Home on the Range (2004 film)

Home on the Range

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Will Finn
John Sanford
Produced by Alice Dewey
Written by Will Finn
John Sanford
Starring Roseanne Barr
Judi Dench
Cuba Gooding, Jr.
Randy Quaid
Jennifer Tilly
Steve Buscemi
Music by Alan Menken
Edited by Mark A. Hester
H. Lee Peterson
Production
company
Distributed by Buena Vista Pictures
Release dates
 April 2, 2004
Running time
 76 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $110 million[1]
Box office $104 million[1]

Home on the Range is a 2004 American animated musical western comedy film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures on April 2, 2004, and was named after the popular country song "Home on the Range". The 45th feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics, it was the last traditionally animated Disney film until The Princess and the Frog was released in 2009.

Set in the old west, the plot centers on a mismatched trio of dairy cows – brash, adventurous Maggie, prim, proper Mrs. Calloway and ditzy, happy-go-lucky Grace (voiced by Roseanne Barr, Judi Dench and Jennifer Tilly respectively) – who must capture an infamous cattle rustler, for his bounty, in order to save their idyllic farm from foreclosure.

Plot

Maggie is the only cow left on the Dixon Ranch after Alameda Slim (a cattle rustler capable of stealing 500 in a single night) stole all the rest of Mr. Dixon's cattle. Dixon sells Maggie to Pearl, a kind and elderly woman that runs a small farm called Patch of Heaven.

The local Sheriff arrives to tell Pearl that her bank is cracking down on debtors. Pearl has three days to pay the bank $750, or her farm will be sold to the highest bidder. Hearing this, Maggie convinces the other cows on the farm (Grace, a happy-go-lucky character, and Mrs. Calloway, who has had leadership gone to her head) to go to town to attempt winning prize money at a fair.

While the cows are in town, a bounty hunter named Rico (who Buck, the Sheriff's horse, idolizes) drops a criminal off and collects the reward. Stating he needs a replacement horse to go after Alameda Slim while his own horse rests, he takes Buck. When Maggie find out that the reward for capturing Slim is of exactly $750, she convinces the other cows to try to capture him to save Patch of Heaven.

That night, they hide among a large herd of steers, when Alameda Slim appears. Before any of them can do anything, Slim begins a yodeling song which sends all the cattle (except Grace, who is tone deaf) into a trance that causes them to dance madly and follow Slim anywhere. Grace is able to bring Maggie and Mrs. Calloway back to their senses just before Slim closes the path behind him with a rockslide to stop Rico and his men from chasing him.

As Rico discusses with his men what his next move will be, Buck starts talking with Maggie, Grace, and Mrs. Calloway as old friends and miming actions. This causes Rico to believe Buck is frightened by cows, and sends Buck back to the Sheriff. Buck escapes, determined to capture Slim for himself to prove his worth. Maggie, Grace, and Mrs. Calloway are left behind, but they meet a peg-legged rabbit named Lucky Jack, who leads them to the Slim's hideout mine.

At the mine, Slim reveals that he has been stealing all cattle from his former patrons. When his former patrons can't support their land anymore, he buys the land when it is auctioned off, under the guise of the respectable-looking Mr. O'Dell, using the very money he gets from selling the cattle he stole.

After arriving to Slim's hideout, the cows capture Slim. They run off with Slim's accomplices and buyer in pursuit on a steam train. Rico arrives. When the chase stops, Rico is revealed to work for Slim.

Slim dons his Yancy O'Dell costume and leaves the cows stranded in the middle of the desert with the train, while he goes to attend the auction. However, the cows arrive using the train to the farm and expose Slim. Slim is arrested, and Patch of Heaven is saved by the reward money.

Cast

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Release

Box office

The film had a budget of about $110 million, making a U.S. box office gross of $50,026,353, and a worldwide gross of $76,482,461.[2]

Critical reception

Rotten Tomatoes reported that 54% of critics gave positive reviews based on 125 reviews. The site's general consensus is: "Though Home on the Range is likeable and may keep young children diverted, it's one of Disney's more middling titles, with garish visuals and a dull plot".[3] According to Metacritic, the film's average rating was 50%, based on 30 reviews.[4]

Home video

One of the last Disney films released on VHS, the movie was released for home video in that format and DVD on September 14, 2004.[3] It was released on Blu-ray on July 3, 2012.[5]

Soundtrack

Home on the Range: An Original Walt Disney Records Soundtrack
Soundtrack album by Various Artists
Released March 30, 2004
Recorded Alan Menken
Length 42:57
Label Walt Disney
Producer Alan Menken
Glenn Slater
Walt Disney Animation Studios chronology

Brother Bear
(2003)		 Home on the Range
(2004)		 Chicken Little
(2005)

Home on the Range: An Original Walt Disney Records Soundtrack is the soundtrack to Disney's 2004 animated feature Home on the Range. It contains music written by Alan Menken and Glenn Slater, and vocal songs performed by k.d. lang, Randy Quaid, Bonnie Raitt, Tim McGraw, and The Beu Sisters along with the film's score composed by Alan Menken. The album was released on March 30, 2004 by Walt Disney Records.

  1. (You Ain't) Home On The Range - Chorus
  2. Little Patch of Heaven - k.d. lang
  3. Yodel-Adle-Eedle-Idle-Oo - Randy Quaid and Chorus
  4. Will The Sun Ever Shine Again - Bonnie Raitt
  5. (You Ain't) Home On The Range - Echo Mine Reprise - Chorus
  6. Wherever The Trail May Lead - Tim McGraw
  7. Anytime You Need A Friend - The Beu Sisters
  8. Cows In Town/Saloon Song (Score)
  9. On The Farm (Score)
  10. Bad News (Score)
  11. Storm And The Aftermath (Score)
  12. Cows To The Rescue (Score)
  13. Buck (Score)
  14. My Farm Is Saved/Little Patch of Heaven(Reprise) (Score)
  15. Anytime You Need a Friend - Alan Menken

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Home on the Range". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2012-01-05.
  2. ↑ Home on the Range - Box Office Data, Movie News, Cast Information - The Numbers
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Home on the Range". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2014-01-20.
  4. ↑ http://www.metacritic.com/movie/home-on-the-range
  5. ↑ "Home on the Range". Blu-ray.com. Retrieved 2014-01-20.

External links