45 – Home on the Range
Today's movie is 2004's Home on the
Range. I'm not gonna lie, this
movie feels like yet another part of a desperate attempt by Disney to
make themselves relevant again. The story is about three cows,
Maggie, Mrs. Calloway and Grace, that have to work together to save
their farm from foreclosure. They decide to hunt down a criminal,
Alameda Slim, for bounty. Alameda has been stealing cattle from farms
which end up bankrupting them. Maggie has a personal vendetta, as the
farm she came from was closed because of his actions.
Maggie
is one of the main cows of the story. She is a show off, really cocky
and just all around unlikeable. Her personal problems with Alameda
really make me think she's just selfish. Mrs. Calloway is a cow that
is much more serious, prim and proper. She likes to be a leader and
doesn't like Maggie's attitude. She's just as bad since she clearly
only cares about being the leader and doesn't like the outgoing
Maggie. Grace is their ditzy friend that is much more calm and
peaceful. She is probably the most likeable of the group but she
doesn't do anything but keep the peace between Maggie and Mrs.
Calloway.
Aside
from them, there's Buck, a horse who is very eager to prove himself
and wants to go on adventures. Alameda Slim is a really bizarre
villain. He isn't scary at all but I really don't know if making a
really scary villain would fit for this sort of lighthearted movie.
He likes to yodel so I suppose that's something new. Rico is a bounty
hunter that everyone loves but is actually revealed to be employed by
Slim. There are a bunch of other random characters too but none of
them really do anything that needs mentioning.
This
movie is just the most cookie cutter plot I've ever seen. It's just
another “we gotta save the farm from foreclosure!” movie with a
ridiculous idea of how to get the money. It presents itself as a
lighthearted movie but the humor is so awful and dumb. This movie,
like Brother Bear, talks
down to its audience. The characters are really boring and one
dimensional. Alameda's whole reason for being a villain is
ridiculous, even for a comedy. He's upset that he got fired from a
farm for yodeling. Even the animation is a notch below the rest of
their work with just really terrible backgrounds and uninspired
visuals. The score is ok, nothing special. The music sequences are
stupid but, thankfully, there are few.
So
again, this isn't a long review like most of my others. There really
isn't that much to say. I would just be repeating myself over and
over if I analyzed the movie more deeply. They clearly didn't even
try to make something that was smart and worthwhile. They just wanted
to make something that could turn a profit for them. It's just not
genuine and it feels like they've just rolled over and died. This
movie and Brother Bear just
feel like they took ideas for shorts from the old package movies and
just blew them up to fill time. It's a shame too since this is the
last traditionally animated film quite a while. It definitely doesn't
live up to the legacy Disney created.
45 down. 8 to go.
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