Aardman Animations has found an American home for its internationally successful children's property SHAUN THE SHEEP. The animated series, which just last week won the Cristal Award as Best TV Production at the Annecy Animated Film Festival, will premiere on Disney Channel on Sunday, July 8, 2007, in primetime. Since its successful launch as the most viewed show at Mipcom 2006, the property has sold to primary broadcasters in 145 territories including Australia, New Zealand, Spain, Germany, India, France, Benelux, Japan and Latin America.

Targeted at kids 5-10, SHAUN THE SHEEP follows the comedic misadventures of a young sheep who leads his barnyard buddies into all sorts of calamitous situations, turning peace in the valley into mayhem in the meadow. As a character, Shaun was first introduced in director Nick Park's Oscar-winning animated short, A CLOSE SHAVE. While the rest of the flock is content to spend all day chewing on the cud, Shaun is out to have as much fun as possible -- whether flying a kite, organizing synchronized swimming in the water troth or nipping into town for a pizza.

"Shaun was always destined to be the star of his own show," says Miles Bullough, Aardman's head of broadcast and exec producer of the series. "The show has been hugely popular with broadcasters around the world and we're thrilled that Disney Channel will bring its enormous marketing expertise to his American debut."