Farmageddon

Following his debut in Wallace and Gromit short A Close Shave, Shaun the sheep consolidated his brand on TV in his own animated series, running for over 150 episodes between 2007 and 2016. It established the precinct of Mossy Bottom Farm where Shaun's flock keeps itself entertained by ordering online pizza and defying sheepdog Bitzer's nanny-ish rules. In an out-of-this world adventure, distraction from another humdrum day is provided by the arrival of benignly elastic extraterrestrial Lu-La. This intergalactic interface summons a fusillade of hilarious sci-fi references to feed the mums and dads, from Men in Black and ET to Signs and Alien, and incidentals like a garage called "HG Wheels". The franchise's Esperanto of grunts and squeaks suits a family film - and a vast global audience - and praise is due to the non-verbal voice cast (Shaun is played by children's TV favourite Justin "Mr Tumble" Fletcher), leaving the script about terrestrial hucksterism and universal harmony to tell itself in literally signposted visuals. Spoofing both sci-fi and sci-fi nerds, Farmageddon is crowned by a John Williams-esque score from Tom Howe; it towers above the slapstick fun as a thing of reverential beauty.