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Bryan Winnewisser says...

Home on the Range" sees the closure of the traditional animation unit at Disney after a successful 44 film legacy that began with "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs". It's a sad fact of life that CGI has become the dominate form for animation. It's a pity as I could easily see the two co-existing. A very funny comedy, "Home on the Range" tells the story of three cows, a karate kicking horse named Buck and others from the farm who try and prevent the foreclosure of their home the Patch of Heaven diary farm. An evil and greedy outlaw named Alameda Slim (Randy Quaid) wants the land for himself. He uses his unique hypnotic yodeling to lure the cattle away from the farm in hopes of shipping them off to less green pastures. Featuring songs performed by The Beu Sisters, k. d. lang, Bonnie Riatt and Tim McGraw, "Home on the Range" is a marvelous and funny cartoon that the whole family can enjoy. The breezy direction by Will Finn and John Sanford (who also wrote the script) along with a witty script make this last traditional animated feature a Disney classic from the get go.



A beautifully rendered transfer free of analog or digital blemishes, the 1.66:1 aspect ratio means that this film will look great on both traditional TV sets and widescreen models as well. The bright colors and smooth animation come to life in a carefully wrought DVD. The sound doesn't have any hint of compression errors and comes across with tremendous presence and a nice spread in the surround speakers.



Disney corrals a whole bunch of features for the DVD. We get a very funny animated short "A Diary Tale: The Three Little Pigs" which also played with the movie in theaters. There's also four deleted scenes with introductions by the director/writers. While some of the deleted scenes aren't quite finished, they're quite charming. The directors provide their reasoning behind cutting these scenes. There's a great little music video "Anytime You Need a Friend" incorporating some of the elements from the feature. We also get a 16 minute documentary on the making of the film which provides lots of neat tidbits that even kids will enjoy. Finally we have three games/activities for the kids. The "Yodel Memory Game" and "Yodel Maker DVD-ROM" will provide distraction for a couple of hours. While their not up to the more advanced DVD-ROM games we've seen introduced on movies for tweens and teens, their fun enough where most kids will enjoy them. We also get "The Joke Corral" which features jokes that were deleted from the feature film for one reason or another. A funny and entertaining commentary track from the directors will keep animation buffs entertained. There are moments here that will be over most kids heads though.



If this is, indeed, the last traditional animation feature we see from Disney (the company's Australian unit will continue to produce direct-to-video and TV fare in the traditional hand drawn style), then it's a great farewell that matches some of the best Disney has produced over the years. It may not quite have the appeal of "Aladdin" or "The Lion King" but its atmosphere of Looney Tunes humor crossed with the more traditional witty Disney humor makes it a worthwhile movie to watch with the kids. The extras might make this worth purchasing for most parents as well. The DVD-ROM features will provide a bit of entertainment independent of the feature film and the short cartoon and music video are also fun. Although this didn't do all that well at the box office (it only pulled in roughly $50 million to the $110 million budget), don't let that prevent you from viewing or purchasing this DVD. Unlike some other Disney features that failed to succeed, this one certainly deserved to do so.

Posted on September 11, 2011

Marcelle Jasmann says...

I am in that period of my life where I am watching a lot of children's programming.The tendency is to start to impose my own adult tastes on these children's movies.I think this is because the bar has been raised with Shrek and other movies that plant plenty of jokes for the parents.



The problem with Home on the Range is the adult jokes are just mildly humorous.The joke does not as much make you laugh as it makes you say to yourself, "Oh yes, they are trying to make me laugh.Cute."



Well guess what, that does not really matter.I have a four year old little girl that loves horses and a two year old boy who loves whatever his sister loves.They talk about that movie non-stop.And they have only seen it twice!



Heaven help me.When the DVD comes out, I will see it another 2...hundred times!!



Bottom line.The people who should like this movie do, not some grown-up reviewing kid's movies with the same scrutiny of a Sundance entry.

Posted on September 11, 2011

Cristin Nissen says...

Disney's last hand-drawn feature isn't a Disney film at all; it's an attempt to make a Warner Brothers Looney Tune feature, which is as sad an end to Disney's legacy as I can think of.To abandon all that made the studio great and try to ape another's success is a sure sign of management's faithlessness in Disney's legacy.

Things start off well enough when a decidedly unlucky rabbit continually gets into ever more hilarious situations (getting run over by a wagon wheel, stuck by a cactus, bitten by a snake, you get the idea).It was the one moment in the film where the audience as a whole was laughing.But after this sequence, I only heard sporadic chuckles.

