Review of Home on the Range (2004) by Doctor P — 19 Aug 2011

7th of the Competition Era.

When compared to previous studio outings, "Home on the Range" really lacks in terms of animation. The character designs are not the worst, but they have a flat look to them that only gets worse because the cg around them makes them look even more flat. The film's cg does not mesh well and with the amount used it's fairly noticeable that Disney already wanted to leave traditional animation behind. The film does provide some nice coloring, and the movement isn't to bad but it's minor successes are badly over shadowed. This film provides animation that could best be described as quite possibly the best Disney straight to video animation, only it was theatrical.

This film provides a score that isn't too bad, and will make one feel like they're watching a Western for kids. The songs are decent as well and won't annoy anyone, but it isn't anything special and won't stay in mind long.

Roseanne Barr plays a cow named Maggie, she has some fun moments that are humorous and works well enough as a protagonist for the audience to care for her. Judi Dench and Jennifer Tilly voice the two cows (Mrs. Calloway and Grace respectively) that come along with Maggie on her quest to save their farm, they work pretty well and never annoy or agitate the audience. Racing against the heroines to capture the bad guy is Buck, a stallion voiced by Cuba Gooding Jr. who is pretty funny, but comes off as a talkative version of other silent horses in animated films that were meant to be humorous. Randy Quaid performs well as the film's antagonist Alameda Slim, who acts like a stereotypical evil cowboy, which was of course the intention. The rest of the cast does a pretty good job and will not tire the older audience out.

It's plot is not the most original but it doesn't matter much considering this is meant to be a parody on Western films. The heroines must save their farm because the owner is about to lose it, so they go after an outlaw to get the money and the protagonist Maggie wants revenge because of a previous encounter with him. On the whole it has a lot of laughs... if you're a fan of Westerns, if not one might feel bored throughout it. It's not perfect even for Western fans though considering that some of it's jokes are really more for the young then for the adults, and those are pretty annoying.

"Home on the Range" is a strange film, while enjoyable for the fans of Westerns it can get tedious for them at times, but it is serviceable enough to pass the time with a child without being too annoying or tiresome.

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