Shaun the Sheep: Season 2

And the bleat goes on...
My 12-yr daughter and I moved right into Season 2 as soon as we finished Season 1.

We noticed a few things right away.

1) The screen width was cut down from widescreen to a traditional TV 3:4 ratio picture.
2) The claymation animators made changes to the appearance of some of the characters. These include the Farmer who now has a perpetual 5 o-clock shadow, Blitzer the dog who now has hair-like details rather than the simpler more innocent smooth finish you would be used to seeing on Gromit (if you know Wallace and Gromit) and more detail around the mouth and nose. The cat has been upgraded from a sort of wolverine/bear like critter to a cat with claws, and it plays a bigger role in season 2 than in season 1. While a few of these changes were probably a good idea, I think that changes to the characters' appearances were more distracting than beneficial. Like I mentioned before, these changes made the characters less innocent looking and, well, I missed...

Shaun the Sheep Season 2 is Widescreen
To clarify the screen format: "Shaun the Sheep Season 2" box set of 40 episodes for Region 1 (USA & Canada at least) is available in 16x9 WIDESCREEN 1.78: 1 - as per my purchase from Amazon in April 2012. I added images of the back of the DVD case to show this. 16x9 is an improvement on the 4x3 presentation of Shaun Season 1 episodes for Region 1.
The only 4x3 format items I've found so far are: the hit entertainment intro & menu, the LionsGate gearwheel intro, and a trailer for "Off the Baa!" The other disk 1 trailers are widescreen. All Shaun Season 2 episodes that I've seen so far are Widescreen throughout.

Not as good as season #1
After being pleasantly surprised by Season #1 of Shaun the Sheep, I got this as a Christmas gift for my wife looking forward to many more intriguing farm life adventures with Shaun. Sadly, something has changed between Season #1 and Season #2. Not just the farmers cat and Bitzer's face - something more fundamental. Whereas the first season's episodes drew the audience in to the entertaining farm life of these silly clay animals, the second season's episodes just seem to rush from one dumb joke to the next. Is it because of a new director, new writers? I don;t know, but it is distinctly different. The light hearted charm of season #1 cannot be found in season #2. In addition, whereas season #1 was not offensive, season #2 often shows examples of Shaun or the other animals stealing, or destroying things for fun. And, is it just me, or is the farmer's underwear in EVERY SINGLE season #2 episode?
I must admit that I had high hopes for Season #2, and I have been disappointed...

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