Moo-ve over, all you pretenders ... here are the original party animals - the critters of Barnyard! This laugh-filled, tuneful animated adventure stars Otis (voiced by Kevin James), a carefree party cow. To the consternation of his respected father Ben (voiced by Sam Elliott), Otis is happy to spend his days singing, dancing and playing tricks on humans. But all good things must come to an end, and when Otis is suddenly forced into his father's position of responsibility, the animal antics multiply as he struggles to find the courage and talent to be a true leader. Wild, wacky and "udderly" hilarious, here's a herd of animated pranksters that'll keep you laughing out loud!
When the farmer's back is turned, the animals party down in Barnyard. A young cow named Otis (voiced by Kevin James, The King of Queens) loves to have fun at the farm's wild late-night hoe-downs, despite the disapproval of his father, Ben (Sam Elliott, Thank You for Smoking). When Ben dies defending the barnyard from marauding coyotes, Otis is chosen as the new leader--but responsibility sits uneasily on Otis' head and he fears he may not be able to protect his friends from the coyotes. Barnyard's design of the cows seems inspired by Gary Larson's The Far Side comics; though the style is simple, the characters are surprisingly expressive. From moment to moment, the movie is reasonably entertaining. The actors--including Courteney Cox, Danny Glover, and David Koechner (Anchorman) as a very menacing coyote--do solid voice work and there are plenty of amusing gags. But as Barnyard gallops towards its end, the combination of cliches (the story is a clumsy reworking of The Lion King), odd choices (the male cows have udders), and lackluster dialogue makes the movie sag. --Bret Fetzer
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 3.5 / 5.0
insulting to kids:
This is the sort of movie that's only for the toddler set, regardless of how amusing it might look in the previews. It's mostly about animals doing silly non-animal things. The laughs in the theater were strictly divided by age--nobody over the age of 6 was laughing. There was an attempt at a plot--the old cow-in-charge died protecting the hens from coyotes and his/her 'son' now had to take over... but can he/she (yeah, the udder thing was really distracting) give up his/her wild-and-crazy ways to do... more info
GET OVER THE UDDER THING!!!:
WHAT IS WRONG WITH ALL THE PEOPLE COMPLAINING ABOUT THE UDDERS? IT'S A CARTOON PEOPLE, LIGHTEN UP. MOST KIDS WERE NOT RAISED ON A FARM AND ARE NOT INTERESTED IF THE UDDERS ARE ON MALES OR FEMALES. THEY JUST WANT TO WATCH AND LAUGH, WHICH IS EXACTLY WHAT MINE DID.
really funny movie:
It is a really funny movie. One thing that seems odd is that the male cows have udders too. In real life, only female cows have udders.
good but not the best:
Otis is the life of the party...at the barn. Otis is a young bull and he's popular with all the other barn animals. They act like the usual animals at the farm. However, once the farmer turns in for the day, it's party time! Otis' father, Ben, is the leader and protector of the farm. He has warned Otis that soon it'll be his time to defend the farm. One night, after fighting with the coyotes, Ben dies. The leadership is then passed on to Ben, who, of course, doesn't want it but has no choice.more info
