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Narrated in a style reminiscent of Rocky and Bullwinkle, Sheep in the Big City takes a satiric look at city life and farm animals while its outrageous stories skirt the edge of credibility.
Our hero, a sheep named “Sheep”, is a barn-yard animal with greatness thrust upon him. Poor Sheep would never have left the farm if not for a nefarious Secret Military Organisation. Its leader, General Specific and his hench-assistant Private Public, are constantly trying to kidnap Sheep so they can use him as a component in a powerful ray gun!
Obviously the BIG CITY is the only place for a sheep to hide. I hear you asking; “Couldn’t General Specific just abduct another sheep?” Unfortunately not, you see the weapon’s already been built and Sheep is the only one who fits in it.
It’s hard for a sheep to adjust to the new world of the BIG CITY with its strange rules. Surviving in the asphalt jungle ain’t no picnic, especially when you’re a sheep in love with a poodle owned by a sheep-hating Rich Lady, you’re being tracked down by an emotionally overwrought Farmer, and you’ve got to pick up your wool at the cleaners!
Sheep in the Big City
(Character Descriptions and Voice Biographies)
SHEEP (voiced by Kevin Seal)
Sheep is an Everysheep. To some, this perplexingly simple character is a paradox, a literal metaphor for the overwhelming alienation experienced by an innocent braving America’s daunting urban landscape for the first time. But to most, he’s just a farm animal, unable to do anything more complicated than grazing. Although ill-equipped to survive in the Big City, Sheep frequently exhibits almost unbelievable resourcefulness—renting an apartment, getting a job, and, most impressively, managing to out-maneuver the unrelenting pursuit of a Secret Military Organization. Sheep’s escapes are made easier by his wool, which can do and conceal just about anything. But it’s Sheep’s befuddled take on city life that makes him so endearing as he discovers modern urban culture, falls in love, and gets run over by traffic.
GENERAL SPECIFIC (voiced by Kevin Seal)
The hot-headed head of a Secret Military Organization whose mission in life is to capture Sheep for use in a sheep-powered ray gun, General Specific is so uptight his teeth and fists are constantly clenched. Surrounded by what he considers idiots, the General can usually be found seething. But this driven soldier has a softer side. He often falls in love with what he thinks are beautiful women, which usually turn out to be Sheep in disguise or large inanimate objects.
KEVIN SEAL
(The Voice of Sheep and General Specific)
Best known for his work on MTV as a video jockey and host of the series Sporting Fool, Kevin Seal is a veteran actor of film, television and theater. In Sheep in the Big City, Seal brings the art of bleating to a new level while also capturing the frustrated, yet authoritative, bark of General Specific. In addition, Seal ends each half-hour by supplying the voice of the Ranting Swede.
FARMER JOHN (voiced by James Godwin)
Your average neurotic, smothering, mothering farmer, Farmer John’s prodigious size and strength cannot hide his neurotic, over-sensitive side. Driven to action by Sheep’s disappearance, Farmer John strikes out for the Big City in search of his kidnapped livestock. He may not be able to bring Sheep back, but at least he’ll get closure.
PRIVATE PUBLIC (voiced by James Godwin)
General Specific’s bumbling, yet devoted, assistant, Private Public is slightly smarter than his boss, but he doesn’t realize it. Private Public also harbors a secret admiration for the cute little Sheep he’s pursuing.
JAMES GODWIN
(The Voice of Farmer John and Private Public)
Providing the melancholy voice of Farmer John and the monotone compliance of Private Public is James Godwin, an actor and puppeteer who founded the Elementals, a puppet company that has performed at numerous venues, including the Jim Henson International Festival of Puppet Theater and the comedy club Caroline’s. Godwin’s puppets have also appeared in commercials and interstitials for products and television networks, including MasterCard, Mattel, MTV’s M2, Nickelodeon’s Action League Now and Saturday Night Live.
NARRATOR (voiced by Ken Schatz)
In the tradition of Rocky & Bullwinkle, Sheep in the Big City features a classic cartoon narrator, but this one has a bit of an attitude. His aloof, reassuring persona is only part of this complex cartoon of a man. He also has a very short fuse, which can cause him to become irate, especially when the plot takes a turn that he finds unrealistic. Sometimes he gets so out of control that a replacement must be found.
KEN SCHATZ
(The Voice of the Narrator)
An actor, singer, director, acting teacher and coach, Ken Schatz keeps the action of Sheep in the Big City moving along by providing the enthusiastic, yet sometimes skeptical, voice of the Narrator. In addition to a prolific acting career in film (Finding Graceland with Harvey Keitel and Bridget Fonda), television (Sesame Street) and theater, Schatz has done voice work for Sesame Street, HBO, and MTV’s Daria. Schatz has also taught acting at several schools, coached actors in numerous films and performed with world-renowned musicians.
LADY RICHINGTON (voiced by Stephanie D’Abruzzo)
Rich, pompous and mean, Lady Richington is sort of a cross between Mrs. Thurston Howell III and a pitbull. She’s prim, yet sometimes exhibits a violent streak that allows her to beat Sheep senseless. Her love for her dog, Swanky, is matched only by her hatred for Sheep.
SWANKY (voiced by Stephanie D’Abruzzo)
Sheep’s love interest, Swanky is hipper and more cosmopolitan than Sheep; nevertheless, she enjoys the attention he gives her. Like Sheep, she’s barely anthropomorphic.
