Shaun The Sheep 2: Every Easter Egg & Hidden Joke In The Sequel

Shaun the Sheep: Farmageddon, Aardman Animation’s second Shaun the Sheep film, is jam packed with Easter eggs and references to other Sci-Fi stories across multiple mediums. Joining the ranks of Shaun the Sheep’s first alien invasion film, Farmageddon pays tribute to the Science Fiction genre by spreading out hidden jokes within the film that allude to the innovative and classic Sci-Fi books, films, and TV shows that came before it.

Based on the stop-motion animated television series of the same name, Shaun the Sheep 2 follows Shaun (Justin Fletcher) and his flock of sheep on Mossy Bottom Farm as they seek out new forms of fun and avoid the stern eye of The Farmer’s loyal dog, Blitzer (John Sparkes). When the alien Lu-La (Amalia Vitale) accidentally crash lands near Mossy Bottom Farm, the town of Mossingham experiences a surge of alien-related tourism, which gives The Farmer (John Sparkes) the idea to build an extraterrestrial theme-park called Farmageddon. As The Farmer puts the flock of sheep to work building his substandard theme-park, Shaun tries to help Lu-La find her spaceship so she can return to her home planet before being captured by Agent Red (Kate Harbour), the leader of The Ministry for Alien Detection who is determined to prove the existence of aliens.  

Shaun the Sheep: Farmageddon Has a Hilarious Arrival Easter Egg

While the series exists within the same universe as the Wallace and Gromit franchise, the world of Shaun the Sheep functions very differently from its stop-motion predecessor since the residents of Mossy Bottom Farm, including the human characters, never speak in full sentences and communicate through a succession of grunts and gestures. In a franchise where communication is made all the more complicated without the use of a proper language, Shaun the Sheep: Farmageddon excels through the use of visual and auditory jokes spread throughout the animated film, making allusions to these well-known alien invasion stories.

The X-Files

While the hidden joke may have been missed by many of the younger viewers, Shaun the Sheep 2 features a hilarious Easter egg from Fox’s science fiction television series The X-Files, which contains one of the most memorable theme songs composed by Mark Snow. Within Farmageddon, that theme song can briefly be heard being whistled by the one character most likely to know it, the Ministry for Alien Detection’s Agent Red.

After Agent Red has acquired Lu-La’s spaceship, she transports it, along with the mysterious egg-shaped device that activates the ship, to the Ministry’s secret base. Wishing to stash the device in her office, Agent Red whistles the X-Files theme song, which acts as the passcode into her office. The scene is made all the more clever once you realize how relevant The X-Files television series must be for Agent Red when compared to her own life story. As a government official who has previously been laughed at for believing in the existence of extraterrestrial life, her background closely resembles the journey of FBI Agents Mulder and Scully, who were often ridiculed for their beliefs.  

Doctor Who

As a movie based on a stop-motion television series originating in Britain, Shaun the Sheep: Farmageddon naturallydecided to pay tribute to one of the UK’s leading Sci-Fi series about space exploration and extraterrestrials, BBC’s cult-classic Doctor Who. Of course, one of the Doctors great enemies is the malevolent species the Daleks, who make a brief appearance in Shaun the Sheep 2. When Shaun’s flock of sheep attempt to gain entry into Farmageddon, they pretend to be cosplayers and dress up as robots to enter the alien-themed amusement park without being detected by The Farmer. While two of the sheep appear as basic robots made out of trashcans and other household items, one of the sheep disguises himself as a Dalek, the tiny but vicious alien race that inhabit tank-like machines. From behind his costume, the sheep even bleats in the timbre of the Dalek’s motto “Exterminate!” as an extra joke for the Doctor Who fandom.

H.G. Wells

H. G. Wells, the literary genius behind classic Sci-Fi novels such as The War of the Worlds, The Time Machine, and The Invisible Man, has been known throughout the modern age as the “father of science fiction.” Despite the fact that the alien species in Shaun the Sheep 2 isn’t hostile, it only makes sense that a film depicting an alien species coming to Earth should pay homage to the writer responsible for one of the first alien invasion stories ever put to paper. In the opening scene of Farmageddon, Lu-La’s spaceship passes over the town of Mossingham, getting a nice view of all of the local stores and establishments within the rural community. Next to the Forest Fast Foods restaurant, there is a sign for an auto shop called H.G. Wheels, which is clearly a shoutout to the English writer known for his classic Science Fiction stories.  

