorry for that!

For all the work you have done **BIG RESPECT**

The farmer needs a shave lol

The time has come to close this thread and move on but Gareth and I would like to say a few things first –

Gareth (Series Producer)

In answer to your questions Hermann, the changes made a huge difference to our shoot rate - enough to justify the decision. Aside from which, we prefer our new characters! Jordan is right, I'm not prepared to discuss budgetary matters but I can say the obvious: this series is shot in high-definition which costs more money and we're a couple of years down the line from the first series. We learnt a lot from series one and we had to improve the puppets not only to make them easier to animate but also to improve the way they look in high-definition. The fur texture allows us to hide a multitude of sins – rigging points in the puppets, dust and dirt that would clearly show up on the ‘old Bitzer’ model and also to make them easier to light. Going back to our old designs is simply not an option. It’s great that you feel so strongly about the characters but stick with the show and you will come to love them just as much as the old ones.


Chris (Series Director)

Thank you all for your comments. Your opinions are always welcome whether positive or negative, it shows you care about our series as much as we do and that means a lot to us.

The production values of the series are incredibly important to us and we are justifiably proud that the quality of series two remains unsurpassed by any other stop frame series in the world.
I am in awe of what our team has produced for you in series two, the stories we have brought you go way beyond what was possible in series one. I’m humbled by the effort they have made to bring you something extraordinary special.

Series one was effectively a step into the dark for Aardman, we had never attempted a series on that scale before and we didn’t know whether it was even possible. Although it was creatively an overwhelming success, it did take a long time to produce.
In order for us to even consider making any more Shaun the Sheep, we had to aim to finish shoot series two within a year – that’s around five months faster than series one. That simply was not possible without changing some of our animation techniques.

As series one progressed we rapidly learnt what was working and what wasn’t, Bitzer is an excellent case in point:
The original Bitzer design posed problems the instant we started filming series one – he had black dot eyes which meant you could never tell where he was looking and his nose was so long you couldn’t see his expression anyway. We changed this immediately – if you look at the earliest episodes of series one you can see the Bitzer design change over the course of a single episode.
By the end of the shoot I had a list of issues the length of my arm – he couldn’t walk, his nose was so shiny the director of photography couldn’t light him properly, his hat didn’t fit, his ears fell off... I could go on... and on.
Bitzer evolved for series two and I love him even more, he has so much more character now and the animators have been able to do far more with him.
In fact the whole series evolved; some changes are more visible than others, but most things you see in the series are constantly adapting as we learn more – not just the puppets but the sets, the props, the backgrounds, even the various ways we hold the characters up.
This is not unusual, it happens on every film or series that Aardman makes. Take a look at Wallace and Gromit in “A Grand Day Out” and compare them to how they look today.
Changes are made because we are constantly striving to make our films better and we will continue to do so in the future.


We hope you continue to enjoy our work as well as lettiing know what you think. Thanks for your support.