SHAUN THE SHEEP MOVIE **** (U, 85 mins) Featuring the voices of Justin Fletcher and John Sparkes

BRISTOL-based Aardman Studios works its stop motion animated magic on a colourful big screen adventure for the mischievous sheep, who first appeared in Wallace and Gromit’s 1995 escapade A Close Shave.

Drawing loving inspiration from other Aardman films including Chicken Run, Shaun The Sheep Movie is a shear delight, melding slapstick and subtler humour to appeal to young fans.

Directors Mark Burton and Richard Starzack shepherd this boisterous romp through various twists and turns at a breathless pace.

They litter the screen with wry visual gags, including an airborne cow clearing the roof of the Over The Moon pub.

Stop motion visuals burst with colour and action sequences are orchestrated with mind-boggling technical precision.

With half-term grazing on the horizon, Shaun The Sheep Movie will have families flocking in droves to local cinemas.

There’s nothing woolly about Burton and Starzack’s screenplay, which doesn’t pause to bleat between set pieces, propelling the narrative forward without sacrificing the characterisation.

There are some lovely interludes here like Shaun’s temporary incarceration in an animal shelter, which also houses a psychotic cat and a dog with BARK and BITE tattooed on its knuckles.

As with other Aardman offerings, the animators’ imprints are occasionally visible in the expressive clay protagonists, which is part of the film’s undeniable charm.