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04-02-2004, 01:38 PM
Original Article: MOVIE REVIEW: 'Home on the Range' (http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2004/Apr-02-Fri-2004/weekly/23543545.html)
MOVIE REVIEW: 'Home on the Range'
Mooving On: 'Home on the Range,' Disney's last traditional animated movie, doesn't rank among the studio's classics
By CAROL CLING
REVIEW-JOURNAL
Don't have a cow.
Have three: the true-blue bovine heroines of "Home on the Range."
Disney's latest (and, apparently, last) traditional, hand-drawn, home-grown animated feature rounds up a passel of rootin'-tootin' characters for a wacky Western spoof that's light -- and slight, to boot.
With computer-animated features (from "Toy Story" to "Shrek" to "Finding Nemo") dominating animation, Disney doesn't have a traditional, hand-animated feature in production for the first time in seven decades. (Disney has pink-slipped hundreds of animators at its Southern California studio and shuttered animation units in Florida and France.)
The studio's penultimate traditional cartoon, last fall's "Brother Bear" (which is just now hitting home video), boasted resplendent imagery to go with its heavy-handed moralizing.
Fortunately, "Home on the Range" dispenses with the strained storytelling and omnipresent message-mongering, relying instead on hip, flip humor to add spark to its simple "save the farm" tale.
But there's not quite enough spark -- and definitely not enough substance -- to lift "Home on the Range" into the rarefied realm occupied by that endangered species, the genuine Disney animated classic.
At least there's enough in "Home on the Range" to keep the kiddies happily entranced while the grown-ups smile indulgently and recall their own thrilling days of yesteryear, back when they were little buckaroos riding the TV range with the Lone Ranger and other white-hat Western heroes.
This time, however, it's the cows, not the cowboys, who save the day.
In "Home on the Range's" corner of the West -- "Out in the land where the weak are target practice," as the movie's lusty, full-of-gusto theme song attests -- a mysterious land baron named Y. O'Dell is snapping up bankrupt spreads faster than a sidewinder can strike.
The next homestead in his sights: a pretty-as-pie dairy farm "left of Nebraska and over a crest, on a little patch of heaven way out West."
Fittingly enough, it's called Patch of Heaven, and the proprietor, Pearl (voiced by stage veteran Carole Cook), has three days to come up with the mortgage money or see her place auctioned to the highest bidder -- who's certain to be the nefarious Y. O'Dell.
Clearly, now is the time when all good cows must come to the aid of their prairie home companions.
Which prompts a pair of Patch of Heaven bovines to ponder action: Mrs. Calloway (voiced by imperious "Shakespeare in Love" Oscar-winner Judi Dench), the oh-so-proper barnyard boss, and kinder, gentler Grace (voiced by breathy Jennifer Tilly), a soothing New Age type.
Good thing there's a new cow in the pasture to offer advice: Maggie (voiced with deadpan sarcasm by Roseanne Barr). A sassy show cow with vast experience venturing into the wider world, Maggie convinces her new cow compatriots to hit the trail and help save the farm.
And a $750 bounty on notorious super-size cattle rustler Alameda Slim (voiced by Randy Quaid, in boisterous bad-guy form) would be just enough to retire the mortgage and ensure the farm's future.
That is, assuming the Patch of Heaven trio can keep from falling under the hypnotic spell of Slim's thrilling, trilling yodeling. (Or, as his dim-witted assistants sing while Slim's working his wizardry, "He's a pioneer Pied Piper in 10-gallon underpants!")
Other colorful characters turn up along the "Home on the Range" trail, from Buck (voiced by the hyperactive Cuba Gooding Jr.), a high-kicking horse with varmint-vanquishing aspirations, to Lucky Jack (voiced by a by-cracky Charles Haid), a peg-legged jackrabbit of all trades.
Writer-directors Will Finn and John Sanford, making their directorial debuts with "Home on the Range," keep things mooving along. As they ride herd, however, the moovie never develops its own distinctive rhythm.
"Home on the Range's" frenetic action sequences and contemporary, wisecrack-laden dialogue frequently seem like Looney Tunes that have escaped from the Warner Bros. cartoon stable. (I kept expecting the Road Runner to zoom by with Wile E. Coyote in hot pursuit.)
And, considering the movie's wide-open Western setting, much of the imagery seems curiously muted, marked by flat backgrounds and crayon-box colors.
Most frustrating of all, "Home on the Range" can't decide whether it's a musical or not, all but wasting the return of composer Alan Menken, who helped define Disney's animation renaissance with the Oscar-winning music for such delights as "The Little Mermaid" and "Beauty and the Beast."
Except in one crucial instance, Menken's rangy "Home on the Range" songs -- featuring Glenn Slater's whip-smart lyrics -- are sung over the action (by the likes of k.d. lang and Bonnie Raitt), not by the characters.
As a result, it's no accident that the sole exception -- Alameda Slim's hilariously hypnotic "Yodel-Adle-Eedle-Idle-Oo," in which he mesmerizes an entire cattle herd with his yelpin' artistry -- emerges as "Home on the Range's" one classic sequence. Its swirling mix of kaleidoscopic animation and toe-tapping melody recalls such triumphs as the "Be Our Guest" number from "Beauty and the Beast" and "Dumbo's" trippy "Pink Elephants on Parade," giving "Home on the Range" the kind of delirious energy it so desperately needs. (And could use a lot more of.)
Way out West, however, you make the most of what's on hand.
