Loud, raucous and dispiritingly unfunny.
Barnyard: The Original Party Animals (2006)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:90
Fresh:20
Rotten:70
Average Rating:4.4/10
Consensus: Unimaginative and unfunny, this tale of barnyard mischief borders on 'udder' creepiness and adds little to this summer's repertoire of animated films.
Rated: PG [See Full Rating] for some mild peril and rude humor
Runtime: 90 mins
Genre: Education/General Interest
Theatrical Release:Aug 4, 2006 Wide
Box Office: $72,601,713
Synopsis: What really happens on the farm when the farmer isn't looking? In director Steve Oedekerk's (KUNG POW: ENTER THE FIST, ACE VENTURA: WHEN NATURE CALLS) computer-generated animation feature, the... What really happens on the farm when the farmer isn't looking? In director Steve Oedekerk's (KUNG POW: ENTER THE FIST, ACE VENTURA: WHEN NATURE CALLS) computer-generated animation feature, the farm animals can do everything humans do. They talk, walk upright, buy human contraband from a "gray market" run by the gophers, and even turn the barn into a nightclub. Of course, they do all of this in secret. The biggest party animal is Otis (voiced by Kevin James), a happy-go-lucky cow. (Yes, the movie is full of male cows, complete with udders....) The animals know they can always count on him for a kooky stunt or a practical joke. But Otis' carefree attitude doesn't sit well with his father, Ben (Sam Neill), the barnyard patriarch and protector. Ben loves his slacker son, but thinks Otis needs to learn more responsibility, especially because he hopes to leave a legacy to care for the barnyard. When the dangerous coyote season arrives and Ben is suddenly no longer able to serve as barnyard security, mayhem immediately ensues and the barnyard looks more like an amusement park then a farm...until Otis steps up to fill his father's shoes. But is he really ready to take the lead, or would he prefer to be wooing Daisy (Courtney Cox), the pretty new cow on the farm, and partying with his friends? And when push comes to shove, will Otis be able to stand up to the coyotes and protect the barnyard? This coming-of-age tale is bolstered by the human antics of the animals and genuine laugh-out-loud moments for all ages. Wanda Sykes voices Bessy, Daisy's cynical cow friend, and Danny Glover voices Miles the Mule, a sage elder on the farm. Songs by Tom Petty and Peter Gabriel, as well as other artists, elevate the soundtrack above the typical children's film. [More]
Starring: Kevin James, Courteney Cox, Sam Elliott, Danny Glover
Starring: Kevin James, Courteney Cox, Sam Elliott, Danny Glover, Wanda Sykes, Andie MacDowell, David Koechner, John Di Maggio, Earthquake, Steve Oedekerk
Director: Steve Oedekerk
Director: Steve Oedekerk
Screenwriter: Steve Oedekerk
Producer: Steve Oedekerk, Paul Marshal, Julia Pistor
Composer: John Debney
Studio: Paramount Pictures
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Reviews for Barnyard: The Original Party Animals
Even young kids are going to have a hard time buying into a film that deliberately ignores a basic biological fact they learned in kindergarten.
The CG animation looks like rubbery plastic instead of animals, and much of it is spent on jokes related to derrieres and hindquarters.
[T]he culture of juvenile pranks and misdemeanors and a nightly hoedown that combines a Vegas casino and a cattle-town country bar is more appropriate for older kids...
Barnyard is a one-note premise that falls flat after about 10 minutes.
This could be the film that snaps everyone's patience with Hollywood animations which have a Dell computer chip where their heart should be.
Barnyard is nothing so much as The Lion King chewed in a cud and digitally regurgitated. It's manic and maudlin, borderline creepy, occasionally inspired.
Barnyard is brought to us by the same comedic genius that made Kung Pow: Enter the Fist. Use that as your personal gauge about how good (or bad) this movie will be.
doesn't just violate the audience's right to entertainment, it violates animal dignity to such an extent that PETA might want to consider getting involved
There is a nice mix of humour and pathos here. Barnyard may not be all that exceptional, but it is quite satisfying.
Surely there's no better way to introduce kids to the joys of knee-jerk stereotyping than to randomly distribute clichés among talking livestock.
It looks great, and it's bright and colorful, fast and fun, with terrific voice talent... You may know from the opening where the story's heading, but it's a fun ride, and there's a lot of heart between the laughs.
Strictly for kids, and, as the three or four people who saw Oedekerk's previous directing effort, Kung Pow: Enter the Fist, can attest, the writer/director tends to stretch even throwaway jokes minutes past the punch line.
... an odd mix of coming of age film and an animated Babe where bulls wag exaggerated udders along with their feminine counterparts.
The design is uninteresting, the characters are bland and the story is terrible.
The barnyard is the Middle East; the hens represent the oil wealth; and the humans are the ineffectual United Nations! Or... perhaps it's all just a mediocre cartoon about talking barnyard animals. Whichever.
Moooove along, there's nothing to see here! With its blatant disregard for the laws of nature, gravity and good humor, this animated adventure is little more than a series of gags... loosely strung to the plot of The Lion King.
"Barnyard" doesn't stink. But it's not the cream of the crop, either.
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