Release Date: April 2, 2004
MPAA Rating:Rated PG for brief mild rude humor
Written and Directed by: Will Finn, John Sanford
Starring: Roseanne Barr, Judi Dench, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Steve Buscemi, Jennifer Tilly, Randy Quaid, David Burnham, Ja'Net DuBois, Gregory Jbara

Plot:
Set in the wild west, this is the story of a herd of cows who band together to save their farm. The widow owes $1000 mortgage on the farm and has no way to pay for it, and the cows get wind of the trouble. Fearing that they'll be sold to the local meat-packing plant, the cows, led by Dame Judi Dench, seek to find a way to earn the money. Enter the family horse, played by Cuba Gooding, Jr. He used to belong to a bounty hunter, and knows a great way to save the farm. He's heard that in the nearby town, there's a bandit afoot (Randy Quaid), with a $1000 bounty on his head.

Review:
Home On The Range is the latest Disney animated project after the funny and entertaining Teacher's Pet. With this effort they have combined well known actors and actresses. Roseanne, Judi Dench, Jennifer Tilly, Cuba Gooding Jr. and Steve Buscemi are all voices in this film. The woman play cows, Cuba plays a horse and Buscemi plays a human that looks a lot like his own appearance.

With those set of voices, the film might seem promising, but we should all know that actors are not really what makes an animation film succeed. A solid story and thoroughly entertaining are what animation film set out to be. Its a shame to say, but Home On The Range fails in both sections. It values somewhat nice visuals and cute characters, but not much else.

The story in the film is extremely simplistic. Animals that live in a farm set out to find a criminal because seven hundred and fifty dollars is up for stake for whoever finds him. The animals need the money or rather the owner of the farm needs the money to keep everything how it is. Its a mission for the cows to go find this man and retrieve the prize.

The film moves in a fast pace too, there is no denying that. So fast that it actually is too much for its own good. Home On The Range is extremely loud and annoying at times and never stops to take a breather. If the film can be qualified as something than it would be a person that continuously talks with an annoying voice about nothing interesting or relevant.

From fighting to singing and odd humor, Home On The Range delivers it all like any other animated film would. The only difference from lets say Teacher's Pet and Home On The Range is the fact that Teacher's Pet had interesting characters, a intriguing story and a whole lot of fun with a handful of laughs. Sadly, Home On The Range does mostly the opposite at times.

As predictable as can get, Home On The Range doesn't offer anything surprising either. Actually, animated films as a whole in my view don't need nothing to be surprising, all they need to do to succeed is entertain. With Home On The Range, toddlers will jump in their chairs, but infants will cry their way through. There are instances though in which this film becomes smart and that's what keeps it from a lower rating.

Home On The Range is enjoyable in a few interesting scenes it has, so to call it a bad film can be quite harsh, but as a whole it can qualify as just that. Its far from a terrible animation attempt, but it fails in what it wanted to do. Therefore I strongly suggest you eat your way through its running time with a handful of popcorn and candy and a gallon of refreshments at that.

This film just might appeal to kids, but anyone over the age of twelve should stay away because their really is nothing that is appealing with Home On The Range. At times its dull and at other times its a nonsense fest. Even with its short running time, Home On The Ranges ends up giving the audience headaches. It definitely has cute characters, but after witnessing the film you might want to take a couple of pills to clear that headache you will get.