Racing Stripes (PG, 2005)

RACING STRIPES gets rolling when horse trainer turned farmer Nolan Walsh (Bruce Greenwood) finds a baby zebra and brings him home. For his daughter, Channing (Hayden Panittiere), it is love at first sight. Three years later, Stripes is a cherished part of the farm family. But Stripes (voice of Frankie Muniz), who has never seen another zebra, thinks he is a racehorse, like the thoroughbreds he sees at the race course next door, owned by snooty Carla (Wendie Malick). His friends include pony Tucker (voice of Dustin Hoffman), a goat (voice of Whoopi Goldberg), wayward seagull Goose, and horseflies Scuzz and Buzz. The race horses jeer at him, but Stripes trains and dreams of winning a real race. A sympathetic filly named Sandy (voice of Mandy Moore) provides encouragement. The animals find a way to let Channing know that Stripes is fast enough to race and wants to ride him, but Nolan, whose wife died in a racing accident, does not want Channing to compete.

Racing Stripes is the best live-action talking-animal movie since the beloved Babe. The human performers are just fine, especially the underrated Greenwood. He is too often relegated to bad-guy roles, but he shows real warmth and screen presence here. Up-and-coming young Panittiere makes us believe in her devotion to her father and the dream of racing she shares with Stripes.

But the movie is all about the animals and the voice talents and computer-aided "acting" make the characters very real and very appealing. The humor may overdo the doo-doo, but there are sweet and funny moments as Stripes tries to follow his dream and learns the importance of friends.

Studio: Warner Bros.
Director: Frederik Du Chau
Cast: Frankie Muniz, Hayden Panettiere, Wendie Malick
Genre: Family and Kids
Run time: 94 minutes
Theatrical release: January 14, 2005
DVD release: May 10, 2005
MPAA Rating: PG
MPAA explanation: mild crude humor and some language