Home on the Range

“Home on the Range,” Disney’s 2004 animated movie, has the warm friendliness of a 1940s singing cowboy movie, and the plot possibly was borrowed from Hopalong Cassidy or Roy Rogers, despite the small detail that they aren’t cows. Roger Ebert commented, “The new songs by Alan Mencken ("The Little Mermaid," "Beauty and the Beast") are in the tradition of Western swing; I can easily imagine Gene Autry performing any of them, including the yodeling number, and wasn't too surprised to find out that the Sons of the Pioneers starred in a 1946 movie with the same name.”

The pace is up to date, however. Gene Autry and Roy Rogers always had time to sit next to a fire and sing a song, but “Home on the Range” jumps with the energy of a cartoon short special. The movie was said to be Disney’s final one in the traditional 2D animated style. The films that came after this will be the 3D look of “Finding Nemo.” This might be a loss or not depends on what the audiences relate to animation. There is an audience for those painful Saturday morning cartoon adventures, which are so cheap on animation they look more like 1.5D.

The story is set in the Patch of Heaven ranch, which is threatened with foreclosure because of the damages of the dirty cattle rustler Alameda Slim, voiced by Randy Quaid. Pearl, the owner, voiced by Carole Cook, could raise money if she sold her cows – but they’ve become a family and are so apparently they’ll be homeless really soon. Then a brilliant idea strikes the cows: Why don’t they find Slim, collect the $750 reward, pay off the bank, and save the ranch?

Each of the cows has distinctive qualities to give to this effect. Mrs. Calloway, voiced by Judi Dench, is the voice of carefulness. Grace, voiced by poker player Jennifer Tilly, is the New Age cow, who makes comments like, “This is an organic problem and needs a holistic solution.” Their method is a newcomer to the farm, Maggie, voiced by comedian Rosanne Barr (who also had her own sitcom “Roseanne”), who quickly becomes aggressive, in-your-face leader. Rounding out the team is Buck, voiced by Cuba Gooding, Jr., the stallion, who is a master of martial arts.

The voices are all quick to recognize, especially Barr’s. The idea of using the voices of familiar stars instead of nameless dubbing voice artists has added an interesting dimension to recent animated movies. For instance, listen to Randy Quaid as Slim. It’s common in Disney animation to fill the edges of the screen with the hyperactive small supporting characters, and we get Lucky Jack the jackrabbit (Charles Haid) and Audrey the chicken (Estelle Harris), who is a chicken. There are also three busy little pigs, and Steve Buscemi almost seems to be playing himself as a critter named Wesley.

Buck, by the way, has imaginations of magnificence. He thinks maybe he can capture Slim and collect the reward, especially after he becomes the horse of the famous bounty hunter Rico, voiced by Charles Dennis, who leads a dangerous competition with the cows.

Ebert said, “The plot makes pit stops at all the obligatory Western sights: saloons, mine shafts, main streets, deserts with Monument Valley landscapes, and trains. All of these locations become the backdrops of chases, in a movie that seldom stands still.”

The songs are sung by k.d. lang, Bonnie Raitt, Tim McGraw and the Bleu Sisters. None of them are likely to be asked by fans at future concerts. They sound standard and don’t have the passion of Mencken’s earlier work.

A movie like this is nice for kids: bright, fast-paced, with broad, outrageous characters. However, “Home on the Range” doesn’t have the crossover quality of the great Disney films like “Beauty and the Beast” and “The Lion King.” Also it doesn’t have the freshness and originality of a more traditional movie like “Lilo & Stitch.” Ebert speculated, “Its real future, I suspect, lies in home video.” It’s only 76 minutes long, but even though kids might like it, their parents will be constantly looking at their watches.

If you get the chance to pass this one up, do so. I don’t recommend this one at all, but if your kids want to see it, then you can let them see it because it’s good for him. Adults will not have a not good time watching this. I know I didn’t like this one at all. Well, now that I got this film out of the way (thankfully), stay tuned tomorrow for more “Disney Month.”