Shaun the sheep...

From a game I am developing...

This sheep looks like something very bad is happening soon! :)

Nice work!

lol - cute sheep !

hehe... very cool creation!

You realise you'll get sued by Aardman Studios? :)

Shaun the Sheep was a character in Nick Park's 'Wallace & Gromit "A Close Shave"' and looked not unlike yours.

At the end of the day, a sheep is a sheep so I guess you'd get away with a name-change. :)

I tought he looked familiar :P

Hey, it's sheepman :)

Hahah strange thing is I created myn before he created his.
http://www.acoders.com/acsite/dlindex.php (see sheepwars)

At leasst I think I did. Luckily, the character is different enough for it to not matter. Notice the color in fur, and the fact he stands on two legs, and will be wielding an uzi or rocket launcher XD

No wonder, I thought he looked familiar too !

Of course he looks familiar. They're both sheep, you dimmocks! "Wow, that animated sheep doesn't half remind me of an animated sheep..." ;)

Hmm, well in this case it's an animated sheep with the exact same name (granted it's quite an obvious name to give a sheep) - but it looks virtually identical in every respect... except that he's standing on 2 legs. It's true that any sheep model is going to look kind of like that. But even so that's still a very close resemblance.

Probably get away with it though. A name change would help.

And minus the woolly jumper gag (although that helps very little... releasing somebody else's IP-but-without-a-certain-feature hardly provides protection). Sheep are kinda famous for looking and acting the same but, all messing about (see previous smiley) aside, I have to admit that I personally wouldn't risk trying to publish that character as-is. Even if skn3[ac] is correct in his assertion that his character predates Aardman's, he has still failed to protect his copyright via a legal challenge and may have lost it by now. Perhaps someone more familiar with the legal system could clarify where skn3[ac] is likely to stand.



This just makes things worse. Using a recognisable characters out of context, say Mickey Mouse pimping Minnie and Pluto to Goofy (don't dwell on it), is arguably an even greater transgression of IP than just copying them outright. Aardman wont want (its) Shaun T. Sheep associating with the gratuitous violence that (skn3[ac]'s) Shaun T. Sheep will be tooled up for. I would get a legal opinion on whether there is enough difference between the two Shauns before putting any more time and effort into the character and CERTAINLY approach the intended publisher to find out if they view such content as contentious. If nobody will touch your game due to IP issues then, at the end of the day, all else is moot.

The characters are totaly different though. True, if was creating a character called "Micky a mouse", that looked identical, there would be some issue.



This is (apprently) from some advert in america. Now whilst my sheep, and the sheep owned by Aardman all look similar, there is no real connection outside of the fact they are lambs.


A better view of what shaun in wallace and gromit looks like

My character looks nothing liek this. IT doesn't have the same skin color, doesn't have the same fur color. It doesn't have the same ears, eyes mouth. Myn has hand like hoofs, and it stands on two feet. Oh, it doesn't have a tail either.

Saying they look indentical, or anywhere close, is a gross exageration.

Granted I cant use the name "shaun the sheep" in my game. But it does not mean I can't use a sheep character.

I think to solve the problem I will have to subtly change the name. The name "shawn" will do. The only reason i am staying even close to the name is i have a story to stick too form the previous game. I can't just suddenly change my characters name to "bob ferkin".

Oh, and one final note. Should I worry about farmers trying to sue me?
They might own some sheep that look vaugly like my character.....

"Shorn" would be funnier.

I think you do underestimate the similarities. That American sheep, I would actually consider to be a direct Nick Park rip-off, whereas yours I could see as being just very, very similar. But still, I think you'll be safe enough.

Looks sweet, what type of game is it?
If the name is that big of a deal why not change the spelling to Shawn the Sheep, I think its fin though

Looks sweet, what type of game is it?
If the name is that big of a deal why not change the spelling to Shawn the Sheep, I think its fin though

Dude, you HAVE to get me a render of him with a flamethrower for my sig!!!

Yeah - everyone is banging on about Nick Park's IP rights... and no-one leapt to the defence of T-Bogard - a member of our own community, with his (admittedly gramatically incorrect !) well-known tagline.

@skn3[ac]: Nice model - very cute/cartoony feel to it - should fit in nicely to a 'docile animals with Big Guns game.' I like the cotton-wool/marshmallow body - will this stuff swell& pop when it gets roasted ? Sufficiently different from Aardman's creation not to be a worry.

@T-Bogard: Sue his ass - go for the jugular. Take him for every penny/cent he owns ;-)

Haha no probs TBog. .. i'll remember to post it when its done . Just practicing with some bones at the moment. I have still gotta master them !

perhaps the other sheep was made by aardman for the commercial?

I like 'Bob Ferkin' - much more distinguished than 'Shawn'

You could also use 'lamb' instead of 'sheep'

e.g

Ross Lamb or Legov Lamb etc

Or a female programming sheep called Lamb-ada.

The Sheep Racing Driver - Lamb Borgini.

foppy> thats a dance you fool :-p

He's cute. "I want to hug him and kiss him and call him George."

Actually, with that bobble hat, I'd cal him Craaaaaaaig Daaaaaavid. Bo' Selecta!

How many polys, BTW - what with all those woollen bobbles?

What about the sheep martial artist doing Lamb Chops? - (quackly ducks!)

or

the one delivering mail, Lamb Post?

or

the bright sheep burning the late night candle - Lamb Light (sorry Mr. Essex).


IPete2.

It tell you what skn3[ac] that really is an awesome looking model that mate. Boy I want to start modelling!!! :) Could you tell me how you went about designing it please mate, as I'm not kidding you there, when I say that is remarkable. And I would like to now any tips and pointers that you could give me, please. Very much appreciate it. Thank you. It's pretty something that, can't wait to see the game you're going to be using it in too. Is it ready yet, btw?

I too am a big fan of Wallace and gromit, and the sheep is an ace looking model. Well Done!!!

Wheres my flamethrower sheep? I will sue for trademark infringement soon... ;)