Shaun le mouton: L'échappée de Noël

I can already say that short of a miracle this will be the best thing I see on TV this Christmas.

Charming, clever, and most importantly - funny!

An absolute joy.

I have always been a big Wallace & Gromit fan. I much preferred them to Shaun the Sheep who made his debut in a Wallace & Gromit adventure.

This extended Christmas special is utterly charming with a lot of love, care and detail.

It is Christmas and little Timmy has ended up going to the Christmas market with the Farmer.

It is Shaun to the rescue but Timmy inadvertently becomes a present for a little girl.

This is one that even adults will like. It reminded me a lot of Toy Story.

I loved the reference to The Snowman.

This one is good. Last year, "The Farmer's Llamas" was just full on chaos and destruction that eclipsed the humour. The llamas were downright nasty. It dragged on. They got it right this time. The story is way better. Poignant even in its depiction of love of technology over real love. And yes, that snowman moment...bravo! So good. Definitely worth watching no matter how old you are.

It is well nigh impossible to top the quality of feature-length titles like Curse of The Were-Rabbit or Pirates, just to mention a few, but The Flight Before Christmas, at 30 minutes only, comes very, very close.

Everything about this gem hits the mark: the story is touching, the pacing perfect (fast without feeling forced), the humor and characters without a single false note, the animation is amazing, and then.. the visual part, the look and feel of the christmassy, wintry world, interiors as well as exteriors, had me totally mesmerized. This looks so lovely and colorful, that I'd give anything to step into its magic landscape.

A classic? Yes, if there is any justice in the world, this IS a new christmas classic (also check out Robin Robin, another splendid Aardman gem on Netflix) and those who are untouched by this jewel in Aardman's crown are either dead or deaf n' blind.

By the way, there is a short Shaun title, from season 2, called We Wish Ewe(!) A Merry Christmas, that is just like this new only, a small miracle. Only shorter.

The inhabitants of the farm are preparing for Christmas. Everybody is having their own adventures and misadventures. Timmy gets mistakenly sent into the town's Christmas celebration and Shaun the Sheep leads the rescue mission. It all ends in the flight before Christmas.

I love Aardman Animations. They are doing a Christmas special for Netflix. It is perfectly Aardman and a great for any of their fans. It is high adventure and low adventure. I think it should work for everybody no matter their age. As always, there are those who get frustrated with the lack of dialogue. I can't help them there.