Barnyard (film)

This article is about the film. For the video game, see Barnyard (video game).

For the television series based on this film, see Back at the Barnyard.

Barnyard
File:Barnyardtheatricalposter.jpg Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Steve Oedekerk
Produced by	Steve Oedekerk Paul Marshall
Written by	Steve Oedekerk
Starring	Kevin James Courteney Cox Sam Elliott Danny Glover Wanda Sykes Andie MacDowell David Koechner
Music by	John Debney
Edited by	Paul D. Calder Billy Weber
Production company	O Entertainment
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures Nickelodeon Movies
Release date	July 17, 2006 (2006-07-17) (Bristol Motor Speedway) July 24, 2006 (2006-07-24) (Hollywood) July 31, 2006 (2006-07-31) (Los Angeles) August 4, 2006 (2006-08-04) (United States) October 5, 2006 (2006-10-05) (Germany)
Running time	90 minutes
Country	United States Germany
Language	English
Budget	$51 million
Box office	$116.5 million

Search Barnyard (film) on Amazon.

Barnyard (marketed as Barnyard: The Original Party Animals) is a 2006 computer-animated comedy film produced by O Entertainment and distributed by Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies. The film is directed, produced, and written by Steve Oedekerk, the co-creator of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius and its television series continuation The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius. The film stars the voices of Kevin James, Courteney Cox, Sam Elliott, Danny Glover, Wanda Sykes, Andie MacDowell, and David Koechner. It tells the story of Otis, a carefree Holstein cow who learns the value of responsibility when he becomes the leader of his farm home's community after his adoptive father's death from a coyote attack.

The film was in development in 2002 and was released on August 4, 2006, in the United States and October 5, 2006, in Germany. It grossed $116.5 million worldwide against a $51 million production budget. It received negative reviews from critics, who described it as "unimaginative and unfunny" and particularly targeted its inaccurate depiction of bulls with udders for criticism. It spawned a television series, titled Back at the Barnyard, which ran on Nickelodeon and later Nicktoons for two seasons.

Plot

Otis is a mischievous, fun-loving and carefree Holstein cow who lives on a local farm and prefers having fun with his best friends — Pip, Freddy, Peck and Pig — rather than following strict rules and accepting responsibility; much to the chagrin and annoyance of his stern and uptight adoptive father and leader of the farm's community, Ben. After Otis interrupts a routine morning roll call and meeting with his usual antics, Ben warns Otis that he will never be happy if he continues without acting more responsible and mature, but he deliberately ignores his father's advice and leaves to do so anyway. That same day, Otis meets a pregnant cow named Daisy, who has moved to the farm with her friend Bessy.

That night after the farmer goes to bed, the animals throw a wild party in the barn that everyone attends, except Ben, who decides to guard the fence line. Otis is assigned a shift along with Ben, but Otis cleverly talks himself out of that work. Before he leaves, Ben tells him that the night he found him as a calf stumbling alone in the meadow, he swore he saw the stars dance, which reminded him that his place was at the farm. Soon after, Ben takes on a pack of evil coyotes who raid the farm's coop and manages to fight off the pack until he is bitten on the leg by their leader Dag, thus making him fall. The coyotes pile on Ben, who manages to grab Dag's leg to escape the pile; using Dag to overpower his followers. He then threatens to punch Dag but lets him go, scaring him and the coyotes away in defeat. Ben then falls to the ground, exhausted and fatally injured. Otis is alerted and he runs outside to his father, who soon dies from his injuries. Early the next morning, Ben's body is buried on the farm's hillside by the farmer and the other animals mourn him once the farmer leaves except for Otis, who is most saddened by the loss of his father and sits at his post.

Following Ben's death, the farm's community elects Otis as their new leader. Otis chooses to irresponsibly shirk his duties by leaving Freddy and Peck in charge of the coop, then with the help of the trouble-making Jersey Cows, teaches a lesson to a mean and overweight youngster nicknamed Snotty Boy for his cow tipping, eluding the authorities afterwards. Later that night, Otis shares a romantic moment with Daisy where she reveals that her husband and the rest of her herd had drowned during a flood, leaving her and Bessy as the only surviving members of the herd. Otis comforts her, but witnesses the coyotes chasing a rabbit and he leaves her to take them on to avenge his father's murder, but is outnumbered. Taking advantage of Otis' lack of strength, Dag proposes a deal: he and his pack will take some of the farm's animals at random times and if Otis tries to do anything about it, they will openly kill them all. Realizing his chances for victory are slim, Otis ultimately decides to leave the farm.

