Sheep in the Big City

Sheep in the Big City is an American animated television series created by Mo Willems for Cartoon Network, and the 9th of the network's Cartoon Cartoons. The series' pilot first premiered as part of Cartoon Network's "Cartoon Cartoon Summer" on August 18, 2000, before its official debut on November 17, 2000.
Willems previously created "The Off-Beats" for Nickelodeon's "KaBlam!" before working on this animated show. The series follows a runaway sheep named Sheep in his new life in "the Big City", where he tries to avoid a secret military organization. It also features several unrelated sketches and shorts, similar to those from "The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends". With an emphasis on sophisticated (in particular, literal) humor, using different forms of rhetoric from characters to plots, it included comic references to filmmaking and television broadcasting.
At the time, the premiere of "Sheep in the Big City" was the highest-rated premiere for a Cartoon Network original series.
The animation services for the series were handled by the Korean animation studio Rough Draft Korea. This was Cartoon Network's first original series produced by the animation studio Curious Pictures, who would later go on to produce "" in 2002.
Premise.
Sheep lives happily on a farm with his friends. Unfortunately, a Secret Military Organization, led by General Specific, needs Sheep for its Sheep-Powered Ray Gun (with a sheep-shaped hole in it).
General Specific will get Sheep at any cost, and, knowing that the farm is at stake, Sheep is forced to leave for the big city. Now Sheep is on the run from General Specific, who is assisted by his henchmen, Private Public, the Angry Scientist (who in the show is often wrongly referred to as "Mad Scientist"), a bunch of other military types, and the Plot Device.
In addition, Sheep has to come to grips with the Big City and trying to romance his love, Swanky the Poodle. All the while, he has to avoid the attentions of a host of unwelcome characters — Lisa Rental and Swanky's owner, the sheep-hating Lady Richington, wielding a stainless-steel wig.
Production.
Series creator Mo Willems began his career doing stage comedy in the 1980s, but he had also wanted to be an artist. Willems would recall this in a 2001 interview, stating, "My desire as a kid was to find a way to be funny and draw. Animation turned out to be the best way for me to do that." After graduating from New York University Tisch School of the Arts, Willems began making short films for "Sesame Street" and writing for "The Muppets". He would also work on Nickelodeon's short-form animated series "The Off-Beats", which had a similar art style to "Sheep in the Big City". Willems has stated that the work of Pablo Picasso has influenced his art style.
"Sheep in the Big City" was broadcast alongside a number of potential series pilots during Cartoon Network's "Cartoon Cartoon Summer" marathon on August 18, 2000. The series was greenlit and would go on to broadcast for two seasons.
Style.
The show usually begins with a completely unrelated clip, which turns out to be a show that Sheep is watching. Sheep presses a button on his remote to change the channel, which segues into the theme song.
Each episode is divided into three chapters; each one's title, as the narrator once quipped, is "some pun on the word 'sheep' or something": in the episode "To Sheep, Perchance to Dream!", one of the chapters was actually named "Some Pun on the Word 'Sheep'".
Fake advertisements are in between the chapters, and sometimes short skits, such as the Sombrero Brothers. The fake advertisements are usually of products from Oxymoron with Victor the spokesperson promoting it. Each product is usually of low quality (contrary to what one may think) or causes pain in some way.
The show's most unusual characteristic is its frequent breaking of the fourth wall. For instance, the vast majority of the characters make references to the show's structure, script, and, occasionally, its premise. For example, in episode 8, when General Specific finally captures Sheep, the Angry Scientist states that he didn't actually have the Ray Gun ready, thinking that they would never capture Sheep due to it "being so contrary to the set-up of the show". The Narrator is also a pivotal character, frequently interacting with the characters via voice-over (and sometimes directly, when other characters unexpectedly show up in his studio). He also criticizes the television medium itself (such as the fact that two-thirds of the final episode of the first season was actually composed of dream sequences) and the script, occasionally ad-libbing when he does not quite understand the script. He also tells the viewer to "just go with it" when the script seems to make no sense.
Literal humor is also important to the show's style. Phrases and expressions such as "Hold the phone!" or "wild goose chase" are usually followed by literal interpretations of the phrase mentioned. A running gag in the show, for example, is that whenever a character exclaims "Great Scott!" a Scotsman appears out of nowhere, saying, "Yes?"
Whenever the phrase "Hold the phone!" is said, it would cut to a still of Lisa Rental holding a phone. The first time the still is shown, it is in the episode "Baa-ck in time".
Home media releases.
The first season was available on iTunes. However, it was taken off of iTunes for unknown reasons. In the UK, 3 episodes (excluding the pilot) have been released on a DVD in region 2 format. The pilot is on the "Powerpuff Girls" "Powerpuff Bluff" DVD and also on the "Powerpuff Girls" "Dream Scheme" VHS tape (although there was a mistake on the back cover of the tape saying it has a bonus episode of fellow cartoon "Courage the Cowardly Dog").
Other appearances.
Sheep has a cameo role in the "OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes" crossover special "Crossover Nexus", as one of the many Cartoon Network heroes that was summoned and defeated by Strike.