Advanced Search >
Help Me Search

Movies

Weekend Box Office
Film Awards & Top 10s By Year
All-Time High Scores
All-Time Low Scores

Wide Releases
Now In Theaters

sort by namesort by score

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

Limited Releases
Now In Theaters

sort by namesort by score

58 (Untitled)
96 35 Shots of Rum
56 Adam
72 Adela
39 Adventures of Power
78 Afghan Star
61 After the Storm
66 Afterschool
xx All the Best
58 American Casino
72 Amreeka
48 Antichrist
73 Araya
62 Art & Copy
55 As Seen Through These Eyes
76 Baader Meinhof Complex, The
86 Beaches of Agnes, The
13 Beautiful Life, A
70 Beeswax
35 Beyond a Reasonable Doubt
71 Big Fan
66 Black Dynamite
51 Blind Date
xx Blind Pig Who Wants to Fly
76 Bliss
35 Blue Tooth Virgin, The
26 Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day, The
57 Boys Are Back, The
45 Brief Interviews with Hideous Men
81 Bright Star
70 Bronson
45 Burning Plain, The
xx Carriers
55 Casi Divas
57 Chelsea on the Rocks
62 Cloud 9
65 Coco Before Chanel
69 Cold Souls
59 Collapse
44 Confessionsofa Ex-Doofus-ItchyFooted Mutha
82 Cove, The
75 Crude
82 Damned United, The
67 Departures
xx Dil Bole Hadippa
71 Disgrace
xx Do Knot Disturb
70 Earth Days
24 Eating Out 3: All You Can Eat
85 Education, An
55 Endgame
xx Eulogy for a Vampire
xx Everyone Else
xx Fatal Promises
56 Fifty Dead Men Walking
62 Five Minutes of Heaven
74 Flame & Citron
49 Food Beware: The French Organic Revolution
80 Food, Inc.
28 Free Style
xx From Mexico with Love
50 Fuel
25 Gentlemen Broncos
50 Give Me Your Hand
58 Gogol Bordello Non-Stop
72 Good Hair
89 Goodbye Solo
52 Grace
64 Harmony and Me
81 Headless Woman, The
xx Heretics, The
63 Horse Boy, The
73 House of the Devil, The
xx How to Seduce Difficult Women
74 Humpday
94 Hurt Locker, The
29 I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell
16 If One Thing Matters: A Film About Wolfgang Tillmans
75 In Search of Beethoven
83 In the Loop
61 Intimate Enemies
42 Irene in Time
70 It Might Get Loud
46 Killing Kasztner
19 Labor Day
xx Laila's Birthday
41 Little Ashes
41 Little Traitor, The
66 Liverpool
34 Looking for Palladin
80 Lorna's Silence
83 Maid, The
xx Ministers, The
59 More Than a Game
67 Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers, The
34 Motherhood
62 My One and Only
xx Mystery Team
48 New York, I Love You
73 Night and Day
66 No Impact Man
47 Ong Bak 2: The Beginning
34 Other Man, The
xx Painter Sam Francis, The
54 Paper Heart
xx Paradise
68 Paranormal Activity
68 Paris
44 Peter and Vandy
35 Play the Game
77 Precious: Based on the Novel by Sapphire
xx Pretty Ugly People
65 Providence Effect, The
76 Rembrandt's J'accuse
69 September Issue, The
79 Serious Man, A
40 Shrink
61 Skin
77 Skin Too Few: The Days of Nick Drake, A
xx Skiptracers
46 Splinterheads
39 St. Trinian's
89 Still Walking
50 Stoning of Soraya M., The
55 Storm
65 Tetro
70 That Evening Sun
72 Thirst
xx Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas 3D (re-release)
61 Trucker
xx Turning Green
83 U2 3D
66 Unmade Beds
66 Unmistaken Child
70 Visual Acoustics
55 Walt & El Grupo
67 Way We Get By, The
69 We Live in Public
64 Wedding Song, The
64 Where is Where?
xx White on Rice
74 Woman in Berlin, A
69 World's Greatest Dad
70 Yes Men Fix the World
69 Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg
xx You, the Living

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

Home on the Range

EMAILPRINTBuena Vista Pictures / Walt Disney Pictures

Home on the Range reviews
50
4.2 User Score:

Mixed or average reviews

Based on 30 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 12 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >

Movie Info

Genre(s): Animation  |  Comedy  |  Family/Kids  |  Musical  |  Western

Written by: Will Finn
John Sanford

Directed by: Will Finn
John Sanford

Release Date:
Theatrical: April 2, 2004
DVD: September 14, 2004

Running Time: 76 minutes, Color

Origin: USA

Summary

RATING: PG for brief mild rude humor

Starring Roseanne, Judi Dench, Jennifer Tilly, Cuba Gooding Jr., Randy Quaid, Steve Buscemi, David Burnham, and Charles Dennis