The next morning, before leaving, Otis is informed that the coyotes have kidnapped the hens including Maddy, the daughter of one of them who looks up to him. Otis realizes that Dag doubled-crossed him, knowing that he was not expecting the coyotes until nightfall, and sets off to rescue the hens. Otis arrives at the coyotes' junkyard home to fight them off and manages to gain the upper hand, until Dag bites his leg. However, Pip, Pig, Freddy, Peck, Ben's old friend Miles, a colony of gophers who live near the farm and are close friends with Otis and the Jersey Cows arrive to help him. Dag tries to attack Otis from behind, but he is alerted when Peck successfully manages to crow a warning. Otis thwarts Dag's attack and threatens to punch him like Ben did, but warns him to never return to the farm before sending him flying out of the junkyard; finally avenging his father.

On their way home, Pip reveals to Otis that Daisy went into labor after he left. The group then steals a biker gang's motorcycles from a diner and make it back in time to witness Daisy giving birth to a calf that she names Lil' Ben. Otis then takes full responsibility and becomes the new leader of the farm community as he watches the stars of himself, Daisy and Lil' Ben dancing just like Ben said.

The movie ends with one last scene where Mrs. Beady is getting ready for bed, but she finds out that Wild Mike is on top of her head in her hair while looking herself at the mirror in her house.

Cast

• Kevin James as Otis, a carefree cow.
• Courteney Cox as Daisy, a kind-hearted widowed cow and Otis' love interest.
• Sam Elliott as Ben, a stern and uptight cow and Otis' adoptive father.
• Danny Glover as Miles, an elderly mule and Ben's best friend.
• Wanda Sykes as Bessy, a sassy cow and Daisy's friend.
• Andie MacDowell as Etta, one of the farm's hens and Maddy's mother.
• David Koechner as Dag, the sadistic leader of a coyote pack that have a craving for the farm's animals, namely the hens.
• Jeffrey Garcia as Pip, a wisecracking mouse who is one of Otis' friends.
• Tino Insana as Pig, a pig who is one of Otis' friends.
• Dom Irrera as Duke, the farm's sheepdog.
• Cam Clarke as Freddy, a panicky and neurotic ferret who is one of Otis' friends.
• Rob Paulsen as Peck, a rooster who is one of Otis' friends.
  • Paulsen also voices a gopher and one of the pizza twins.
• S. Scott Bullock as Eddy, a member of the Jersey Cows.
• John DiMaggio as Bud, a member of the Jersey Cows.
  • DiMaggio also voices Frederick O'Hanlon, a local police officer.
• Maurice LaMarche as Igg, a member of the Jersey Cows.
• Fred Tatasciore as Farmer Buyer, the owner of the farm that Otis and his friends live on.
• Madeline Lovejoy as Maddy, Etta's daughter who looks up to Otis.
• Nathaniel Stroman as Root, a handsome rooster.
• Steve Oedekerk as Eugene “Snotty Boy” Beady, the Beadys' nephew who is cruel to animals.
  • Oedekerk also voices Nathaniel Randall "Nathan" Beady III, the farmer's neighbor, Nora's husband and the reluctant uncle of Snotty Boy, Reginald Goldner, Snotty Boy's father, and one of the pizza twins.
• Maria Bamford as Noreen "Nora" Beady, Nathan's wife and the aunt of Snotty Boy.
• Jill Talley as Serena Goldner, Snotty Boy's mother.
• Laraine Newman and Katie Leigh as Snotty Boy's friends.

Archival recordings of Shaggy's "Boombastic" was used for the performance of mouse rapper Biggie Cheese.

The chicks were portrayed by Eliana Bendetson, Paul Butcher, Khamani Griffin, Arlo Levin, Liliana Mumy, Cydney Neal, Cat Ozawa, Thomas Pistor, Isaiah Tefilo, and George Van Newkirk.

Additional voices were provided by Keith Anthony, Julianne Beuscher, Colette Richardson, William Calvert, Chad Einbinder, Leigh French, Eddie Frierson, Nika Futterman, Nicholas Guest, Archie Hahn, Katie Leigh, Christie Mellor, Jacqueline Pinol, Phil Proctor, Justin Shenkarow, Lynne Marie Stewart, Audrey Wasilewski and Claduette Wells.

Release

Barnyard was released in theaters on August 4, 2006 by Paramount Pictures. It was released in Germany two months later on October 5.

Home media

Barnyard was released on DVD on December 12, 2006 in separate widescreen and full screen versions. The DVD includes the alternate opening, A " Barnyard Bop" music video, a comic book creator, and a commentary by Steve Oedekerk and Paul Marshal. The film's DVD release has been constantly reprinted later on. After 16 years, Barnyard was released on Blu-ray for the first time on January 25, 2022.

Reception

Critical reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of based on reviews, and an average rating of . The website's critical consensus reads, "Unimaginative and unfunny, this tale of barnyard mischief borders on 'udder' creepiness and adds little to this summer's repertoire of animated films." On Metacritic, it has a score of 42 out of 100, based on 24 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.

