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
The Dog and the Sheep told by Phaedrus records the fate reserved to liars. A dog took a sheep to law over a loaf that he claimed to have given it and was supported by a wolf called as witness. Though the sheep lost the case, it later came across the wolf dead in a ditch and drew the moral that this was as a result of heavenly punishment. After the social breakdown of the Middle Ages, the fable’s focus changed to misuse of justice and the fate of the poor in the many Latin versions recording it. Walter of England’s fable is much grimmer.