Home on the Range
LINKS
—Review
—Trailers, Photos
—About this Film
—Spiritual Connections
When I first saw the trailer for Home on the Range, I had high hopes for this film. It looked like a refreshingly retro style of animation combined with whip-smart modern humor and some heel-kicking songs to boot. What a great way to end 70 years of (mostly) first-rate, 2-D, animated films from the company that pioneered it all. Unfortunately, in this case, last is not best. In fact, when compared to early Disney films like Snow White or modern classics like The Lion King, Home On the Range barely approaches mediocre. Don’t get me wrong: This isn’t a bad film. It just fails to do what so many other Disney movies are remembered for: Create characters and a fantasy world that live on long after the movie is over. Too bad the 2-D team won’t get a second chance to make a last impression.
The problems begin with a storyline that has been recycled more times than cows have stomachs. It’s the old “save the farm� routine. In this case, Maggie, an abrasive, prize-winning show cow, arrives at “Patch of Heaven� farm just in time to discover the bank is going to foreclose unless the owner, Miss Pearl, can come up with $750. The bank is going broke, because so many local ranchers are losing their cattle to notorious cattle rustler Alameda Slim, so the bank is calling in all its loans. Having just lost her own ranch to Slim’s rustling, Maggie vows to catch Slim herself and use the bounty on his head to pay off Miss Pearl’s debt. Maggie’s plan doesn’t go over too well with Mrs. Calloway, the stuffy British cow who served as leader of Piece of Heaven’s menagerie of animals before Maggie showed up. But eventually Mrs. Calloway and a ditsy, New Age cow named Grace agree to join Maggie on her quest. From this point onward, the writing is pretty much on the wall. It’s a prototypical buddy movie/fish out of water tale where you just know the three bumbling cows are going to win out in the end. It’s just a matter of how and when.
As far as the characters go, Maggie (Roseanne Barr), Mrs. Calloway (Judi Dench) and Grace (Jennifer Tilly) are all voiced remarkably well, particularly Maggie. The problem is we’ve seen their type so many times before we can practically write their conversations ourselves. Maggie is the ne’er do right individualist who always bucks the trend. Mrs. Calloway is the “stiff upper lipped� traditionalist whose sole purpose in life is to keep cows like Maggie from getting out of line. And Grace is the peace-loving flower child who wishes “we could all just get along.� It’s obvious from the get-go that although Maggie and Mrs. Calloway don’t see eye-to-eye, they’ll come to love and appreciate each other by the end of their adventure.
The writers attempt to liven things up by throwing in some hyperactive minor characters, such as Buck the horse, who dreams of becoming an equine version of Bruce Lee; Lucky Jack, a jackrabbit who also claims to be a shaman (even though he never does offer any spiritual direction); and Jeb, a cranky, old goat with an affinity for tin cans. Less bombastic but decidedly more appealing are the bounty hunter Rico (a parody of Clint Eastwood’s “man with no name�), two sex-starved longhorn bulls, and Alameda Slim’s pet buffalo. However, with a storyline this predictable, you need a lot more laughs per minute than this crew generates to avert constant watch checking along the way.
As far as villains go, Alameda Slim is also pretty standard fare: a loud talking, buffalo-riding, cattle-rustling, land-grabbing crook. The Pied Piper of cattle thieves, Slim’s secret weapon is his yodeling, which hypnotizes the cattle so he can lead them off into the night with nary a moo. After stashing them away in his secret hideaway, he sells them off to his “fence� Wesley (a pint-sized version of the person who voices him, Steve Buscemi) and then goes back and buys the bankrupt ranches at a huge discount. His goal? Total ownership of the region as a way of getting back at the homesteaders who didn’t show enough appreciation for his yodeling abilities. Patch of Heaven is the last piece of land on his list, and he aims to get it or else.
One aspect of this film that doesn’t disappoint is the score and six songs composed by eight-time Academy Award winner Alan Menken. Best-known for his work on films like The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast, Menken proves once again why he is regarded as the master of this domain. His tunes are further enhanced by some of the best voices in country music, including K. D. Lang, Bonnie Raitt, and Tim McGraw. However, these finely crafted songs seem out of place in a story that, for the most part, is as two-dimensional as its animation.
That said; the animation is all that you’d expect from Disney and more. With bright pastel backgrounds and a remarkable sense of depth, you can tell the animators had a good time making this film. The look and feel is a splendidly modern interpretation of classic Saturday morning cartoons. The strange thing is, it seems as though the art director was inspired more by old Looney Tunes episodes than anything from the Disney archives. But the style definitely serves the film.
On a spiritual level, Home on the Range seems to be about appreciating those who are different from us. As the Apostle Paul said, we are all members of one body, each with a different function (Romans 12:4–8). This is difficult for us to accept sometimes. Like Maggie and Mrs. Caldwell, we’d often rather castigate than learn from one another. But as this film portrays, unless we learn to appreciate our differences and work as a team, our efforts are doomed to failure. Furthermore, Alameda Slim wouldn’t have become the criminal he was if others had shown appreciation for his rather unique talent instead of ostracizing him because of it. How many times have we heard this same story in the headlines, often with chilling results?
It’s also interesting to note that the same thing motivates both the heroes and the antagonist in this film: revenge. I guess we humans aren’t so different from animals after all, at least from the filmmakers’ point of view. Perhaps the one exception is Grace, who strives to be the peacemaker in her own spacey way. Nevertheless, the subtle message of this film is that revenge is okay as long as it is carried out with the right motives. If you bring children to this film, you would do well to remind them that love is the proper response to aggression, not more aggression.
As Christ said, just turn the other cheek—or jowl—as it were.