Roger Moore of the Orlando Sentinel gave the film 2 stars out of 5, saying that, "with Barnyard, another quick-and-dirty 'all-star cast' mess churned out by the digital start-ups hired to steal some of Pixar's cash, the year that computer-generated animation 'jumps the shark' becomes official. Politically correct, anatomically incorrect and ugly to look at, the only thing that saves Barnyard is writer (and director) Steve Oedekerk's gift for gags and almost-edgy humor." Kyle Smith of the New York Post gave the film a score of 1.5/4, saying that "if you want to punish your kids, send them to bed without dinner. If you want to disturb, frighten and depress them while making sure they fail biology, take them to the animated feature Barnyard." Gregory Kirschling of Entertainment Weekly criticized the film's plot, giving it a C+ score and said that "it feels like Barnyard swipes too much of its plot from The Lion King."

On the positive side, J. R. Jones of the Chicago Reader enjoyed Barnyard, saying that "it's way funnier than many of the R-rated comedies I've seen lately, though Oedekerk seems to have ignored the writer's edict to know your subject—most of his cows are male. The CGI is excellent, with characters whose depth and solidity suggest Nick Park's clay animations. The laughs subside near the end as the requisite moral kicks in, but this is still that rare kids' movie I'd recommend to parents and non-parents alike." Claudia Puig of USA Today gave the film a score of 2.5/4, calling it "a sweet and mildly funny movie that will entertain young audiences, but one aspect is utterly mystifying: The two main characters, father and son bovine creatures, have large, distracting udders."

Box office

Barnyard grossed $72.6 million domestically and $43.9 million internationally for a worldwide total of $116.5 million against its production budget of $51 million.

The film opened at #2 at the box office on its opening weekend behind Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, earning $16 million at the domestic box office from 3,311 theaters. On the film's second weekend, it dropped 38.7%, grossing $9.7 million and finishing in 4th place, behind Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, Step Up, and World Trade Center. By its closing on November 2, 2006, it grossed almost $73 million in its domestic theatrical release.

Accolades

Year	Award	Category	Recipients and nominees	Results	Ref.
2007	2006 Stinkers Bad Movie Awards	Worst Movie Title	Paramount, Nickelodeon	Nominated
		Worst Animated Film

Soundtrack

Barnyard (Music from the Motion Picture)
📅 Released	August 22, 2006 (2006-08-22)
🎙️ Recorded	2005–2006 ("Wild 'N Free" was recorded in 1994; "Boombastic" was recorded in 1995)
⏳ Length	36:58
🏷️ Label	Bulletproof

Buy this album Barnyard (film) or listen to it on amazon

The film's score is done by John Debney. The soundtrack was released on August 22, 2006 by Bulletproof Records. It includes an original song by indie pop band the Starlight Mints and "You Gotta Move" by Aerosmith.

Track listing

No.	Title	Performed by	Length
1.	"Mud"	North Mississippi Allstars	2:30
2.	"Hittin' the Hay"	North Mississippi Allstars featuring Les Claypool	2:23
3.	"Down on the Farm (They All Ask For You)"	Kevin James and North Mississippi Allstars	1:12
4.	"I Won't Back Down"	Sam Elliott	2:12
5.	"2StepN"	North Mississippi Allstars	2:46
6.	"Hillbilly Holla (End Credits)"	North Mississippi Allstars	3:25
7.	"Kick It"	The Bo-Keys	2:33
8.	"Father, Son"	Peter Gabriel	4:56
9.	"Freedom Is a Voice"	Bobby McFerrin and Russell Ferrante	4:17
10.	"Popsickle"	Starlight Mints	3:01
11.	"Wild ‘N’ Free"	Rednex	3:37
12.	"Boombastic"	Shaggy	4:06
Total length:			36:58

Other songs featured in the film:

• "The Barnyard Dance" - Lewis Arquette and Family
• "You Gotta Move" - Aerosmith
• "Sister Rosetta" - Alabama 3
• "Slow Ride" - Paul D. Calder (as Paul Calder)
• "Truck Song" - Paul D. Calder (as Paul Calder)

Video game

Main article: Barnyard (video game)

A video game based on the film was produced by THQ and Blue Tongue Entertainment. It is an adventure game in which the player names their own male or female cow and walk around the barnyard and play mini-games, pull pranks on humans, and ride bikes. The game was released for PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube, Wii, PC, Game Boy Advance, and Nintendo DS.

Spin-off television series

Main article: Back at the Barnyard

On September 29, 2007, a CGI animated television series based on the film and titled Back at the Barnyard premiered on Nickelodeon. Chris Hardwick replaced Kevin James in the role of Otis, and Leigh-Allyn Baker voiced new character Abby, who replaced Daisy. The series ran for two seasons, and ended on November 12, 2011.

External links

• Barnyard on IMDb Search this movie on
• Barnyard at AllMovie
• Barnyard at The Big Cartoon DataBase
• Barnyard at Rotten Tomatoes
• Barnyard at Metacritic
• Barnyard at Box Office Mojo

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