Arrival

Shaun the Sheep 2 also contains an Easter egg from Denis Villeneuve’s critically acclaimed film Arrival, which follows the Linguistics Professor Louise Banks (Amy Adams) as she tries to communicate with an alien race that has arrived on Earth. When Shaun and the flock of sheep have a hankering for junk food, Shaun sneaks into The Farmer’s house and orders three pizzas for himself and his flock from Mossingham’s local fast food joint, Forest Fast Foods. When the pizzas are delivered, however, they’ve already been eaten by Lu-La, who snuck into the delivery man’s bag when he wasn’t looking. When Shaun opens the pizza box, he discovers that it is empty apart from a grease stain, which bears a remarkable resemblance to the logograms from Arrival. Since the symbols represent the written alien language Professor Banks uses to communicate with the heptapods, it almost appears as if Lu-La is trying to speak to Shaun through the symbol in the pizza box.

M. Night Shyamalan’s Signs

One of Shaun the Sheep: Farmageddon’s hidden jokes is a shoutout to M. Night Shyamalan’s 2002 extraterrestrial horror film, Signs. In the movie, there is a scene when Merrill Hess (Joaquin Phoenix) is watching a news broadcast, which reports a sighting of UFOs hovering over Mexico City. When it is believed that the aliens have vacated the area, a bird is caught on tape hitting something midair and falling down dead, insinuating that the alien spaceship is still present and is being cloaked by an invisible forcefield.

A scene within Shaun the Sheep 2 imitates this exact moment from Signs, when Shaun and Lu-La travel through the forest searching for the “zoom-zoom,” Lu-La’s lost spaceship. As Lu-La begins to recognize her surroundings, Lu-La pulls Shaun into an empty clearing in the woods, hugs him in gratitude, and disappears inside of an invisible structure. If it weren’t already clear to viewers that Lu-La’s spaceship has a cloaking device, a claymation bird smacks into the side of the invisible ship, and slowly slides down the aircraft until it hits the ground. In accordance with the film’s G rating, the bird in Farmageddon appears to survive the impact, blessed with more fortunate circumstances than the bird from Signs.

2001: A Space Odyssey

Not only does Shaun the Sheep 2 draw influences from modern Sci-Fi movies, but it also contains references to some classic Science Fiction films, including Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. After the Farmer discovers crop signs in his backyard, the Farmer is struck with the idea to use his grounds as the site for an alien-themed amusement park that will draw in all of the alien fanatics visiting the town of Mossingham. Distracted by his new money-making scheme, the Farmer forgets that he’s toasting bread and his toast is burnt completely black. Accompanied by the 2001: A Space Odyssey’s anthem, “Also sprach Zarathustra” composed by Richard Strauss, the toast slowly rises out of the toaster bearing a resemblance to 2001: A Space Odyssey’s Monolith, a mysterious alien artifact that was used to monitor the human race throughout time. 

Steven Spielberg’s E.T.

One of the most famous scenes from Steven Spielberg’s classic Sci-Fi film E.T. the Extraterrestrial receives a subtle nod within Shaun the Sheep: Farmageddon. When Shaun and Lu-La leave the farm to search for Lu-La’s spaceship, they spot a bicycle with a wicker basket left unattended leaning against a recycling bin. With specific attention paid to the bicycle, Shaun and Lu-La exchange a knowing glance as if insinuating that there will be a recreation of the E.T. bicycle scene. However, the next shot shows that Lu-La and Shaun chose the recycling bin as their preferred method of transportation, leaving the bicycle behind. While this may seem like a disappointment for E.T. fans, the recycling bin hits a speed bump and flies in front of an advertisement for The Moon Inn, which is a large picture of a full moon, recreating the scene from this classic 80s movie with Farmageddon‘s own unique spin.

Close Encounters of The Third Kind

Influences from Steven Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind can be spotted throughout Shaun the Sheep 2, specifically in scenes involving the alien character Lu-La. When Lu-La lands in a forest just outside of the rural town of Mossingham, the spacecraft opens and Lu-La walks out of the spaceship with an intense bright light beaming behind her, allowing only her silhouette to be visible to the viewer. Not only is this a shoutout to the scene in Close Encounters of the Third Kind when the aliens emerge from the spaceship, but Lu-La herself bears some similarities to the mothership in Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

In Farmageddon, one of Lu-La’s many skills includes the ability to mimic sounds. From mimicking a train horn to Shaun’s goofy laugh, Lu-La matches the original sound’s exact tonal expression, which is similar to the scene in Close Encounters of the Third Kind when the aliens try to communicate with the scientists by teaching them their basic tonal vocabulary with lights and sounds coming from the mothership. 

While some of the Sci-fF references will go over the heads of Shaun the Sheep 2‘s main target audience, the Easter eggs hidden within Shaun the Sheep: Farmageddon go above and beyond its service to the fans by including jokes that people of all ages will enjoy. While some children may not understand the references now, the film presents the possibility that they’ll be understood in the future by referencing classic Sci-Fi stories that will more than likely stand the test of time.