This year there have been several animated movies released. I tend to like most animated movies and have wanted to see them. I missed a few of them, but was just able to see Barnyard.

Otis the cow was the son of Ben, the cow that was in charge of the barnyard. Otis liked to have fun and tended to get himself into trouble. Ben tried to get Otis to be more responsible but it didn’t work. Otis and his friends liked to throw parties in the barn at night once the farmer was asleep. Daisy and Bessie were two new cows at the farm and Otis was interested in Daisy. After a coyote attack that led to Ben’s death, Otis ended up elected the new leader of the barnyard and had to decide if he was going to finally accept responsibility.

Barnyard was meant to be a fun, child friendly movie, and it was for the most part. The main plot that dealt with Otis having to learn to be responsible was very much like The Lion King, a much better animated movie. That movie was able to add in the more serious parts and even a message in a way that worked well. Barnyard did try to make a point about a character growing up and accepting responsibility. Just the way it was done messed up the pace of the movie and it seemed like the movie was trying to beat that message to death. That could have been handled better, like it was in The Lion King. Barnyard wasn’t even the first animated movie to feature cows as main characters. Home on the Range did that a few years ago.

None of the previews I had seen for Barnyard even hinted at the more serious moments or the one sad thing that happened. I didn’t really like what happened to Ben - for the record I didn’t like the similar scene in The Lion King either. What happened to Ben could be upsetting to some children. I was a little bit surprised that it happened since I hadn’t heard anything about that before seeing the movie. I thought it could have worked just as well, and been less sad, if Ben had just been hurt and he asked Otis to handle things while he recovered. The coyotes turned up in more than one scene and a few of the scenes might be a bit intense for younger children with how the coyotes were attacking another character. I have seen some other animated movies that added in some serious moments in a way that worked with the movie. That was done for Otis, and he did go through some personal growth, but the scenes didn’t work as well in Barnyard. The pace suffered greatly when he was supposed to be having a serious, profound moment, making it seem like those scenes would never end. Several of the children in the theater when I saw the movie didn’t stay interested in the movie. I even heard one asking if they could just leave.

Barnyard wasn’t as funny as I had hoped it would be. I think the funniest things were really shown in the trailer, something that happens far to often anymore. The movie did make me laugh. I just thought it could have been funnier. There were a few things that I think were supposed to be funny that just fell flat. There were a few jokes that relied on gross humor without it being the main source of humor in the movie. A lot of what happened was rather silly, like when a group of cows stole a car. The silly things didn’t bother me. I just thought it could have been a bit funnier and the pacing could have been better. I did think it was a cute movie overall.

One thing about Barnyard was just a bit weird. It didn’t make me hate the movie and I’m not saying people should avoid it because of this. I just thought it was weird. There were male cows, with udders in the movie. Now, I’m not an expert on animals, especially farm animals, by any stretch of the imagination. I could be wrong, but I thought that male cows were bulls or steers. Whatever they are called, I do know they don’t have udders. I’m not saying I think the male characters should have been anatomically correct. It was just weird to see male cows with udders. All of the cow characters basically looked the same with just some small differences in size for a few of them and a change in the colors. I think Daisy and Bessie were the only two female cows shown in the movie.

Barnyard was made with computer animation like all of the other animated movies from the last few years. I have liked a lot of computer animated movies, but I do think it is too bad that it has completely replaced traditional, hand drawn animation. The animation was good, but it wasn’t anywhere near as good as Cars, or anything else Pixar has done for that matter. Hairs on some of the animals, especially the coyotes, didn’t move. The leaves and grass didn’t move much either. The backgrounds were mostly static. Nothing in this movie looked realistic. I think that the animation was better in Ice Age: The Meltdown, Over the Hedge and The Wild.

Most of the characters in Barnyard were animals of some kind. The farmer that owned the farm where most of the movie took place was shown a few times as well as his neighbors. Otis was the main character. He loved having fun and didn’t want responsibilities. The voice that Kevin James did for the character was fine. The only other movie I’ve seen him in was Hitch. Ben was Otis’s father. Ben was only in a little of the movie near the beginning. He loved his son, but kept trying to get him to be more responsible. Sam Elliott did the voice for the character. Pip was a mouse that was one of Otis’s best friends. At times the voice that Jeffrey Garcia did for Pip sounded like Sheen from Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius. I didn’t realize that Danny Glover did the voice of Miles the mule until I was checking the cast information after seeing the movie.

Daisy and Bessie were the only two female cows in the movie. They had gone though some difficult times before the farmer took them in. Bessie had a bit of an attitude and was very protective of Daisy. The voice that Wanda Sykes did fit the character very well. She wasn’t given enough to do though. Her character was missing for large parts of the movie. Daisy seemed a little nicer than Bessie. Daisy was very sweet and kind and believed in Otis even though they didn’t know each other that well. Courteney Cox provided the voice for Daisy. I think that Zoom, another family movie she made that is in theaters now as well, was better and more entertaining than Barnyard. There was a developing relationship shown between Otis and Daisy that was very innocent. Etta was one of the hens. I think she was the one that stood up to the coyotes. There were a few other cows and other farm animals featured in the movie that didn’t have as much to do.

Voice Talent

Courteney Cox - Daisy
Sam Elliot - Ben the cow
Jeffrey Garcia - Pip the mouse
Danny Glover - Miles the mule
Kevin James - Otis
Andie MacDowell - Etta the hen
Wanda Sykes - Bessie

Steve Oedekerk - Director

Barnyard was a cute, entertaining animated movie. The pacing could have been better and there was something sad that happened that could bother some children. I did like it overall, but it could have been a lot better. There isn't any reason to rush to see this one in the theater.

Animated Movie Reviews
Beauty and the Beast ~ Brother Bear ~ A Bug's Life ~ Cars ~ Chicken Little ~ The Emperor's New Groove ~ Finding Nemo ~ Home on the Range ~ Hoodwinked ~ Ice Age ~ Ice Age: The Meltdown ~ The Incredibles ~ Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius ~ Lilo & Stitch ~ Looney Tunes: Back in Action ~ Madagascar ~ Monsters, Inc. ~ Over the Hedge ~ The Polar Express ~ Robots ~ Shark Tale ~ Shrek ~ Shrek 2 ~ Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas ~ Sleeping Beauty ~ Tim Burton's Corpse Bride ~ Toy Story ~ Toy Story 2 ~ Treasure Planet ~ Valiant ~ Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit ~ The Wild ~


Recommended: Yes