Home on the Range (PG, 2004)

My parents bought this movie for our 4 year old daughter and we watched together on our weekly movie night. It is a cute story, but with a little too much violence, both physical and verbal. I was also dissappointed to see guns in a kids' movie. A lot of it went over my daughter's head but she laughed at the visually funny parts. And we used it as a good starting point for a conversation about hitting and guns. It's an average film, but there are better movies to watch with your kids.

I recently viewed HOME ON THE RANGE with my brother and dad, and it was very funny. It wasn't a 3 or 4 but 3 1/2 (I put 4). It is off an assembly line of various other Disney movies but it was a joy to watch. (k.d Lang's song is great!!!)

I was very disappointed at the language used. My son watched the movie and started saying shut up and stupid all the time so I decided he wouldnt be watching it. Its not a very good movie anyway. It was kinda lame. It really didnt move me. Also, I think there was too much violence, but it is rated PG....

I can kinda see why this movie caused the end of hand-drawn animation for a good 5 years. No, I am not downrating this for the stupid and generic reasons the oversensitive parents and children who shouldn't be reviewing movies in the first place are. The thing is... the story was a little too generic for its time. The characters weren't really that charming and it felt rushed at the start. And you can just see the lack of effort that went into the animations for this. The truth is, they wanted to get this over with quickly, so they rushed the animations. The humor also felt kind of bland. It was funny, but it also felt a tad forced, especially the moments involving the Willies. All of this combined with a non-threatening villain (Which, btw, is NOT something to praise a movie for, parents!!!) loses the film 2 points. Now for the good: Although laughably bad for a 2004 theatrical release, the animations aren't horrid. Plus some characters are actually pretty interesting and likable. The only problem is that these characters are kind of downplayed and don't take up much of the movie. I would have LOVED to see more of the goat and the "bounty hunter", but since that bounty hunter barely had any screentime, it didn't come across as special when his dark secret was revealed. Another strong point is the music. Let's face it, the best Disney songs of all time are those that came from the rhythm composed by Alan Menken and while the songs in this are kinda short, Alan's musical stylings still manages to get me tapping my feet. All in all, Home on the Range is just okay. It's one of the weaker Disney films, yes, but it's good.