Home On The Range Review
by Josh Gilchrist (joshgilch AT aol DOT com)April 5th, 2004
Review: Home on the Range (2004) * * out of * * * *
by Josh Gilchrist
Disney has a problem that needs to be dealt with. They've lost the capability to enthralling an audience with good storytelling. As Pixar prepares to exit the equation, the studio must take a hard look at the direction they are headed
in since it's looking like the studios most devastating dry spell is on the horizon.
"Home on the Range" is another in a long line of disappointing animated feature. In fact, the film is a bit insulting in the way that it talks down to the core audience, children between the ages of two and five. It's hard to picture many outside this age group appreciating this film since the rest of the movie going population requires something more pigs burping and cows joking about the size of their utters. There's some clever and cute moments, like some references to films like "Sling Blade" and a character that seems to be tailored directly for Steve Buscemi.
When one first looks at the film, it's obvious that not much time and patience was put into it, even though it has a budget of $110 million. The animation looks second rate, laughable even, when compared to the studios direct to video
releases. It has no redeemable qualities. They are obviously trying to capture the same magic of earlier Disney shorts that concentrated on the likes of heroes like Pecos Bill or Paul Bunyan.
The plot, well here the studio is trying to stretch out a cartoon short concept
to a 71 minute feature. The film follows three cows, Maggie (Roseanne Barr), Grace (Jennifer Tilly) and Mrs. Caloway (Judi Dench) in their quest to save the
dairy farm known as Patch of Heaven, which is about to be put on the auction block. The super heifers must capture the evil rustler Alameda Slim before he can purchase the farm.
That's the entire story, kept simplistic enough so that toddlers can follow and
parents can wish for their admission price back. The film would actually like to be the "Blazing Saddles" of the diaper set, and maybe it is considering that
this is also nothing more than joke after joke thrown at their tiny eyes and ears. It must be stated though that there's such a thing as overstaying a comic
welcome. The film is just not that funny. This type of tongue in cheek humor seems to work best in a venue that's able to be more sassy and even more risqué
than a Disney film. Even "Shrek" was able to succeed with this, able to throw in jokes that the youngsters were obviously too young to understand.
That's exactly what Disney needs to understand. If they're making these films strictly for children, their box office numbers will continue to suffer. The audience that needs to be targeted are the children at heart, from the ages of birth to death. There's something special about an adult being able to let the child in them out.
More on 'Home On The Range'...
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