Home on the Range
Year: 2004
Director: Will Finn & John Stanford
Starring: Roseanne Barr, Judi Dench & Jennifer Tilly
Runtime: 76 mins
BBFC: U
Published: 27/07/21
Director: Will Finn & John Stanford
Starring: Roseanne Barr, Judi Dench & Jennifer Tilly
Runtime: 76 mins
BBFC: U
Published: 27/07/21
So far in Disney animation we have gone to the beginning of time, to the edge of space, discovered lost worlds, and been enchanted by fantastical ones, but we’ve never been to the old west. Quite the conundrum that it took Disney forty-five Animated Classics to try their hands at a true western considering the popularity of the genre among children. But Home on the Range is perhaps one of the most widely forgotten Disney Classics in the series long running history, which is strange because the film is mighty good fun.
When show cow Maggie (Roseanne Barr) is sold off to a small dairy farm she befriends fellow bovine Mrs. Calloway (Judi Dench), and Grace (Jennifer Tilly). However, the farm is under threat of foreclosure and to make ends meet Maggie hatches a plan to catch a highly dangerous cattle rustler, Alameda Slim (Randy Quaid), and use the bounty to save the farm.
When show cow Maggie (Roseanne Barr) is sold off to a small dairy farm she befriends fellow bovine Mrs. Calloway (Judi Dench), and Grace (Jennifer Tilly). However, the farm is under threat of foreclosure and to make ends meet Maggie hatches a plan to catch a highly dangerous cattle rustler, Alameda Slim (Randy Quaid), and use the bounty to save the farm.
Home on the Range’s story is simple and fun. Whilst some may find it disappointing that it doesn’t attempt to go for something more meaningful like many Disney Animated Classics, but the film wants to do nothing more than put a smile on your face and it’ll definitely succeed there.
Our three heroines are all brilliantly funny, particularly Dench’s Mrs. Calloway. But the side cast are also excellent such as Cuba Gooding Jr.’s Buck, an erratic horse who dreams of being a bounty hunters steed.
Slim is a hilarious villain that alongside his completely inept nephews, The Willie Brothers, (Sam J. Levine) provides some side-splitting, Looney Tunes style moments.
Home of the Range doesn’t look all too dissimilar from The Emperor’s New Groove with its character and environment designs, but obviously given a wild west twist. Plus, it sees the return of character performed musical numbers for the first time since 1998’s Mulan. Whilst the songs aren’t stellar, it’s a nice inclusion to help Home on the Range stand out from the other Post-Renaissance Disney Animated Classics.
On the whole Home on the Range is good fun for the whole family. It’s not a film that revolutionises anything, and Disney have certainly produced much better. But you’ll be hard pressed not to have a good time with it. It’ll undoubtably give you plenty of laughs and you’ll be bobbing along with the musical numbers. It does though feel as though it only exists to buy Disney Animators some time before their next project, one that would set a new precedent for Disney Animation going forward.
Our three heroines are all brilliantly funny, particularly Dench’s Mrs. Calloway. But the side cast are also excellent such as Cuba Gooding Jr.’s Buck, an erratic horse who dreams of being a bounty hunters steed.
Slim is a hilarious villain that alongside his completely inept nephews, The Willie Brothers, (Sam J. Levine) provides some side-splitting, Looney Tunes style moments.
Home of the Range doesn’t look all too dissimilar from The Emperor’s New Groove with its character and environment designs, but obviously given a wild west twist. Plus, it sees the return of character performed musical numbers for the first time since 1998’s Mulan. Whilst the songs aren’t stellar, it’s a nice inclusion to help Home on the Range stand out from the other Post-Renaissance Disney Animated Classics.
On the whole Home on the Range is good fun for the whole family. It’s not a film that revolutionises anything, and Disney have certainly produced much better. But you’ll be hard pressed not to have a good time with it. It’ll undoubtably give you plenty of laughs and you’ll be bobbing along with the musical numbers. It does though feel as though it only exists to buy Disney Animators some time before their next project, one that would set a new precedent for Disney Animation going forward.