This Family Flocks To Shaun The Sheep, The Movie Premiere

Sorry for the Dad joke in the title, it was just too hard to resist a sheep-related pun! What a naughty little lamb I am (OK, I’ll stop now).

…So last Sunday saw us scoot along to London for Oliver’s third premiere experience- as he proudly reminded us in the morning- (I think he might be winning at Show and Tell at school at the moment after the recent Paddington and Get Santa premieres)- but it was extra special as it was toddler Alexander’s first ever red, or in this case, green carpet experience!

What lucky little chaps, hey!

Thanks Amazon Prime Instant Video for the invites!

Here we are below, suited and booted (sort of) in the garden before leaving for the train station. Huge thanks to Fever London for the beautiful, gifted breton striped ‘Brighton Dress’ which was flattering, chic and oh-so-comfortable- ideal for the afternoon premiere!

Flanked by my perfect little accessories below of course, my boys!

…Soon it was coffee-slurping time at York train station and a rare shot of Mr Honest Mum on my phone! The camera loves you darling! You’re welcome readers 😉

Jumping aboard, Alexander (2) was beyond excited just to be riding a train and we even managed to do some ‘real live action’ sheep spotting on the journey too!

Pointing at a cow-‘Look Mummy, sheep’! Erm…

We might have taken a few selfies to pass the time. When I say a few, I mean 110. This was the best.

‘Wow Mama, that’s cool’ Xander exclaimed as I hit capture! The kid does love looking at photos of himself so this is the start of more to come, no doubt…

…With all the selfies, cups of tea and reading Hello Magazine over people’s shoulders, the journey literally whizzed by and we arrived in London to blue skies and sunshine, excited to be premiere-bound…

A long-time fan of Aardman (I’ve worked with some of their team and have a short animation film of my own in development) -and with the kids already taken with Shaun the Sheep on the box, we bounded to Leicester Square hopeful of a fun family day out-

And we weren’t left disappointed.

…One of the highlights had to be sharing it all with one of my best blogging pals, Mirka of All Baby Advice and Fitness 4 Mamas and her beautiful daughters, Isabelle and Olivia-her youngest we always joke, is Alexander’s twin!

We walked the green carpet together, working it for our personal paparazzo, Pete! Handy having a husband with skillz behind the camera, isn’t it?!

Striking a pose with Mirka and her family. Xander sits in gifted Cosatto Firebird pushchair, Baby bag is Manhattan in lemon by Nova Harley whom I model for.

I feel like I’ve known Mirka forever and I’m just sad we don’t live closer to one another-it’s a beautiful thing when you meet someone you just click with and being together is always full of laughter and just so effortless and fun.

The blogging world has opened up so many sisterly friendships for me, I feel flipping lucky to have Mirka and lots of other strong, supportive, sassy and smart women in my life thanks to this here blog! Smooches to all!

Now back to the business of the premiere-

…Once through the crowds, at the Vue, we were met by this mammoth green double decker bus which made the boys’ mouths gape wide open and Oliver question whether it was ‘actually real’!

And the excitement didn’t stop there-superstar hip hop duo Rizzle Kicks were on the decks at the top of the carpet, to serenade us (they wrote and performed a new theme tune for the movie) and were having a blast together, welcoming the guests.

Jordan sweetly commented that Alexander was ‘too cute’ as we passed- they both seemed to appreciate his little dance moves too-he’s totally opening Glastonbury for them this summer (you know, if the money’s right)!

Jordan Stephens waves at Xander!

As you can see, the paparazzi just wouldn’t leave us alone!

 

…Once inside we marvelled at the multicoloured sheep sculptures that will soon be showcased around the UK in a Shaun in the City art trail, kicking off in London in the spring before moving to Bristol in July.

Hello handsome-

These giant Shauns were displayed everywhere, giving a real sense of what’s to come with the trail- and it pretty much pained my besotted child to bid them goodbye!

‘Don’t worry, I’ll buy you one’, I lied.

Then off we went to take our seats inside the cinema, sheep ears firmly on (they kept sliding off my big bouffant hair but Peter and the kids complied)-and it was fab to be sat near to awesome Daddy blogger Kip Hakes and his lovely family too, so we could quickly catch up before the film began…

-Sheep-eared adorned audience members await the start of the film…

This is totes going to be a key look for Spring/Summer I’m sure of it 😉

Ok maybe not.

Lights out-roll on the film, and what a movie it was-full of great British fun, laugh out loud jokes and the much-anticipated traditional slapstick scenes Shaun the Sheep is famous for-this movie will literally make you bleat with laughter throughout ;).

Alright not literally but you’ll laugh. A lot!

The plot is simple enough for toddlers to appreciate (although Xander fell asleep after 10 minutes as it was rather tropical in the theatre) but kids of all ages and adults will enjoy this flick for sure.

The story moves away from the farm as Shaun the Sheep and the other animals go in search of their missing master, the Farmer, who unknowingly, thanks to them, finds himself in the big city without his flock and severe memory loss!

Without structured dialogue and the characters’ iconic gibberish, Shaun the Sheep’s beauty lies in its universality- humour requires no words right and this film will definitely appeal to children, big and small, the world over.

We loved, loved, loved it, and like the sheep in the film, it was another lovely day in the big city for this family too, and once awake as the credits rolled, Xander relished riding around in a black cab back to the station-lapping up the London landmarks and big red buses, eyes wide and full of wonder.

Before we knew it, we were in York not far from where we live (luckily the train is a non stop direct journey from Kings Cross taking just 2 hours) and the boys were no doubt counting sheep before falling fast asleep.

What a day!

..Ewe really must go see this film, you’d be utterly baaahmy not to. OK I totally lied about the puns.

Hits cinemas in the UK on Feb 6th!