Although the fast pace and simplistic story accurately mimic the Looney Tunes shorts, the characters aren't nearly as entertaining.None have charisma of Bugs, Daffy or even Pepe Le Peu.Without strong characters the comedy comes off hollow and didn't hold my (nor the audiences' it seemed) interest.The film is a brisk 71 minutes or so, but I was looking at my watch anyways.Someone sitting next to me even fell asleep!

There seems to be a general lack of imagination in this film.The one exception being the completely unexpected way in which the cows are being stolen.It's a great idea that had the potential to be classic moment in Disney animation, but feels roped in, constipated, as if the filmmakers were afraid to trust the idea and let it guide the action.

Young children will mostly enjoy this film while it lasts but it's sure to be forgotten soon afterward.There are a few jokes that are meant for older audiences, but it's not enough to make a lasting impression.This film will be best enjoyed on DVD as a babysitter.

Posted on September 11, 2011

Page Cainne says...

Critically applauded and commercially ignored, The Emperor's New Groove is one of Disney's best, and more importantly innovative, animated films (excluding Pixar releases). Home on the Range is a return to Kuzco's standards with a design very reminisent of a 1950's Tex Avery cartoon and a sparklingly funny script. Following the disappointing (Atlantis), the over-rated (Lilo and Stitch, Brother Bear) and the down-right poor (Treasure Planet) Disney required a Lion King-size hit. This wasn't it.

The sad fact is that this has been branded (no pun intended!) as Disney's last theatrical '2D' (traditinally animated) movie. Chicken Little will start the CGI ball rolling next year and Mickey Mouse has already been 'fleshed out' in Twice Upon a Christmas. This is all a shame as this film does point to Disney Feature Animation heading off in a direction away from the tried and tested (or more to the point 'tired and testing') and showing more of the spirit that resulted in films like Snow White, Fantasia, The Little Mermaid and Who Framed Roger Rabbit. The problem is that this film had a lot of expectations attached to it and although it's a well written, witty (although hardly memorable) film, it's no Aladdin. Also, going back to my comparison to Emperor's New Groove this film seems to have suffered the fate of 'down-sizing' at some point as Emperor did after Dreamworks' Road to Eldorado failed to be a hit.

With Disney as erratic with it's live-action films as with it's animated - 'Pirates of the Carribbean' versus 'The Haunted Mansion' anyone? - we live in hope that the studio that started and influenced them all can still compete - and beat - Pixar, Dreamworks, Fox et al. when it comes to it's future animation. Shark Tale certainly proved that CGI does not compensate for a weak script and OTT vocal performances (stand up Will Smith!)Let's see Disney win a Best Animated Feature Oscar with out John Lasseter's help for crying out loud!

There is still a place for traditional animation in our cinemas, after all, would 'Beauty and the Beast' or 'The Lion King' flop if released now just because they weren't computer-generated? I think not. As Pixar has shown, it's the script that must always come first (perfect animation is the icing on the cake) - a motto that the House of Mouse seems to have sadly forgotten.

Posted on September 13, 2011

Teri Wallenbrock says...

You'd think a Disney movie should be safe to share with kids, but this movie has pretty much non-stop senseless violence. It was supposed to be funny, but it definitely was not. Just mean spirited. Shame on Disney for this movie.

Posted on September 13, 2011

Adella Sebasovich says...

As Disney's last effort in traditional animation, this film is forever cursed with being in the shadows of all the Disney greats that came before it. Certainly it doesn't live up to the spectacular visuals of Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella; its soundtrack isn't as good as The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast, its characters aren't as interesting as Aladdin or The Lion King, its down home humor and storytelling isn't as sophisticated as that found in Pinocchio or Snow White.



Yet all on its own, this is a delightful tale of three very different cows uniting for the common good - saving their farm, as well as all cattle from a nefarious yodeling bandit named Alameda Slim.Roseanne Barr is very engaging and likeable in the role and really steps out of herself. Dame Judi Dench is masterful as usual, lending a fiery bravado to her role.And the inimitable Jennifer Tilly as Grace the New Age Flake cow is hysterical, especially with the original use of tonedeafness and hypnotic yodeling as superpowers.



