Aardman Animation’s popular stop-motion series Shaun the Sheep was awarded the International Emmy award in the category Children & Young People. Presented by the International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, the awards gala was held Monday night at the New York Hilton. Hosting the ceremony was award-winning stage and screen actor Roger Bart, who is currently playing the lead in Mel Brooks’ Broadway musical Young Frankenstein.
First introduced in director Nick Park’s Oscar-winning 1995 Wallace & Gromit short, A Close Shave, the character Shaun the Sheep now leads his barnyard buddies into all sorts of funny and calamitous situations, turning peace in the valley into mayhem in the meadow. He’s surrounded by such funny animal pals as the Naughty Pigs and Timmy the baby lamb. Together, they run rings around their hapless sheepdog, Bitzer, as he tries to stop the Farmer from finding out what’s going on behind his back.
Park serves as an exec producer on the series, along with Miles Bullough, Peter Lord, David Sproxton, Michael Carrington and Nikki Chaplin. The show’s directors are Richard Goleszowski, Christopher Sadler and JP Vine. Julie Lockhart is porducer. Shaun the Sheep airs on CBBC in the U.K. and Disney Channel in the U.S.
Shaun was the only animated program recognized at this year’s Int’l Emmy Awards. Productions from Argentina and Jordan were honored for the first time ever. Argentina’s Television Por La Identidad won in the TV Movie/Mini Series category, and Jordan’s Al-Igtiyah took home the trophy for Telenovela, a category added this year.
