Barnyard (film)

Barnyard: The Original Party Animals

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Steve Oedekerk
Produced by Steve Oedekerk
Paul Marshal
Written by Steve Oedekerk
Starring
Music by John Debney
Edited by Paul D. Calder
Billy Weber
Production
company
Nickelodeon Movies
O Entertainment
Omation Animation Studio
Distributed by Paramount Pictures
Release dates
  • August 4, 2006
Running time
 90 minutes[1]
Country United States
Language English
Budget $51 million[2]
Box office $116.5 million[2]

Barnyard (also known as Barnyard: The Original Party Animals) is a 2006 American computer-animated family comedy film, produced by Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies, directed by Steve Oedekerk (who was also the principal screenwriter), and produced by Steve Oedekerk and Paul Marshal. It was released on August 4, 2006. The film stars the voices of Kevin James, David Koechner, Sam Elliott, Courteney Cox, Danny Glover, and Jeff Garcia. Most of the production was carried out in San Clemente, California. The film is the second Nickelodeon movie to spin-off into a TV series, the first being Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius. It received negative reviews from critics, but was a box office success, earning $116.5 million worldwide against a $51 million production budget.

Plot

Otis (Kevin James) is a carefree male Holstein cow who prefers to goof off rather than accept responsibility. His father Ben (Sam Elliott) is the leader of the barnyard when the farmer is away, giving the animals the safest moment to spring up being bipedal. After Otis interrupts a barnyard meeting with his wild antics, Ben has a talk with his son, in which he tells him that he'll never be happy if he just goofs off, and that he should grow up one day. Otis ignores his advices and leaves to have fun with his friends Pip the Mouse (Jeff Garcia), Pig the pig (Tino Insana), Freddy the Ferret (Cam Clarke), and Peck the Rooster (Rob Paulsen). That same day, Otis meets a new yet pregnant cow named Daisy (Courteney Cox), accompanied by another girl cow named Bessy (Wanda Sykes).

That night, the animals throw a massive party in the barn; all the animals are there except Ben, who watches over the fence, which marks their space. Otis is assigned his shift along with him, but he talks himself out of it, saying that he's needed for a certain role in the party barn. Ben talks with Otis and says that the day he found him alone in the meadow, the stars danced. Otis is given the privilege to party out, and the thankful son runs to the barn. Later on, Ben takes on a pack of coyotes led by Dag (David Koechner), who is plundering the chicken coop. He manages to fight off the pack until he is bitten on the leg by the red coyote, making him fall. The coyotes pile on Ben, but he manages to grab Dag and escapes the pile. He threatens to punch Dag, but lets him go, scaring him and the coyotes off. The hens cheer, but Ben falls on the ground, exhausted. A hen named Etta (Andie MacDowell) runs into the barn and tells Otis and he runs outside to his father. Ben opens his mouth as if to say something, but then dies. He is then buried on his hill by the farmer. His grave was labeled, "BEN- a good cow."

After Ben's death, all the animals elect Otis as the new leader of the barnyard, presumably because he is a born party animal. An old mule named Miles (Danny Glover), who was lifelong friends with Ben, kicks the farmer (Fred Tatasciore) because he saw the animals on two legs, knocking him out. He shirks his duties by leaving Freddy and Peck in charge of the coop, helping three trouble-making cows called the Jersey Cows Eddy (S. Scott Bullock), Igg (Maurice LaMarche), and Bud (John DiMaggio) in teaching a lesson to a chubby brat called Snotty Boy (Steve Oedekerk), who enjoys cow tipping, and being chased by police and a helicopter on the television series COPS in the neighbor Mrs. Beady's 1960 Chevrolet Impala. Later that night, when Otis is sitting with Daisy and holds Daisy's hoof while looking up at the stars, he overhears that the coyotes are chasing a rabbit and leaves Daisy and chases after the coyotes to avenge his father. Otis tries to attack Dag and his pack, but he's outsmarted by them. Since Otis is weaker, Dag orders a deal that he and his pack will take animals here and there, and if Otis tries to stand up for all of them, they'll slaughter everyone. Otis decides to leave the barnyard, realizing that he has no chance.

The next morning, before leaving, Otis is informed that the coyotes took some hens and a chick named Maddy (Madeline Lovejoy), who is one of Otis' best friends. Otis realizes that he has been backstabbed by Dag as he wasn't expecting him and the coyotes until tonight, and sets off to rescue the poultry. Otis confronts the pack, but is easily defeated after Dag bites him in the leg; however, Pip, Pig, Freddy, Peck, and Miles arrive to help Otis, along with the Jersey Cows, Wild Mike and the gophers. Dag tries to attack Otis from behind, but Otis is alerted when Peck successfully manages to crow a warning. Otis catches Dag and he too threatens to punch him but like his father, he can't bring himself to do it. Instead he tells Dag "Never come back". Dag is then swung out of the junkyard by Otis' golf skills, and a golf club.

That night, Otis and the gang make it back to the barnyard, finding that Daisy went into labor after Otis left to face the coyotes. She gives birth to a calf whom she names Ben. Duke (Dom Irrera), the farmer's sheepdog, asks Otis if he wants to stay and be their leader. Otis agrees, and everyone cheers as he walks outside finding the stars dancing.

