Home on the Range Movie Review:


There's nothing terribly new about this animated Disney feature, but it's still engaging good fun, while the design has a nicely wacky Looney Tunes feel to it. It's a story about three Wild West cows--the bossy Maggie (voiced by Barr), the fastidious Mrs Calloway (Dench) and the ditsy Grace (Tilly)--who set out on an adventure to capture the cattle rustler Alameda Slim (Quaid) so they can claim the reward money and save their farm. Meanwhile, the arrogant horse Buck (Gooding) is also after the villain, so he can prove what a hero he is.

And that's about it. But the film is jammed with comical touches--adult humour for the grown-ups and silly slapstick for the kids--that will keep viewers entertained. The lively and extremely witty vocal work is up to the usual high Disney standards; Barr, Dench and Tilly are perfectly cast, Quaid is hilarious as the yodelling baddie, and animators have a ball creating the slimy yellow-toothed lowlife Wesley, who looks hilariously like Buscemi! Meanwhile, the animation is livelier and more colourful than usual, with a playful sense of the absurd and an eye-popping take on the expansive desert landscapes. There are also a couple of catchy tunes, including a gorgeous KD Lang song that'll actually make you want to buy the soundtrack (although the big yodelling number will have you thinking twice!).

The only problem is a general lack of originality and ambition. It's just a fluffy and very silly little film with lots of amusing asides and sight gags. Why is Disney content to paint-by-numbers animated films that seem designed merely for video sales? What happened to their groundbreaking work in this genre? Although a few lively set pieces stick in the mind (most notably the Disneyland rollercoaster-like mine chase), it's pretty forgettable really. But it will keep you chuckling for a little over an hour, which is a lot more than most Hollywood comedies at the moment.

Rich Cline

Living on a farm called “Patch of Heaven” couldn’t get any better for dairy cows Grace (Tilly) and Mrs Calloway (Dench). Even the distraction of a new cow called Maggie (Roseanne) joining the very small herd can’t upset the tranquillity. Everything is perfect until the girls find out that their owner Pearl (Cook) can’t afford the mortgage repayments and the farm has been put up for auction. Fearing what will happen next, Maggie comes up with a plan. They’ll capture the state’s most notorious bandit Alameda Slim (Quaid) and use the reward money to pay off Pearl’s debt.

This could be the last traditional 2D animated feature that Disney ever make but is Home on the Range a good enough effort to strive off its untimely demise? The answer is no.

Whilst this movie is a much better effort from the traditional Disney department, Home on the Range just doesn’t have what it takes to compete with the movies that Pixar, PDI and the other 3D studios are producing. The main problem is the slightness of the story. It is basically cows become bounty hunters and have an adventure. That’s it, nothing more and for a very short 76 minutes that is all we get. This is what the 2D department of Disney have been lacking from their productions over the last few years and why they have been unable to produce anything that the viewing public has really taken to their hearts since their last triumph Tarzan in 1999.

What Home on the Range does have going for it is some good, fun characters. Roseanne, Judi Dench and Jennifer Tilly make Maggie, Mrs Calloway and Grace instantly loveable characters. The though of three dairy cows becoming bounty hunters is quite a funny proposition and the three actresses really bring the characters to life. Roseanne is her usual confident self and this makes Maggie the wise-cracker of the group who provides many of the laughs. Judi Dench’s Mrs Calloway brings class to the proceeding and isn’t scared to bring some upper-class comedy of her own to the table. Jennifer Tilly plays hippy cow Grace to perfection, you just can’t image anyone else voicing this role.

Accompanying the three ladies is a very funny vocal performance from Cuba Gooding Jr as Buck, the sheriff’s house who dreams of adventure and been the hero. This horse Kung-Fu action is one of the funniest scenes in the movie. Randy Quaid portrays another memorable Disney villain in Alameda Slim, the no-good cattle rustler whose dulcet, yodelling tones can bend any cow to his will. Add to this a couple of good guest appearances from Steve Buscemi and Estelle Harris and you have the best 2D vocal ensemble in a long while.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with Home on the Range, it is very good family entertainment but this probably isn’t the swansong that Disney’s Traditional Animation Department would have wanted. This is more akin to The Emperor’s New Groove than classics like The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast and The Lion. Sadly those types of movies are now from a bygone age.

Star Rating = * * *

Jamie Kelwick

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