And traditional Disney animation could do worse than ride off into the sunset with "Home on the Range."
Then again, it could also do so much better.
MOVIE REVIEW: 'Home on the Range'
Mooving On: 'Home on the Range,' Disney's last traditional animated movie, doesn't rank among the studio's classics
By CAROL CLING
REVIEW-JOURNAL
Don't have a cow.
Have three: the true-blue bovine heroines of "Home on the Range."
Disney's latest (and, apparently, last) traditional, hand-drawn, home-grown animated feature rounds up a passel of rootin'-tootin' characters for a wacky Western spoof that's light -- and slight, to boot.
With computer-animated features (from "Toy Story" to "Shrek" to "Finding Nemo") dominating animation, Disney doesn't have a traditional, hand-animated feature in production for the first time in seven decades. (Disney has pink-slipped hundreds of animators at its Southern California studio and shuttered animation units in Florida and France.)
The studio's penultimate traditional cartoon, last fall's "Brother Bear" (which is just now hitting home video), boasted resplendent imagery to go with its heavy-handed moralizing.
Fortunately, "Home on the Range" dispenses with the strained storytelling and omnipresent message-mongering, relying instead on hip, flip humor to add spark to its simple "save the farm" tale.
But there's not quite enough spark -- and definitely not enough substance -- to lift "Home on the Range" into the rarefied realm occupied by that endangered species, the genuine Disney animated classic.
At least there's enough in "Home on the Range" to keep the kiddies happily entranced while the grown-ups smile indulgently and recall their own thrilling days of yesteryear, back when they were little buckaroos riding the TV range with the Lone Ranger and other white-hat Western heroes.
This time, however, it's the cows, not the cowboys, who save the day.
In "Home on the Range's" corner of the West -- "Out in the land where the weak are target practice," as the movie's lusty, full-of-gusto theme song attests -- a mysterious land baron named Y. O'Dell is snapping up bankrupt spreads faster than a sidewinder can strike.
The next homestead in his sights: a pretty-as-pie dairy farm "left of Nebraska and over a crest, on a little patch of heaven way out West."
Fittingly enough, it's called Patch of Heaven, and the proprietor, Pearl (voiced by stage veteran Carole Cook), has three days to come up with the mortgage money or see her place auctioned to the highest bidder -- who's certain to be the nefarious Y. O'Dell.
Clearly, now is the time when all good cows must come to the aid of their prairie home companions.
Which prompts a pair of Patch of Heaven bovines to ponder action: Mrs. Calloway (voiced by imperious "Shakespeare in Love" Oscar-winner Judi Dench), the oh-so-proper barnyard boss, and kinder, gentler Grace (voiced by breathy Jennifer Tilly), a soothing New Age type.
Good thing there's a new cow in the pasture to offer advice: Maggie (voiced with deadpan sarcasm by Roseanne Barr). A sassy show cow with vast experience venturing into the wider world, Maggie convinces her new cow compatriots to hit the trail and help save the farm.
And a $750 bounty on notorious super-size cattle rustler Alameda Slim (voiced by Randy Quaid, in boisterous bad-guy form) would be just enough to retire the mortgage and ensure the farm's future.
That is, assuming the Patch of Heaven trio can keep from falling under the hypnotic spell of Slim's thrilling, trilling yodeling. (Or, as his dim-witted assistants sing while Slim's working his wizardry, "He's a pioneer Pied Piper in 10-gallon underpants!")
Other colorful characters turn up along the "Home on the Range" trail, from Buck (voiced by the hyperactive Cuba Gooding Jr.), a high-kicking horse with varmint-vanquishing aspirations, to Lucky Jack (voiced by a by-cracky Charles Haid), a peg-legged jackrabbit of all trades.
Writer-directors Will Finn and John Sanford, making their directorial debuts with "Home on the Range," keep things mooving along. As they ride herd, however, the moovie never develops its own distinctive rhythm.
"Home on the Range's" frenetic action sequences and contemporary, wisecrack-laden dialogue frequently seem like Looney Tunes that have escaped from the Warner Bros. cartoon stable. (I kept expecting the Road Runner to zoom by with Wile E. Coyote in hot pursuit.)
And, considering the movie's wide-open Western setting, much of the imagery seems curiously muted, marked by flat backgrounds and crayon-box colors.
Most frustrating of all, "Home on the Range" can't decide whether it's a musical or not, all but wasting the return of composer Alan Menken, who helped define Disney's animation renaissance with the Oscar-winning music for such delights as "The Little Mermaid" and "Beauty and the Beast."
Except in one crucial instance, Menken's rangy "Home on the Range" songs -- featuring Glenn Slater's whip-smart lyrics -- are sung over the action (by the likes of k.d. lang and Bonnie Raitt), not by the characters.
As a result, it's no accident that the sole exception -- Alameda Slim's hilariously hypnotic "Yodel-Adle-Eedle-Idle-Oo," in which he mesmerizes an entire cattle herd with his yelpin' artistry -- emerges as "Home on the Range's" one classic sequence. Its swirling mix of kaleidoscopic animation and toe-tapping melody recalls such triumphs as the "Be Our Guest" number from "Beauty and the Beast" and "Dumbo's" trippy "Pink Elephants on Parade," giving "Home on the Range" the kind of delirious energy it so desperately needs. (And could use a lot more of.)
Way out West, however, you make the most of what's on hand.
And traditional Disney animation could do worse than ride off into the sunset with "Home on the Range."
Then again, it could also do so much better.