Barnyard: The Original Party Animals (PG, 2006)

The animals in the barnyard take a Vegas approach to life, i.e. what happens in the barnyard, stays in the barnyard...or...does it? When the lights go out in the farmer's house, that's the animals' cue to party down. The barn transforms into a nightclub, complete with gambling, a bar, music, dancing, and mechanical "man-ride". Enjoying every minute of fun is carefree bull Otis (Kevin James). But Otis' dad, Ben (Sam Elliott), and an old mule, Miles (Danny Glover), think he needs to be more discreet about the fact that animals are smarter than humans. Ben goes over the rules once again (all of which Otis breaks): 1) No swimming in the pool; 2) No watching TV through the farmhouse window; and 3) Standing on two legs is only permitted when humans are nowhere in sight. When Ben suddenly goes the way of all loving parents in family movies (he dies!), Otis finds himself in charge of the barnyard. Will he grow up and be a leader? Or will he use his newfound power for more tricks and cowfoolery?

Compared to other CGI movies, the animation seems flat and the humor dated. Most of the jokes about humans' ill-conceived notions of the animal world seem lifted from Toy Story. And the "father dies leaving the kid in charge" storyline is straight out of The Lion King. Although this movie has a few funny moments (you can see them in the trailers), a little originality would have gone a long way.