Home on the Range (2004)
(Release Date: April 2, 2004)
(But I saw it on March 27, 2004... go ME!)


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Disney gives us a classically animated film that's actually funny again!
The World's Silliest Critic!!!
J.C. Maçek III
The World's Greatest Critic!



Somewhere along the way Disney got pretentious and started making animated films that had to mean something, forgetting that a long time ago in a Galaxy far, far away (Burbank, California), Disney movies were fun and funny, didn't cost as much as the Bush Tax Cut to make, and actually left people feeling delighted!

Well, cowboy, check out Disney's latest western, Home on the Range! Finally a funny movie without preachy pretense but with classic animation that evokes more memories of the old Mickey, Goofy, Donald short films than it does Pocahontas.

And get this plot: A Fair Show-Cow finds a new home at a farm on the edge of foreclosure, so she, two other cows with issues of their own, a Horse with a comic-book fantasy life to rival anything in American Splendor and a Peg-Legged Rabbit Shaman embark on a quest to capture a cattle-rustler with hallucinogenic powers in order to collect the reward money to save the farm.

If you're thinking this plot sounds a trifle ridiculous... you're right, podnuh!

This is one of the most absolutely silly films I've ever seen with enough insane moments to keep Freud and Jung's disciples in Rolls Royces for eons! It's also got more laughs than you can probably expect in a mere 76 minute film. Will Finn and John Sanford who wrote and directed Home on the Range as a Dynamic Duo weren't trying to make Citizen Kane or even The Hunchback of Notre Dame when they made this movie! What were they trying to make? They were trying to make you laugh! I say, let 'em! Your face won't crack!

Roseanne Cherrie Barr-Pentland-Arnold-Thomas-Barr
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(actually using the name "Barr" in the credits) brings Maggie the award-winning cow to life with typical Roseanne mannerisms and without any of the shrill annoyances that she sometimes has been known for. Her complete lack of coordination with the two other cows in the triumvirate Mrs. Calloway (Judi Dench at her funniest) and Grace (Jennifer Tilly) make for some hilarious moments early on. They manage to make a pretty gosh darned funny team as the story continues. Cuba Gooding Junior (!) gives us Buck, the Sheriff’s horse looking to become an action hero. As strange as the casting might sound, there's no one better for this role! Lucky Jack the Desert Hare Shaman is brought to his most southern by Charles Haid, and has to be seen to be believed! There are more Hijinks surrounding this guy than the main characters! Randy Quaid is probably the least recognizable as the psychedelic Cow Rustler Alameda Slim (AKA Y. O'Dell). Randy is as hilarious as Al Gore is Dull!

Many of the funniest moments are just Icing on the Cake, having little to do with the plot! Every animal on the farm brings something outrageous to the scenery, and more often than not steal their scenes. Where the plot gets ridiculous is where the film gets best! There's more silliness in these seventy-six minutes than in the entire Vice-Presidency of Dan Quayle.

The Animation is classic, with the visible black lines and 2-D not really competing with Woody and Buzz at all. Again, this is a classic-style Disney Comedy, and should be viewed as such. Think of the old Short Films with the three Disney Greats. Also, there are a few songs again, not so much an out-and-out musical like The Little Mermaid, but there's much more than just Phil Collins crooning over the character assassination of Edgar Rice Burroughs.

All in all considering what this film is and tries to be this is a great movie for the kids and the adults. There's little lowbrow humor at all (but enough to earn a PG Rating), there's some cartoonish violence, and there's more silliness than a Paul Rubens Retrospective. Three and One Half Stars for Disney's Home on the Range! You might not come out feeling like you did after Miracle or Lord of the Rings (and if you did, the producers might look at you funny), but you will come out laughing your Udders off.

MMMMMMMMMMMMMM... Uuuuuuuuudders!


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Home on the Range (2004) reviewed by J.C. Maçek III
who is solely responsible for any and every BarnYard Movie,
any Kazaa-Traded pictures of
Jonathan Davis
and for the proliferation of Josh Homme albums
throughout the Middle East!
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