Barnyard (DVD, 2006, Widescreen)

Used to be that only the artists who were truly dedicated to advancing the artistry of computer graphics were the ones who could enjoy the spoils. I'm talking about Pixar, of course, and while I certainly don't think that studio deserves to corner the whole entire "CGI Movie" market, it takes only a casual glance through a 2006 multiplex to see how the other studios are trying to keep up -- and, in most cases, failing.

Between January and December of 2006, parents were offered Hoodwinked (Weinsteins), Ice Age 2 (Fox), The Wild (Disney), Over the Hedge (DreamWorks), The Ant Bully (Warner Bros), Barnyard (Paramount), Open Season (Sony), Flushed Away (DreamWorks), and Happy Feet (Warner Bros). It's as if every studio suit went to see Madagascar last year and were all hit by a stunning epiphany at the same time: Hey, kids love animals! Especially when they talk and sing and go on adventures! Let's all make our own version!

And while I'm a huge animation buff and was quite looking forward to this particular sample, I must admit that Steve Oedekerk's Barnyard is arguably the very weakest CGI cartoon to hit the screens since Toy Story kick-started the genre back in 1995. There's nothing here that your kids haven't seen before -- and much funnier. The whole flick feels like an opportunistic rush job, one of those "hey, these are profitable so let's bang one out!" projects inspires very little passion or effort from the computer technicians asked to slap the thing together.

It's a generally plotless tale of a hard-partying young cow who must learn the importance of responsibility when his adopted Daddy kicks the can -- but really it's all about bad puns, limp slapstick, generic jokes and an overall sense of lazy disinterest. Writer/director Steve Oedekerk might have his name on a bunch of profitable screenplays (Ace Ventura, The Nutty Professor, Bruce Almighty), but based on what I've seen in his Barnyard and Kung Pow: Enter the Fist, the guy's about as good a director as I am a stripper.

The voice cast is a mixed bag of recognizable voices and actors who seem to be shooting for vocal anonymity: Kevin James, Courteney Cox, Sam Elliott, Wanda Sykes, etc. That kinda thing. Nobody comes close to "stealing a scene" or rising above the dim-bulb comedy schtick -- and when Barnyard aims for pathos during its endless third act, the result is even less enjoyable.

So yeah, a kid might like it, but I guarantee that kid's got much better movies to spend his time on.

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Posted by CK-Auctions

As parents we often 'have'to see kids movies, irrelevant of whether or not they are actually very good....each year a plethora of movies arrive - aimed at the younger demographic; and this one certainly stands out from a lot of 2006 offerings!!
Barnyard has something for everyone with a double tier of comedy / stories that will appeal and amuse all ages!
It starts with a cute premise...what goes on in the barnyard when the farmers have retired for the day and the animals are left to their own devices!! With quality animation and the voices of the likes of Courtney Cox, Wanda Sykes (who seems to be a staple in the rush of recent kids animated films, with good reason!), Danny Glover and Kevin James, this movie is sure to delight!
Otis - the staple character, a young cow (this is animation hence our 'cow' is male?!) likes to party and ruffle more than a few feathers...the party scenes are hysterical and sure to have the whole family laughing; but he is forced to grow up overnight and be responsible after his dad - Ben, passes away!
The movie, which has some lessons embedded in the story, follow Otis as he takes on this new role - from his mistakes to his successes...this is a cute and funny story that we enjoyed and recommend!

This is by far the funniest animated movie to come out in the last year. The studio did a lousy job with the advertising campaign, because this movie was so much better than the few ads I saw suggested it would be.

The voice cast is terrific: Courtney Cox, Sam Elliot, Kevin James, Danny Glover and more. The storyline was good, but not terribly original. The humor is much more adult than most animated movies and there is some mild violence that might be disturbing to very young or very sensitive viewers.

For me, the best parts of the movie are the truly original music AND the almost Simpson-like humor hidden in the animation. While there is plenty of rude and obvious humor, some of the funniest stuff is so subtle you only catch it on the 2nd or 3rd time watching it.

My only problem with this movie is the stupid decision to put udders on both the boy and girl cows. How dumb is that? It not only confuses people, it's very distracting. I would have much prefered them gender-neutral without the udders. Especially as the cows are walking upright and you are looking at those udders throughout most of the movie.

I really thought this was going to be just another one of those features that has great animation but lacks in content. I was pleasantly surprised. I found myself forced to laugh at some crazy visuals along with being desperately curious of just who the actors were that portrayed the animals voices. The very special part of this movie was its symbolic message. Otis learning just how important his dad Ben was to him and that life is not just one big party. Otis learns that sometime you have to take responsibility for yourself. Mostly it teaches that all you can do is show your children the path and all its wonders but you can’t make them walk it…they must learn that they WANT to walk it. I loved this story.

I liked the plot line (coming of age), and although it has been done before in other movies, they did a great job with this iteration. Good charecters, art work and animation.

I purchased the movie because it looked interesting and it was, and because I like animated movies (a holdover from my childhood).

There was one thing that puzzled me however; both the male milk cows (bulls) and female milk cows (heifers) were drawn with female udders present, which I didn't understand. It almost seemed like the animators had never been on a farm. I don't think that male milk cows come with that apparatus, which might require an explanation to children. Other than that it was very enjoyable and I recommend it.