LISA RENTAL (voiced by Stephanie D’Abruzzo)
An annoying, cutesy little girl, Lisa Rental often pretends that Sheep is her “doggie-woggie.” But don’t get in her way, this little girl is a pistol.
STEPHANIE D’ABRUZZO
(The Voice of Lady Richington, Swanky and Lisa Rental)
Stephanie D’Abruzzo makes an ambitious start in her first foray into animation voice-over by providing the voices of mean Lady Richington, swanky Swanky and sweet-and-sour Lisa Rental. D’Abruzzo, however, is no stranger to television, having worked as a Muppet performer since 1993 with the Jim Henson Company for Sesame Street, Disney’s Bear in the Big Blue House and The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss. Additional television credits include Disney Channel’s upcoming series The Book of Pooh, Nickelodeon’s Binyah Binyah!, PBS’s The Puzzle Place and The Learning Channel’s Rory’s Place.
ANGRY SCIENTIST (voiced by Mo Willems)
Head of Research and Development at the Secret Military Organization, this evil genius is always referred to as a “mad” scientist, no matter how many times he reminds everyone that he’s not “mad,” he’s “angry!” His accent is as intense and ridiculous as his attitude.
MO WILLEMS
(The Voice of Angry Scientist, creator/writer/director Sheep in the Big City)
Creator, writer, and director of Sheep in the Big City, Mo Willems also provides the outrageous accent of the Angry Scientist. Willems has done voice work for several of his more than 70 short films for such venues as HBO, MTV, The Tournee of Animation, Spike and Mike, and both the Hiroshima and Cardiff Animation Festivals. He is the creator of Nickelodeon’s The Off-Beats and Sesame Street’s “Suzie Kabloozie” cartoons. Willems has won several ASIFA East awards for his animation, a National Parenting Publication Award for his Funny Face children’s puzzles and three Emmy awards as a writer for Sesame Street.
Sheep in the Big City
(Production Credits)
Chronicling the sardonically perilous adventures of a sheep on the lam, Sheep in the Big City is an all-new, half-hour series about a sheep forced to run away from the farm and hide out in the Big City because a Top Secret Military Organization is after him. Reminiscent of Rocky & Bullwinkle, each half hour of Sheep in the Big City is broken into cliffhanger chapters strung together by an omnipresent narrator, satirical skits and commercial and TV spoofs. Sheep in the Big City premieres on Cartoon Network at 9:30 p.m. (ET, PT) on Fridays, beginning Nov. 17, 2000.
Format: 30-minute animated comedy
Premiere: November 17, 2000
on Cartoon Network
Creator/Writer/Supervising Director: Mo Willems
Directors: Mike de Seve
Maurice Joyce
Sue Perotto
Karen Villarreal
Producer: Kris Greengrove
Writers: Joey Mazzarino
David Wain
Production Manager: Barb Nash
Storyboard Supervisor: Dave Concepcion
Voice Actors: Ruth Buzzi Stephanie D’Abruzzo
James Godwin Joey Mazzarino
Ken Schatz Kevin Seal
David Wain Christine Walters
Mo Willems
Storyboard Artists: Otis Brayboy Kevin Brownie
Tom Connor Tony Eastman
Maurice Fontenot Siobban Mullen-Joyce
Chris McCulloch John Paratore
Matt Peters Bill Presing
Elaine Roche John Wilson
Singers: Maria Abraham Carmine Alers
Everette Bradley Randy Graff
Dee M. Hoty Timothy Weil
Composer: Julian Harris
Sound Design: Pomann Sound
Design Supervisor: Monica Smith
Design Supervisor
Background/Props: Dominie Mahl
Character Designers: Jason McDonald
Jonathan Royce
Mo Willems
Background Designers: Robert Kopecky
Kim Miskoe
Matt Peters
Prop Design: Pat Giles
Color Supervisor: Thessia Machado
Background Painters: John Brandon
Sophie Kittredge
Caren Scarpulla
Color Keyist: Beatriz Ramos
Color Key Assistant: Grace Lu
Production Coordinator: Christine DeKenipp
Storyboard Coordinator: Tom Eaton
Writer’s Assistant: Scott Vincent
Production Accountant: Adam Cruz
Animatic Coordinator: Craig Churaman
Checker: Roger Mejia
Storyboard Revisionists: Roger Mejia
Katherine Sapene
Irene Wu
Design Assistants: Rob Dress
Amanda Saah Baehr
Abigail Nesbitt
Robert Smith
Editor: Dave Courter
Post Supervisor: Marcus Pauls
On-line Editor: Anthony Orkin
Track Reader: Brian Phillipson
Mouth Assignments: Kent Holaday
Post Coordinator: Tom Eaton
Media Manager: Robert Hooman
Animation Services: Rough Draft Studios, Inc.
Production Assistants: Jill Farley
Keith Gardner
Leslie Limerick
Leanne Wiedmayer
Executive Producers: Curious Pictures
Susan Holden
Steve Oakes
David Starr
Mo Willems
Richard Winkler
Executives in Charge of
Production for Cartoon Network: Linda Simensky
Khaki Jones
Jay Bastian
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Welcome to the Big City – Sheep Style!
Series