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Barnyard is an animated film on what happens when the farmer is away from the farm or even turns his back. As you can imagine, mayhem breaks out. Scriptwriter/director Steve Oedekerk is imaginative in putting a story together of various animals who live together and party as humans without anyone the wiser. Except coyotes, of course, who are the enemy here.  Animation is adequate with some sections (night) being fuller in scope than daytime.

One thing Oedekerk hasn’t figured out is how to differentiate the bovine group, so he has cows and bulls with udders. That’s utterly the fact (excuse the pun.) The udders are so prominent they might as well be tumors.

Barnyard begins with the lead animal, Ben (Sam Elliott) who keeps the barn animals happy and safe from predators. Ben’s adopted son, Otis (Kevin James) is a wild teenager who loves to party with the rest of the gang. They can turn the inside of the barn into a stage show in a minute. The kind farmer suspects nothing, but his neighbors next door are sure something odd is going on.

Enter coyotes that love to raid the hen house and soon the farm animals are filled with fear, a tragedy has occurred and Otis must become an adult in a hurry. In a hilarious section, Otis and friends decide to go after kids who do “cow tipping.” Hot-wiring a car, they find the kids house and proceed with their plan. The problem of the coyotes is ever present and something must be done to take care of that problem, too.

In Barnyard, animals have their own form of keeping contentment on the farm and are as intelligent---or more so---than humans. John Debney’s music is loud and not memorable. Friendships occur between species and one of Otis’s special buddies is a little baby chicken. Scary moments are in the coyote’s abode, which is a junkyard to end all junkyards.

My problem with Barnyard is that it doesn’t seem to know what its’ target audience is. For children, the udders on bulls will need explaining, plus a death. Adults can appreciate the ingenuity of animals on motorcycles and their party abilities. The thread that winds through the film is of growing up and accepting responsibility, but it is aimed at one individual and not all the wild ones on the farm. There is also a birth for everyone to ooh and ahh and then it is back to party time. For all the exercise these animals get, they shouldn’t weigh the weight they do. It’s aerobics on the farm.

Copyright 2006 Marie Asner
Submitted 7/30/06