Back to the old ways

Home on the Range

Directors: Will Finn/John Sandford

Cast (Voices): Rosanne Barr, Judi Dench, Jennifer Tilly, Randy Quaid, Cuba Gooding Jnr, Steve Buscemi

Cert: U.

A sad note accompanies this Disney effort; it will be the last traditionally animated film. Computers have won out over the artists, however good the machines may be.

Alas, if the above is so it is not the most fitting of farewells for Range is a disappointment, with its lack of a strong plot structure and a musical score that is instantly forgettable.

The story concerns the animal inmates at the Patch of Heaven dairy farm and their attempts to save it from speculators; and themselves from the knacker’s yard.

A good enough idea - sort of Animal Farm - and several excellent contributions from the humans - Barr, in particular, as a cow with attitude - but a film which doesn’t manage to come up to scratch as it races, without reason, from one set-piece to the next.

Perhaps, since Hollywood seems to have lost the secret of classic animation (one of the great cinema art forms), this sits as good a reason as any to put away the crayons.

Star Rating: 2/5