Shaun the Sheep at all, even from the human characters; simple grunts, bleats, pointing, sighs, mutterings, words, and similar wordless inflections are all used to indicate each character's moods and motives. There are also no readable words in any episode, although "Bitzer" can be seen on a dog bowl, and—in series four--"Mossy Bottom Farm" on a gate, in the original English-language title sequence. All other signage, such as on a pizza box or a bus stop, is replaced by an illegible scrawl and a picture. Shaun the Sheep's first appearance was in "Wallace & Gromit"s third short feature, the Academy Award-winning "A Close
Shaun the Sheep Stage" found "characterisation charming and the animation superb. All this before even a mention of how funny and splendidly slapstick the script is." The Guardian noted that the series "hits the four-to-seven-year-old age group smack in the eye." Gareth Owen, the producer of the series, said Shaun the Sheep is aimed at viewers "aged four to seven, though in reality, the age range is four to 87", as the series became popular among all different age-groups. Charles Arthur wrote "classic Aardman style that leaves me laughing out loud." As with the series' parent show Wallace and Gromit, there are many