LINKS
—Review
—Trailers, Photos
—About this Film
—Spiritual Connections
—Review
—Trailers, Photos
—About this Film
—Spiritual Connections
When I first saw the trailer for Home on the Range, I had high hopes for this film. It looked like a refreshingly retro style of animation combined with whip-smart modern humor and some heel-kicking songs to boot. What a great way to end 70 years of (mostly) first-rate, 2-D, animated films from the company that pioneered it all. Unfortunately, in this case, last is not best. In fact, when compared to early Disney films like Snow White or modern classics like The Lion King, Home On the Range barely approaches mediocre. Don’t get me wrong: This isn’t a bad film. It just fails to do what so many other Disney movies are remembered for: Create characters and a fantasy world that live on long after the movie is over. Too bad the 2-D team won’t get a second chance to make a last impression.
The problems begin with a storyline that has been recycled more times than cows have stomachs. It’s the old “save the farm� routine. In this case, Maggie, an abrasive, prize-winning show cow, arrives at “Patch of Heaven� farm just in time to discover the bank is going to foreclose unless the owner, Miss Pearl, can come up with $750. The bank is going broke, because so many local ranchers are losing their cattle to notorious cattle rustler Alameda Slim, so the bank is calling in all its loans. Having just lost her own ranch to Slim’s rustling, Maggie vows to catch Slim herself and use the bounty on his head to pay off Miss Pearl’s debt. Maggie’s plan doesn’t go over too well with Mrs. Calloway, the stuffy British cow who served as leader of Piece of Heaven’s menagerie of animals before Maggie showed up. But eventually Mrs. Calloway and a ditsy, New Age cow named Grace agree to join Maggie on her quest. From this point onward, the writing is pretty much on the wall. It’s a prototypical buddy movie/fish out of water tale where you just know the three bumbling cows are going to win out in the end. It’s just a matter of how and when.
As far as the characters go, Maggie (Roseanne Barr), Mrs. Calloway (Judi Dench) and Grace (Jennifer Tilly) are all voiced remarkably well, particularly Maggie. The problem is we’ve seen their type so many times before we can practically write their conversations ourselves. Maggie is the ne’er do right individualist who always bucks the trend. Mrs. Calloway is the “stiff upper lipped� traditionalist whose sole purpose in life is to keep cows like Maggie from getting out of line. And Grace is the peace-loving flower child who wishes “we could all just get along.� It’s obvious from the get-go that although Maggie and Mrs. Calloway don’t see eye-to-eye, they’ll come to love and appreciate each other by the end of their adventure.The writers attempt to liven things up by throwing in some hyperactive minor characters, such as Buck the horse, who dreams of becoming an equine version of Bruce Lee; Lucky Jack, a jackrabbit who also claims to be a shaman (even though he never does offer any spiritual direction); and Jeb, a cranky, old goat with an affinity for tin cans. Less bombastic but decidedly more appealing are the bounty hunter Rico (a parody of Clint Eastwood’s “man with no name�), two sex-starved longhorn bulls, and Alameda Slim’s pet buffalo. However, with a storyline this predictable, you need a lot more laughs per minute than this crew generates to avert constant watch checking along the way.
As far as villains go, Alameda Slim is also pretty standard fare: a loud talking, buffalo-riding, cattle-rustling, land-grabbing crook. The Pied Piper of cattle thieves, Slim’s secret weapon is his yodeling, which hypnotizes the cattle so he can lead them off into the night with nary a moo. After stashing them away in his secret hideaway, he sells them off to his “fence� Wesley (a pint-sized version of the person who voices him, Steve Buscemi) and then goes back and buys the bankrupt ranches at a huge discount. His goal? Total ownership of the region as a way of getting back at the homesteaders who didn’t show enough appreciation for his yodeling abilities. Patch of Heaven is the last piece of land on his list, and he aims to get it or else.One aspect of this film that doesn’t disappoint is the score and six songs composed by eight-time Academy Award winner Alan Menken. Best-known for his work on films like The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast, Menken proves once again why he is regarded as the master of this domain. His tunes are further enhanced by some of the best voices in country music, including K. D. Lang, Bonnie Raitt, and Tim McGraw. However, these finely crafted songs seem out of place in a story that, for the most part, is as two-dimensional as its animation.
That said; the animation is all that you’d expect from Disney and more. With bright pastel backgrounds and a remarkable sense of depth, you can tell the animators had a good time making this film. The look and feel is a splendidly modern interpretation of classic Saturday morning cartoons. The strange thing is, it seems as though the art director was inspired more by old Looney Tunes episodes than anything from the Disney archives. But the style definitely serves the film.On a spiritual level, Home on the Range seems to be about appreciating those who are different from us. As the Apostle Paul said, we are all members of one body, each with a different function (Romans 12:4–8). This is difficult for us to accept sometimes. Like Maggie and Mrs. Caldwell, we’d often rather castigate than learn from one another. But as this film portrays, unless we learn to appreciate our differences and work as a team, our efforts are doomed to failure. Furthermore, Alameda Slim wouldn’t have become the criminal he was if others had shown appreciation for his rather unique talent instead of ostracizing him because of it. How many times have we heard this same story in the headlines, often with chilling results?
It’s also interesting to note that the same thing motivates both the heroes and the antagonist in this film: revenge. I guess we humans aren’t so different from animals after all, at least from the filmmakers’ point of view. Perhaps the one exception is Grace, who strives to be the peacemaker in her own spacey way. Nevertheless, the subtle message of this film is that revenge is okay as long as it is carried out with the right motives. If you bring children to this film, you would do well to remind them that love is the proper response to aggression, not more aggression.
As Christ said, just turn the other cheek—or jowl—as it were.
LINKS
—Review
—Trailers, Photos
—About this Film
—Spiritual Connections
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