The Sheep Detectives

Story

George Hardy (Hugh Jackman) has lived a solitary life as a shepherd since his wife died. He loves his sheep and has named them all. He has a special sheep named Lily (voice of Julia Louis-Dreyfuss), after his wife, and there’s also an outsider sheep called Sebastian (voice of Bryan Cranston). Every night, George reads detective stories to his sheep. He thinks the sheep don’t understand the stories, but they take in much more than he realises.

One fateful night, George is killed by an intruder. The hapless village policeman, Tim (Nicholas Braun), writes it off as an accident. The sheep have other ideas, however. They must convince Officer Tim that George was indeed murdered, and they must help Tim solve the crime.

Themes

Detective stories; animated action; grief and loss

Violence

The Sheep Detectives has some comic violence. For example:

Two rams, who are brothers, often fight and headbutt each other.
Three little lambs tumble off a ladder.
A sheep has a bucket on his head and crashes into George’s caravan.
A sheep gets his head stuck in a picket fence and tries to set himself free. Eventually he escapes but causes everything around him to crash down.
A sheep knocks over Officer Tim and runs rampant, knocking over everything in its path.
The two ram brothers headbutt a runaway car and smash the window.

There’s also some violence that isn’t presented for laughs. For example:

George angrily kicks a neighbouring shepherd out of his caravan.
A shopkeeper smashes things in her shop in anger.
At the reading of the will, several people start shouting and yelling at each other.
Sebastian tells a very sad story of how he was rejected as a winter lamb. He was bought by a carnival owner, who made him fight a vicious dog until he bled. A short flashback scene shows Sebastian’s story.
An upsetting scene shows the sheep being chased by growling, vicious dogs. A dog attacks one of the sheep, and Sebastian comes to defend the flock. Sebastian fights the dogs and sends them away, but he collapses and dies as a result.
George argues with another man.
A man runs away from the police, knocking people out of the way.

Sexual references

The Sheep Detectives has some sexual references. For example, Officer Tim is attracted to a young woman who arrives in the village.

Alcohol, drugs and other substances

The Sheep Detectives shows some use of substances. For example:

George drinks whisky from a glass.
People drink wine in a house.

Nudity and sexual activity

There’s no nudity or sexual activity in The Sheep Detectives.

Product placement

There’s no product placement in The Sheep Detectives.

Coarse language

The Sheep Detectives has some coarse language, including ‘damn’, ‘crap’ and ‘Shut up!’ There’s also some name-calling and insults, including ‘stupid’, ‘idiot’, ‘weirdo’ and ‘fool’.

Ideas to discuss with your children

The Sheep Detectives is a comedy drama based on the book by Leonie Swann. Set in a typical English village, it’s a funny and charming movie with plenty of positive messages. There are, however, a couple of distressing scenes that make it unsuitable for younger children and best suited to children aged over 8 years.

These are the main messages from The Sheep Detectives:

Our memories keep the ones we love alive.
Accept others into your flock even though they might be different.

Values in The Sheep Detectives that you could reinforce with your children include courage, bravery, determination, teamwork, inclusion, resourcefulness and kindness.

The Sheep Detectives could also give you the chance to talk with your children about real-life issues like exclusion and rejection. For example, a little lamb is ostracised by the flock because he was born in the winter. George loves him, however, and the flock eventually come to realise that the lamb is just one of them. You could talk about why some people are rejected for no reason and how it’s important to be kind and welcoming to everyone.