The soundtrack is upbeat, authentic and thoughtful - not just country but country Western in flavor, and the songs by Bonnie Raitt and kd lang stand out as most memorable.The dialogue is intelligent and sparkles with with for virtually every character (excepting possibly the extraneous horse played by Cuba Gooding, Jr., who the movie could have easily done without).There were a couple of very, very colorful double entendres involving bulls, cows and mating puns that raised my eyebrows, but are sure to fly over the heads of anyone under age 10.



This movie may not be "as good as" the giants of the Disney studio, but it's a solid effort, a funny film, with really cute characters, bold animation, and a very heartwarming tale.It may not make anyone's top ten list, but I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it.

Posted on September 14, 2011

Jeffery Marinoni says...

This has to be one of the worst of the Disney Cartoons. It was not a very smart movie it was ment for kids 3-6. That is about it. Many of the others are 'smart' cartoons that the whole family would enjoy. It felt very Warner Brothers.



The issue I have is that Disney stated that no one was going to see the 'cartoon movies' anymore. That is only because they haven't written/drawn a 'smart' movie for a long time. People are looking for another Beauty and the Beast, Tarzan,and Little Mermaid. This movie doesn't match up to those.



It feels like a Saturday morning cartoon. I was dissapointed and I am a HUGE Disney fan!

Posted on September 14, 2011

Coreen Tomkins says...

HOME ON THE RANGE is rock-bottom Disney animation.It's amazing to believe the studio that produced memorable classics could turn out a movie as bad as this (yes, it's worse than HERCULES and TREASURE PLANET).The wire-thin storyline, which involves barnyard animals on the trail of an outlaw who can hypnotize animals by singing (huh?) is needlessly stretched out for 76 minutes (which is 70 minutes too long) with forced, unfunny gags, frantic but lifeless sequences and lame characterizations.The animation, usually a high point in a Disney feature, is both pedestrian and unappealing to look at.Alan Menken supplies the music, but like the movie, his tunes are banal, insepid, and unappealing, even weaker than his work for HERCULES.Failed Disney cartoons don't have to be this horrific; case in point:THE BLACK CAULDRON and ATLANTIS-THE LOST EMPIRE fell short financially and were flawed, but both movies made an attempt to be something more complex and adult-oriented than typical Disney fare (I actually liked both of those films).This film, on the other hand, is a big step backward, and the hectic, pedestrian execution ultimately cripples it.It's disheartening that this may be the last traditionally animated feature we may see from Disney, and even more unfortunate that they chose to go out with a flop as insidious as this.Uncle Walt would surely turn over in his grave if he found out his studio ever produced this film.

Posted on September 14, 2011

Janean Zapel says...

"Home on the Range" is the last Disney traditionally animated film due to the increasing demand for computer animation. This film has a lot of heart, and the story hits close to home. Maggie(Roseanne Barr) is a prize winning show cow. When the other cows on her farm where stolen by Alameda Slim, her owner had to sell the farm and give Maggie away to Pearl at Patch of Heaven. The farm appears to be just what it's name suggests, but Pearl has fallen into trouble with the bank, and the farm will be auctioned off if she can't get the money she needs. When the cows hear about the bounty put on caddle rustler Alameda Slim, they set out on a wild west adventure to capture him and collect the reward money to save the farm. However, there are other people after Slim, so it becomes a hilarious race. The film is rated PG, but there really wasn't anything too bad. The reason for the PG rating is burping and slaptick violence. The violence is exactly like what you would see in a Looney Tunes cartoon. That big long lump even appears on peoples heads. I don't think parents will have a problem with the content of this film.

The style of animation is very good. The scenery is so pretty, and the animals are so cute. The voice work is amazing. Dame Judy Dench provides the voice to lead cow on Patch of Heaven, Mrs. Calloway. I wouldn't have pegged Dench to play a western cow, seeing as she is british, but it really does work well, giving her the feeling that she thinks she is better than everybody else. Jenifer Tilly is the voice of my favorite cow in the film, Grace. Grace is a little slow and very peaceful. She provides most of the comic releif during the film. Randy Quaid is the voice of the yodelling outlaw, Alameda Slim. He really is perfect at it, creating the second funnyist Disney villain, just next to Yzma from "The Emporor's New Groove."

"Home on the Range" is the type of Disney film that will please everybody. It has a great story, as well as good humor, and a lot of heart.

Posted on September 15, 2011

Chassidy Zeger says...

I hate be negative.....what a disappointment.A cute story with tons of potential. Roseanne is the main cow character.She farts continually throughout the movie....a complete disappointment.

Posted on September 25, 2011