When a greedy outlaw named Alameda Slim (Quaid) schemes to take possession of the "Patch of Heaven" dairy farm, three determined cows (Barr, Dench, Tilly), a karate-kicking stallion named Buck (Gooding Jr.), and a colorful corral of critters join forces to save the farm in a wild quest full of high-spirited adventure. (Disney)

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

80

The Onion (A.V. Club) Nathan Rabin

A sweet, raucously funny, comic Western that corrects a glaring historical injustice by finally surveying the Old West through the eyes of cows rather than cowboys.

Read Full Review >
80

Film Threat Kevin Carr

Has a wacky charm and a feeling like no other Disney film in recent years.

Read Full Review >
75

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

Old-style animation slows down after a snappy start, but it's lively enough to keep kids from fidgeting too much.

Read Full Review >
67

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Paula Nechak

Belongs to its trio of "bovine" voice talent -- Roseanne Barr, Dame Judi Dench and Jennifer Tilly -- who play with such tongue-in-cheek delight upon their public personas that it's hard to separate cow character from the celebrities.

Read Full Review >
67

Austin Chronicle Marrit Ingman

A good bet for family viewing. It's got a charming, simple plot, a smart Alan Menken score, and enough subversive humor to wring a chuckle or two out of Mom and Dad.

Read Full Review >
63

USA Today Claudia Puig

The visual effects are lovely to behold, and the songs by Bonnie Raitt, Tim McGraw and k.d. lang are fairly catchy.

Read Full Review >
63

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

It's only 76 minutes long, but although kids will like it, their parents will be sneaking looks at their watches.

Read Full Review >
63

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey

Whatever the narrative shortcomings, these characters have the warmth of antique painted storybooks, unlike the eerie plastic simulation of Pixar characters.

Read Full Review >
60

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

Any shortfalls in Home on the Range a conventional but perfectly pleasant entertainment, have more to do with the ABC's of storytelling than with the D's of animation.

60

Variety Joe Leydon

An engagingly rambunctious toon Western that likely will attract herds of family auds, if not multitudes of teens and tweeners, to megaplex corrals.

Read Full Review >
60

Empire Olly Richards

Highly likeable, pleasantly unpretentious and plenty amusing.

Read Full Review >
58

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

The conservatively cheery artistic style suggests that the animation team has been reading Sundance merchandise catalogs.

Read Full Review >
50

LA Weekly Scott Foundas

The film skews young, to be sure, and it isn't as memorable as the new Disney classics of the early 1990s, but there's still plenty here to hold the interest of viewers of all ages: delightful performances (particularly by Dench, plowing Angela Lansbury terrain), zinging comic dialogue and a soundtrack that's a wealth of sonorous riches.

Read Full Review >
50

Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington

Isn't good satire or good slapstick. It does have those lyrical, catchy Menken tunes, and the film perks up whenever Raitt or lang sing one of them. But much of this movie is deadly.

Read Full Review >
50

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

What it really is is an unapologetic cartoon, a harum-scarum endeavor that's so comically frantic it wears you out as much as it entertains.

Read Full Review >
50

The Hollywood Reporter Frank Scheck

This amiable, Western-themed animated effort from the Walt Disney Co. is a clear attempt to return to the more lighthearted cartoon style that was so prevalent before its onslaught of stately musical epics.

Read Full Review >
50

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

An intended throwback to the halcyon days of colorful studio cartoons, more in the Chuck Jones style than Disney, and the animation of its characters and Western motif is fine. But the writing of co-directors Will Finn and John Sanford and their characterizations are embarrassingly bad.

Read Full Review >
50

TV Guide Angel Cohn

Although superficially an odd couple, the outspoken Barr and the restrained Dench work together surprisingly well and a steady stream of jokes aimed at both adults and kids keeps this genial entertainment galloping along at a brisk pace.

Read Full Review >
50

New York Post Lou Lumenick

So udderly mediocre.

Read Full Review >
50

San Francisco Chronicle Walter Addiego

This 76-minute Western tall tale isn't out-and-out bad, but strictly formulaic and an underachievement from the studio that made the dazzling "Snow White."

Read Full Review >
50

Chicago Reader J.R. Jones

Assorted movie in-jokes should keep parents tolerably entertained, and Alan Menken's songs mercifully favor western swing over the expected twang pop.

Read Full Review >
50

Miami Herald Christine Dolan

Good for some giggles. Especially if you're under the age of, oh, 8 or so.