Cast

Release

Home media

Barnyard was released on widescreen [3] DVD on December 12, 2006, and includes the alternate opening.[4]

Reception

Critical response

The film has a "Rotten" rating of 22% at Rotten Tomatoes, based on 95 reviews, with an average rating of 4.4/10. The site's consensus says, "Unimaginative and unfunny, this tale of barnyard mischief borders on 'udder' creepiness and adds little to this summer's repertoire of animated films."[1] On Metacritic, it has a score of 42 out of 100, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[5] On the positive side, J. R. Jones of Chicago Reader enjoyed the film, saying that "it's way funnier than many of the R-rated comedies I've seen lately, though Oedekerk seems to have ignored the writer's edict to know your subject—most of his cows are male. The CGI is excellent, with characters whose depth and solidity suggest Nick Park's clay animations. The laughs subside near the end as the requisite moral kicks in, but this is still that rare kids' movie I'd recommend to parents and non-parents alike."[6] Claudia Puig of USA Today gave the film a score of 2.5/4, calling it "a sweet and mildly funny movie that will entertain young audiences, but one aspect is utterly mystifying: The two main characters, father and son bovine creatures, have large, distracting udders."[7] On the negative side, Roger Moore of Orlando Sentinel gave the film 2 stars out of 5, saying that, "with Barnyard, another quick-and-dirty "all-star cast" mess churned out by the digital start-ups hired to steal some of Pixar's cash, the year that computer-generated animation "jumps the shark" becomes official. Politically correct, anatomically incorrect and ugly to look at, the only thing that saves Barnyard is writer (and director) Steve Oedekerk's gift for gags and almost-edgy humor."[8] Kyle Smith of New York Post, has criticized the film, giving it a score of 1.5/4, saying that "if you want to punish your kids, send them to bed without dinner. If you want to disturb, frighten and depress them while making sure they fail biology, take them to the animated feature Barnyard."[9] Gregory Kirschling of Entertainment Weekly criticized the film's plot, giving it a C+ score and said that "it feels like Barnyard swipes too much of its plot from The Lion King."[10]

Box office

Barnyard was released on August 4, 2006, and opened to 3,311 theaters. This film opened at #2 at the box office on its opening weekend behind Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, earning $16 million at the domestic box office. It closed on November 2, 2006 and has grossed $73 million in its domestic theatrical release. It has made $116 million in its worldwide theatrical release, becoming a box-office success.[2]

Soundtrack

Barnyard (Music from the Motion Picture)
Soundtrack album
Released August 22, 2006
Recorded 2005-2006 ("Boombastic" was recorded in 1995)
Genre Alternative Rock, Pop
Length 36:58
Label Bulletproof Records

The soundtrack was released on August 22, 2006 by Bulletproof Records. It includes an original song by indie pop band the Starlight Mints and "You Gotta Move" by Aerosmith.[11]

Track listing

No. TitlePerformer Length
1. "Mud"  North Mississippi Allstars 2:30
2. "Hittin' the Hay"  North Mississippi Allstars featuring Les Claypool 2:23
3. "Down On the Farm (They All Ask For You)"  Kevin James and North Mississippi Allstars 1:12
4. "I Won't Back Down"  Sam Elliott 2:12
5. "2StepN"  North Mississippi Allstars 2:46
6. "Hillbilly Holla"  North Mississippi Allstars 3:25
7. "Kick It"  The Bo-Keys 2:33
8. "Father, Son"  Peter Gabriel 4:56
9. "Freedom Is a Voice"  Bobby McFerrin and Russell Ferrante 4:17
10. "Popsickle"  Starlight Mints 3:01
11. "Wild and Free"  Rednex 3:37
12. "Boombastic"  Shaggy 4:06
Total length:
 36:58

Other songs featured in the film:

Video game

Main article: Barnyard (video game)

A video game based on the film was produced by THQ and Blue Tongue Entertainment. It is an adventure game in which the player names their own male or female cow and walk around the barnyard and play mini-games, pull pranks on humans, and ride bikes, plus party hard. The game was released for PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube, Wii, PC and Game Boy Advance.

Spin-off television series

Main article: Back at the Barnyard

On September 29, 2007, a CG animated television series based on the film and titled Back at the Barnyard premiered on Nickelodeon. Chris Hardwick replaced Kevin James in the role of Otis, and Leigh-Allyn Baker voiced Abby, who replaced Daisy.[12] The series ran for two seasons, and ended on November 12, 2011.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Barnyard: The Original Party Animals (2006)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved March 31, 2012.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Barnyard: The Original Party Animals". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved November 17, 2012.
  3. ↑ Woodward, Tom (December 12, 2006). "Barnyard (US - DVD R1)". DVDActive. Retrieved March 31, 2012.
  4. ↑ McCutcheon, David (November 14, 2006). "Barnyard Bashes DVD". IGN. Retrieved March 31, 2012.
  5. ↑ "Barnyard". Metacritic. Retrieved March 31, 2012.
  6. ↑ "Barnyard | Chicago Reader". Chicago Reader. 18 May 2010. Retrieved 17 November 2012.
  7. ↑ Puig, Claudia (3 August 2006). "Watch your step in 'Barnyard' - USATODAY.com". USA Today. Retrieved 17 November 2012.
  8. ↑ Moore, Roger (August 4, 2006). "Udder nonsense falls short in 'Barnyard'". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved November 18, 2012.
  9. ↑ Smith, Kyle. "Critic Review - New York Post". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved November 18, 2012.
  10. ↑ "Barnyard Review | Movie Reviews and News". Entertainment Weekly. 2 August 2006. Retrieved 17 November 2012.
  11. ↑ "Barnyard". Bulletproof Records. Retrieved March 31, 2012.
  12. ↑ Nickelodeon (September 10, 2007). "The Original Party Animals Join Nickelodeon's Slate of Hit Nicktoons with the Premiere of 'Back At The Barnyard' on September 29 at 9:00 p.m. (ET/PT)". PR Newswire. Retrieved March 31, 2012.

External links