Toon Talk: Home on the Range - Apr 2, 2004

Toon Talk: Home on the Range
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(c) Disney

With a brisk pace and finely-honed timing, the film delivers on its comedic promise, with just enough pathos and depth to make you care for the plight of the characters, mostly those of the classic Disney variety: the unlikely heroes. And you're not likely to find a trio more unlikely then those embodied by the voices of Barr, Dench and Tilly, inspired characterizations all around, adding to the creative character animation of, respectively, supervising animators Chris Buck, Duncan Marjoribanks and Mark Henn, who had the daunting task of animating characters with no hands and four feet (let’s just say they take full advantage of the tails). In fact, all of the characters are well realized, making for a memorable assortment of all types, from an intimidating buffalo to a nest of wide-eyed chicks.

(Rounding out the cast of recognizable vocal talent are such Disney faves as Toy Story 2’s Estelle Harris, The Emperor’s New Groove’s Patrick Warburton and Monsters, Inc.’s Steve Buscemi (in probably the best match of voice talent to character design since Paul Shaffer’s Hermes in Hercules), as well as several TV favorites such as McCloud’s Dennis Weaver, M*A*S*H’s G.W. Bailey, SCTV’s Joe Flaherty and Hill Street Blues’ Charles Haid as Lucky Jack, a jackrabbit whose peg leg shows just how lucky his foot was.)

After too long an absence, Alan Menken returns to Disney with a plucky, country-flavored score and hummable songs, joined by lyricist Glenn Slater on the latter (rhyming “avocado�? with “desperado�?, Slater proves he’s a man after Howard Ashman’s heart). The songs are mostly heard over the soundtrack (an ever-increasing trend in animated films lately, it seems), with such marquee talent as k.d. lang (the sprightly “Patch of Heaven�?), Tim McGraw (end credit song “Wherever the Trail May Lead�?) and Bonnie Raitt (whose performance of “Will the Sun Ever Shine Again�? is reminiscent of such other classic Disney ballads as Toy Story 2’s “When She Loved Me�? and Robin Hood’s “Not in Nottingham�?) lending their pipes to the tunes. (The only sour note is the bland pop of another end credit song, “Anytime You Need Your Friend�?, performed by the Beu Sisters.)

If this is indeed the last of the hand-drawn animated films from Disney, we couldn’t ask for a better Home sweet Home.

Toon Talk Rating: A-

The Toon Talk Top 10 - Poor Unfortunate Souls:

Alameda Sims’ show-stopping “Yodel-Adle-Eedle-Idle-Oo�? (the only song in the film actually sung by one of the characters) is just the latest in a long line of ‘villain songs’ from Disney animated films. Following are our favorites:

  1. “The Headless Horseman�? (music and lyrics by Don Raye and Gene De Paul) from The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949).
  2. “The Elegant Captain Hook�? (music by Sammy Fain, lyrics by Sammy Cain) from Peter Pan (1953).
  3. “Cruella De Vil�? (music and lyrics by Mel Leven) from 101 Dalmatians (1961).
  4. “Trust In Me�? (music and lyrics by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman) from The Jungle Book (1967).
  5. “The World’s Greatest Criminal Mind�? (music by Henry Mancini, lyrics by Larry Grossman and Ellen Fitzhugh) from The Great Mouse Detective (1986).
  6. “Poor Unfortunate Souls�? (music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Howard Ashman) from The Little Mermaid (1989).
  7. “Gaston�? (music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Howard Ashman) from Beauty and the Beast (1991).
  8. “Oogie Boogie’s Song�? (music and lyrics by Danny Elfman) from Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993).
  9. “Be Prepared�? (music by Elton John, lyrics by Tim Rice) from The Lion King (1994).
  10. “Hellfire�? (music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Stephen Schwartz) from The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996).