Read Full Review >
50

Portland Oregonian Karen Karbo

Will best be enjoyed on DVD. You can pop it in for the kids and spend the next 90 minutes or so doing something else.

Read Full Review >
50

Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey

Despite lovely songs from k.d. lang and Bonnie Raitt (written by Beauty and the Beast composer Alan Menken), this range is about as serene as a hen party.

Read Full Review >
50

Washington Post Jennifer Frey

Charming as it can be, though, Home on the Range is still an overextended cartoon.

Read Full Review >
50

Boston Globe Ty Burr

Even older kids will understand that Pixar does it so much better, not because of their computers but because of an intelligent attention to script and character and craft. If the people running Disney don't understand that much anymore, maybe they should turn out the lights and go home.

Read Full Review >
40

The New York Times A.O. Scott

The best cartoons are built on the contradictory pursuit of meticulously arranged anarchy. But they never seem needy, or desperate for laughs, as Home on the Range does. The film seems hungrier for a pat on the head than a chuckle.

Read Full Review >
30

Washington Post Michael O'Sullivan

Comes across less as a fully realized work of storytelling than as a commercial for a corporation whose goal of entertainment has been replaced by that of making money.

Read Full Review >
30

Dallas Observer Robert Wilonsky

Should make about $750, which is how much they need to save the farm, but a little less than Disney CEO Michael Eisner needs to save his job.

Read Full Review >
12

Premiere Sara Brady

Suffocatingly boring.

Read Full Review >

What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this movie is 4.2 (out of 10) based on 12 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

mark v. gave it an8:
Very nice movie. Great music and animation. Lovely Songs but only the story is a little bit simple.

Ben K. gave it a 3:
The over all movie itself was, in my opinion very dull. some of the jokes were ok. the only part I can say I liked was the yodeling techno cow song. even it could have been done better reminded me a bit of that purina cat chow commerical, with the neaon cats.

Thalia S. gave it a 2:
If disney had paid me for the half hour it would have taken me to properly render the herd of longhorns in the mines, I would have refused, just to avoid having my name in this Disney Flop's credits. I liked the technicolor cow scene, but Walt would be rolling over in his grave if he could see the high fee parking lot Eisner has paved over the naturally green paradise that the Disney name symbolized.

Chad S. gave it a 3:
"Atlantis: The Lost Empire" got a bad rap; made passe by the advent of Pixar, this charming 2-D cartoon was unfairly panned. "Treasure Planet", I didn't see because I'm an English major, and felt that the concept was dumber than the short-lived "Gilligan's Planet". "Home of the Brave" unlike "Atlantis..." and even, Dreamworks' "The Road to El Dorado" is a bore. The cow with the hat made me miss the chicken with the hat from "Chicken Run". "Home of the Brave" might've been fresh had it come out in the late-seventies. Is it just me, but weren't you grossed out by how the Rosanne cow forces you to objectify her udder, when she says, "Yeah, it's real." Gross! Strictly for kids, and the only joy an adult will get out of "Home on the Range", is the indoctrination of their offspring to film.

Beth M. gave it an 8:
It's surreal, fluffy, and not thought-intensive. You have to be in the mode to appreciate kung-fu horses and prehensile-tailed cows, but once you get there, it's a silly romp -- well worth hauling the 4-year-old to see it. Definitely gonna grab it in video.

Mark B. gave it a 4:
The last 2-D animated film from Disney (or so they're telling us, anyway) ends a classic trend with the proverbial whimper, not bang. Frenetic pacing is utterly worthless when combined with completely uninspired storytelling and comedy writing. The bovine trio is amazingly unlikeable (and the fact that they're drawn with such sharp angles that you could put an eye out actually trying to milk one of them doesn't help at all) and the jokes are way above the kids' heads while simultaneously being too childish for adults. The villain's three lookalike dopey sidekicks provide a few chuckles, the 1950s-era Tex Avery-like layouts are great, and I loved the "chicks with attitude", but overall Home on the Range reminded me again why Pixar soars while this and other traditional efforts have been struggling; Toy Story and Finding Nemo are written so well that their scripts actually got Oscar nominations, while the screenplays for this and Treasure Planet and Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas are just plain fertilizer.

Devin gave it a 0:
Puerile, schlocky, contrived, dull. I can't say it any better than Sara Brady and Michael O'Sullivan already have, so I'll instead strip the issue down to it's core: This is, by far, the most aweful, worthless Disney film ever made.

Read more user comments >

Popular on CBS sites: SEC Football | NFL | Video Game Cheats | iPhone | Video Game Reviews | Notebooks | Antivirus Software

About CBS Interactive | Jobs | Advertise

© 2009 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use